The Bourne Identity tells of amnesiac Jason Bourne's quest for his own true identity. In this novel, Bourne is primarily a cold blooded killer whose skills suggest that he really is an international terrorist. He meets Marie St.

Jacques, famous economist, who becomes his wife after he recovers some of his lost personality. Like its sequels, The Bourne Identity has almost nonstop action, and the mystery of Bourne's true identity adds to its suspense. The Bourne Supremacy (1986), the second novel in the series, takes place in the Far East. In an interview, Ludlum explains that he originally conceived the novel without Webb/Bourne in it.

After establishing what the novel was to be about, he needed a strong central character who would make sense of events for his readers. Unable to create the needed character without taking up hundreds of pages of exposition explaining who the...