''The Matarese Countdown'' is an espionage thriller novel by

Robert Ludlum Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 – March 12, 2001) was an American author of 27 Thriller (genre), thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original ''Bourne (novel series), The Bourne Trilogy'' series. The number of copi ...

. It is the

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''

The Matarese Circle ''The Matarese Circle'' (1979) is a novel by Robert Ludlum. Story On Christmas Eve in 1978, General Anthony Blackburn, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is killed in a New York brothel. Some time later, Soviet nuclear physicist Dmitri Yuri ...

''.

Plot

Like the legendary phoenix, the Materese are rising from the ashes and are regaining their former power. The new leader of the Matarese is an enigmatic figure named Jan van der Meer Matareisen, according to himself the only legitimate grandchild of Baron Guillaume de Matarese, the founder of the Matarese group. With the help of another shadowy figure known as Julian Guiderone a.k.a. "son of the shepherd boy," who seems to have survived the events recounted in "The Matarese Circle" nearly twenty years ago, they are hatching a new and diabolical plot to plunge the civilised world into total chaos. Only one man, a consular operations operative known as Brandon Scofield a.k.a. Beowulf Agate, can stop them, but he has been retired for nearly twenty years. Brandon Scofield is once again sent into the field together with a CIA case officer, Cameron Pryce, but this time the enemy is more dangerous.

References

American thriller novels 1997 American novels Novels by Robert Ludlum {{1990s-thriller-novel-stub