The Icarus Agenda is a novel of political intrigue of the sort that is commonly found on best-seller lists. Its antecedents include such diverse novels as Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey's Seven Days in May and John le Carre's Smiley's People, which have in common the creation of realistic backgrounds and tough, direct prose, which enhances their matter-of-fact tone.

They differ from such tales of international espionage as the James Bond books in that they avoid high flights of technological fantasy and prodigious sexual performances of their heroes.

Still, they are fantasies to some degree; for instance, Kendrick is almost without character flaws, and his wild adventures are implausible at best, with his escape from a Mexican island requiring several unbelievable acts, from disarming a trained and murderous FBI agent to shooting down his enemies in darkness.

To some degree, Ludlum is his own literary...