I need some books to take for a trip starting in Amsterdam and cruising down the Rhine, the Main, and the Danube all the way to Bucharest. I’d prefer to read books that take place in the cities we’ll visit. Here’s the route:

https://www.vikingrivercruises...bucharest/index.html

I read all the older Ludlum books many years ago, once he died I totally lost interest. IIRC, his writing makes it seem like you’re actually in the cities, and heck, I will be in some of them!

I’m thinking the action in these will sort of match my route:

“The Gemini Contenders”
“The Rheinmann Exchange”
“The Osterman Weekend?”

Any others SF members recommend?

 
Read all of the ones he wrote himself, right from the beginning until he died. Full of good action that changed from page to page. Eric Van Lustbader sucks as a substitute author.
 

I concur with reading the ones he wrote. Obviously his Bourne novels are interesting and should hit your areas of travel. Not in your area, IIRC, is the Road to Gandolfo. I’d recommend you simply check the bios of each novel and select based on that.

On a related note, look into Daniel Silva’s novels. They are based in Europe as well and should cover some of your areas as well.

They were good, but long as I remember.

My first job out of college was as a publicity associate for Dell Books. It was my job to escort the authors to their various interviews, etc. Many successful authors I met through my job were extremely condescending and demanding. Robert Ludlum was a total gentleman who never made me feel like a servant.

The Matarese Circle was always one of my favorites.

I've read a few of them, but it's been a while. They were good, but it takes a while to get through them. IIRC the Matarese ones were good. I read one or two of the Jansen series, they were good too. I didn't care so much for the Covert-One stuff. The original (3) Bourne stories were good but the movies had virtually nothing in common with them beyond the titles. I haven't read any of of the ghost-written Bourne books so I can't comment on those.

Another group of books that you might look at is the George Smiley series by John le Carre. Particularly the "Karla trilogy".

I love Robert Ludlum novels. Started with the Parsifal Mosaic and went on with the Bourne series after watching the Bourne Identity starring Richard Chamberlain. More subdued than the Damon movie but more in keeping with Ludlums vision, I think.

Thanks to all for the replies. I picked up multiple original Ludlum books (all of which I read 20+ years ago) and a couple by Dan Silva. These will work for multiple trips to Europe.

Slight thread drift: In the short bio in one of the paperbacks, it says Daniel Silva is married to Jamie Gangel of NBC's Today show. The good news, she's no longer on that POS network.

Jamie Gangel is now on CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/profiles/jamie-gangel-profile

I loved the Ludlum books when I was younger and had read them all by mid 20's. They gave me s sense of seeing the world and were great stories. I read a few in one night binges.

I strongly endorse the Daniel Silva books. They will be a great fit with your trip.

Many thanks for the introduction to Daniel Silva. I just finished "Portrait of a Spy" and have started "The Rembrandt Affair." I also have several Robert Ludlum books to reread on this trip. BTW, I'm on a Viking river cruise currently in Wurzburg.

As a preteen I read parts of The Rhinemann Exchange repeatedly. LOL

Hi Sigmund.

Late to the thread, I read all the author's books in my youth. Also enjoyed Lustvader's when he was signing them as Eric VAN Lustvader.

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Sigmund - Enjoy the trip. Wish I was there. Wife and I did Prague to Budapest in Dec. 2016 on Viking. Fantastic trip. Yours should be even better. Post pics.

I read a lot of the original Ludlum novels but I eventually burned out.

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
I read a lot of the original Ludlum novels but I eventually burned out.

Same here. The timing of this thread is funny, though, as I’ve just in the last couple of months thought about revisiting his work.