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A man is fished out of the Mediterranean, suffering from gunshot wounds and amnesia. As he slowly recovers, certain clues emerge: he has had plastic surgery to 'soften' his appearance, random memories come to him in flashbacks, and implanted under his skin is a frame of microfilm with the number of a bank account in Switzerland - a bank account containing four million dollars in the name of Jason Bourne.

He goes to Zurich in search of answers, but only finds more questions. Why does he have access to all that money? Why is Zurich familiar to him? Who is Jason Bourne?

Suddenly, he is the target of assassins - he doesn't know who, he doesn't know why. But he knows he must do anything he can to survive and solve the puzzle.


There then follows 560-odd pages of fast-paced, non-stop, thrill-a-minute action.

Robert Ludlum's book plunges almost immediately into a life-or-death chase with unknown gunmen appearing from seemingly every corner. Bad enough if you know who and why, but when you don't even remember who you were and what you did, let alone why anyone would want to kill you, I'd imagine it could be ever-so-slightly frustrating.
All the while though, Bourne seems to somehow know what to do and how to react in any given situation. He seems to instinctively know which button to push, and how hard. This only serves to confuse him further. Why does he know these things? Things like: how to handle a gun...being able to speak several languages...lethal unarmed combat...the art of disguise.
At various points, and usually at the most disadvantageous moments, flashes of a half-remembered past come back to haunt him. Memories of a person he'd rather not be...a hired killer? A spy? A...what? Just who is Jason Bourne?

The plot involves terrorists, the CIA and other intelligence agencies, covert operations in SE Asia, and a plethora of other sub-plots including a love interest. Basically, as we go further into the book, Bourne discovers more and more of his past life - but never quite the full story. Sometimes the facts he uncovers are really only half-truths...or downright falsehoods. Is he one of the good guys? Or his he a cold-blooded assassin? Who is Jason Bourne?

I'm afraid you'll have to find that out for yourself.
The plot is far too complicated and long-winded to go into any further here - not without giving too much away. Besides, you've probably already seen the movie, and while I haven't, I imagine the basic premise doesn't vary significantly from

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