ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BOURNE REVENGE

Jason Bourne wants revenge while his Chinese adversaries want dominance in this high-powered thriller.

Johanna, a woman Bourne loved, has been murdered, and he longs for payback. Meanwhile, as an agent for Treadstone, he’s stolen “the Files,” a Chinese AI software engine that collects trillions of data points on just about everything and will convey unlimited power to its possessor. The Chinese want it back, of course, and Bai Ze intends to get it. He’s an agent for the Chinese espionage group Volt Typhoon, which spies in the U.S. Strangely, there is only one irreplaceable copy—what, no backups? Now Shadow, the woman who heads Treadstone, has wrested the Files from Bourne to ruthlessly amass power for Treadstone. As his fans know, Bourne is a man without a past, as he was shot in the head and lost all memory, even of his own identity. Shadow uses him as her “personal agent for off-the-books missions,” and relishes her power over him. She has him see therapist Mo Panov to regress him and try to unlock his earlier memories, while Bourne frets that someone has been manipulating his mind. Poor Jason’s life is chock-full of trouble, as Treadstone owns him and bad guys want to kill him. He has plenty of sex with his boss, but only when she’s her alter ego, Marlen. She’s not his only sex partner, though, which angers her. He can’t resist a damsel in distress, and they can’t resist him. But back to business. Jason must find Bai Ze, whose identity is unknown. Volt Typhoon agents intend to hunt Bourne down, torture him into giving up the Files, and then, of course, kill him. “You can run, Jason, but you can’t hide,” says a billionaire who’s been surveilling him. Readers will barely have time to catch a breath with the nearly nonstop action. What keeps Bourne going is that he “never trusted anyone,” including Shadow. “That was what kept him alive.”

A fast-moving story where Bourne is chased but not chaste.