The Matarese Countdown

On a snowy night in northern Russia, balding and bedridden Maria Yuriskaya prepares herself for the last rites of death. When a priest approaches her bed and asks for a confession, she unloads a whopper of a secret and sets off The Matarese Countdown. Apparently, the accidental killing of her world-class nuclear physicist husband by a wild bear was not an accident after all. The death was a set up and Maria knows who did it. The priest thinks shes having a senile fit, but shes serious. So serious, that uttering the dreaded words, “The Matarese … the consummate evil” seems to vacuum the life right out of her. The legendary Matarese, the planet-threatening dynasty of killers from The Matarese Circle, is back and up to their evil tricks. The grandson of The Matarese, a laissez-faire fundamentalist with a bad case of ancestor-worship plans to finish his grandfathers wicked designs. However, political-science prodigy and CIA rookie Cameron Pryce is on the case. Armed with several languages and even more degrees, Pryce races around the world and against the clock to stop the deadly posse. Fast-paced and action-packed, The Matarese Countdown is a must for Ludlum fans, but its not for sissies. Rugged, macho observations abound: “They waded into shore as the clattering motors came to a stop, and as women tend to do, Leslie and Toni embraced,” and “Maybe the women would change your mind. After all, it was the women, the mothers, who got us all through the Ice Age. In the animal kingdom, the female is the most vicious in protecting her young.” In other words, if a post Ice Age feminist read this book and ran into Ludlum, she probably wouldnt embrace him. –Rebekah Warren