The Bourne Deception

Jason Bourne gets nearly killed on Bali. He fakes his death and takes on a new identity in order to find the assassin. Shortly after, an American passenger airliner is shot down over Egypt. With an Iranian missile, as the investigation under the lead of Jason's friend Soraya Moore reveals. Soon, Jason's search for the assassin intersects with Soraya's search for the people who brought down the airliner. And all the while the possibility of a war against Iran is growing...

I didn't like The Bourne Deception. I found it too confusing with all the jumps between too many characters. And the story was too implausible and constructed. Though I could imagine that with all the action it would be a good basis for an action movie.

Quotes from the book

"It's nice to see you, Noah." [...] "Nice is a word people use when they politely lie."

It had been three months since the bullet struck him, three months since Moira followed his orders to the letter. Now virtually everyone who knew him believed him to be dead.

You can take the man out of hell but you can't take hell out of the man.

"Deaf as a coconut; mute as well."

Say what you wanted about him, when it came to his trade he was a first-rate practitioner. The trouble was that too often his trade included methods of interrogation and torture that would make even those running Abu Ghraib sick to their stomachs.

The country [Egypt] was a bureaucratic nightmare: nothing got done, not a single answer was forthcoming until at least fifteen people in seven different divisions were consulted and agreed on it.

If it weren't so sad it would be funny, really, turning for help to the last person she'd ever accept anything from.

Human beings, it became clear to him, thrived on lies; they needed them in order to survive, to be happy, even. Because the truth was often unpleasant, and people didn't care for that. Furthermore, it didn't suit many of them. They'd much rather lie to themselves, have those around them lie to them to preserve the illusion of beauty. Reality wasn't pretty, that was the truth.

"How badly are you hurt?" - "Not badly." - "Really? You look like you're already dead."

"I like money too much to spend it when I don't have to."

But nothing came easy in life, at least not in her life and not in anyone else's she knew, so why bother complaining about it. Take the hand you're dealt and then finesse it, that was what she'd always done, that was what she'd do now.

He was a massive man with a bowling-ball head, who looked like an overstuffed sausage.

First and foremost, it galled him to partner with Russians, whose corruption and dissolute lifestyle he both loathed and envied. How could a bunch of scummy pigs like that be so awash in money? While it was true that life was never fair, he mused, sometimes it could be downright malevolent.

"I made a promise to her", Arkadin said. "This fucking baby factory?" Maslov scoffed. "You're stupider than you look."

"What seems to be the trouble?" He might have been addressing both of them but, because he knew Tarkanian by sight, his eyes were firmly fixed on Arkadin. With a venomous glare, Arkadin reacted. He grabbed the bouncer and slammed his forehead against the edge of the bar with so much force that nearby drinks trembled and the closest ones tipped over. Then he kept slamming it until Tarkanian managed to pull him off. "I don't have a problem", Arkadin said to the stunned and bleeding bouncer. "But it's clear you do."

If the Iranians could shoot down an American passenger jet over Egyptian airspace, what would stop them from downing the jets of other nations that opposed their nuclear program? This had been the cornerstone of the president's argument to the United Nations, one that had proved so compelling that it had eaten through all the knee-jerk pacifistic, foot-dragging bullshit that usually infested the international body of navel-gazers and do-nothings.

Liss had warned him about Moira or, more accurately, his relationship with her, which Liss had termed "unhealthy". "Fire her and fuck her", Liss had said in his usual economic style, "or forget her."