Series: TREADSTONE [1]
My version: Hardback
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Head Of Zeus
First published: 2020
ISBN: 9781789546453
Pages: 375
Bought
From the jacket:
The first novel in an explosive new series inspired by Robert Ludlum’s Bourne universe, The Treadstone Resurrection introduces an unforgettable hero and the shadowy world that forged him…
Treadstone made Jason Bourne an unstoppable force, but he’s not the only one.
Operation Treadstone has nearly ruined Adam Hayes. The top-secret CIA Black Ops program trained him to be an all but invincible assassin, but it also cost him his family and any chance at a normal life. Which is why he was determined to get out. Working as a carpenter in rural Washington state, Adam thinks he has left Treadstone in the past, until he receives a mysterious email from a former colleague, and soon after is attacked by an unknown hit team at his job site.
Adam must regain the skills that Treadstone taught him–lightning reflexes and a cold conscience–in order to discover who the would-be killers are and why they have come after him now. Are his pursuers enemies from a long-ago mission? Rival intelligence agents? Or, perhaps, forces inside Treadstone? His search will unearth secrets in the highest levels of government and pull him back into the shadowy world he worked so hard to forget.
I seem to be one of the few who thought that the Bourne spinoff film The Bourne Legacy (staring Jeremy Renner) wasn’t that bad. The TV Treadstone series is a different matter. Enjoyable, but as my school reports always said could do better. Though it had me hooked from the start as soon as I realised it includes the lady from Olen Steinhauer’s series Berlin Station in the cast list. Then, I also seem to be one of the even fewer who thought the Eric Van Lustbader continuation of the Bourne series was pretty damn good as well. He relinquished the writing duties a couple of years back now, and Brian Freeman has begun with carrying on with the actual Jason Bourne character. I’ve read that one as well, and it is excellent, right up there with Ludlum’s best.
They are not chronological or anything. Like, you don’t need to read across the series’ in any particular order, they are self-contained in that respect. You should start a series and read/watch that series in order, I mean.
Now, we’re come to this new Joshua Hood series, set in the Treadstone world. An ‘expansion’ I’ve seen this sort of thing described as elsewhere.
He’s on a hiding to nothing, given that it’s a spin-off from Ludlum’s character and world, with a lot of people meaning that Ludlum just can’t be beaten when it comes to this sort of thing. But then, given the poor reception of the film and series that was spun off, you perhaps could argue that he actually has a clear road ahead. And the good news is, he succeeds in doing an excellent job. The book is full of exciting set-pieces, drama at every page-turn and a deep dive into what Treadstone is and the toll it takes on the people drafted in, willingly/unwillingly. It’s the start of a new-ish series, so there’s some ground work to do, and Joshua turns out to be the man to do it. It’s my first experience of his work, but he’s clearly a great thriller writer and a cut above the ‘every fibre of my being’ crowd, in my view. I thoroughly enjoyed it, have the second waiting to be read, and the third is out at the start of next year (2022).
Then, if you still can’t get enough of all things Jason Bourne, Robert Ludlum and Treadstone. there’s a new Bourne film in the works as well. I think ‘slated’ as they say, for next year sometime. That’ll make, what? Four ‘world’s, mostly unrelated to each other, except obviously for the Bourne /Treadstone names: Original Bourne books (Ludlum, Lustbader, Freeman), Bourne films, Treadstone film, Treadstone series.
And don’t worry, I’m here for you, saying here take my money!
*The main photo (the large one at the top) is the version I have, the Head Of Zeus one. The next down is the US version, so be careful when you order/buy.
You can buy The Treadstone Ressurection from The Book Depository
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