The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum

Description

The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum a novel published 2003. It is an ex-library, hardback edition in excellent condition.

In the fall of 1940, the Nazis are at the height of their power – France is occupied, Britian is enduring the Blitz and is under the threat of invasion, America is neutral, and Russia is in an uneasy alliance with Germany. Stephen Metcalfe, the younger son of a prominent American family, is a well-known man about town in occupied Paris. He’s also a minor asset in the U.S.’s secret intelligence forces in Europe. Through a wild twist of fate, it falls to Metcalfe to instigate a bold plan that may be the only hope for what remains of the free world. Now he must travel to wartime Moscow to find, and possibly betray, a former love – a fiery ballerina whose own loyalties are in question – in a delicate dance that could destroy all he loves and honors.

Hard back book measures 6-1/2″ x 9-3/4″ x 1-1/2″ with 521 pages

NOTE
From Booklist
Ludlum, author of such best-sellers as The Bourne Identity, died on March 12, 2001. His output, however, has not slowed noticeably since his passing: this novel is the seventh published under his name since his death. Some of them had credited coauthors, but, presumably, all of them have been polished by editors or uncredited writers. His latest, the story of an American spy sent into Moscow during World War II, is in some regards far superior to most of the stuff Ludlum published during his lifetime. There is a level of detail here often missing from his early novels, suggesting the efforts of a meticulous ghostwriter. Similarly, the characters, including our hero, Stephen Metcalfe, the well-to-do American spy, tend to be more well defined than your typical Ludlum stick figure. On the other hand, the fast-paced plot reflects Ludlum’s genuine knack for constructing good stories, and the dialogue, regrettably, is typically overwritten. (“Civilization as we know it is being engulfed by Hitler’s devouring maw,” one character remarks.) The book’s peculiarly fascinating lineage aside, here’s what really matters: this is one of the better novels published under the Ludlum name. David Pitt