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The Matarese Countdown Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,178 listener ratings
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Twenty years ago, top agents from the CIA and KGB banded together to bring down the Matarese Circle, an international cabal of powerbrokers and assassins whose sole objective was to achieve worldwide economic domination. Now the bloody Matarese dynasty is back--and the only man with the power to stop it may have already run out of time.... CIA case officer Cameron Pryce is hot on the trail of the new Matarese alliance. His only chance to terminate its ruthless activities is to follow the trail of blood money and stone-cold killers right to the heart of its deadly conspiracy. From the Hamptons to London's Belgrave Square, Matarese assassins have already struck with brutal efficiency, eliminating all who stand in their way. Their chain of violence is impossible to stop--until Pryce gets a rare break. One of the Matarese's victims survives long enough to whisper dying words that will blow the case wide open: the top secret code name for legendary retired CIA agent Brandon Scofield--the only man who has ever infiltrated the Matarese inner circle and lived to tell about it.
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"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 she's having a senile fit, but she's 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 grandfather's 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 it's 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 wouldn't embrace him. --Rebekah Warren"
— Eddy (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Lang leads us through a suspenseful tale of inbred corporate corruption and free-market murder.”Amazon.com, editorial review
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“Welcome to Robert Ludlum's world...fast pacing, tight plotting, international intrigue.”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer -
“If a Pulitzer Prize were awarded for escapist fiction, Robert Ludlum undoubtedly would have won it. Ten times over.”
— Mobile Register
The Matarese Countdown Listener Reviews
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" I always enjoy reading Ludlum. I liked this story- it was a little far fetched, but isn't he always? "
— Andrew, 2/20/2014 -
" CIA case officer Cameron Pryce thought he'd crushed the deadly cabal of powerbrokers and assassins. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Matarese dynasty is back. Now the countdown begins -- and Pryce is already running out of time. "The Matarese Circle, " Robert Ludlum's multimillion-copy spellbinder, introduced a treacherous international cabal of powerbrokers and their hired assassins. More than 20 years ago, the top CIA and KGB agents joined together to insure that, in an explosive act, the Matarese conspiracy went up in flames. But now Robert Ludlum, the unsurpassed master of suspense, returns with a stunning thriller for the 21st century. . .Secret deals are in the making, massive mysterious transactions steeped in corruption and murder. The players stand at the highest pinnacles of global finance and government. It is an unprecedented consolidation of money, power, and ruthlessness. Their ultimate aim: worldwide economic domination and all it entails. . . by whatever means necessary. The Matarese dynasty is back in all its glory and evil. And the one man with enough knowledge to stop it, CIA case officer Cameron Pryce, may not have enough time. The Matarese countdown has begun and Pryce's only chance to cut it off is to follow the trail of blood money and stone-cold killers to the heart of this deadliest conspiracy.From the Hamptons to Monte Carlo to London's Belgrave Square, Matarese assassins have already struck with brutal efficiency, eliminating all who stand in their way. But on Spain's Costa del Sol, one victim survived long enough to breathe these dying words: '"Find Beowulf Agate' --words that reverberate all the way to CIA headquarters in Langley,Virginia. Beowulf Agate is the code name for legendary retired agent Brandon Scofield, the only man ever to penetrate the Matarese and survive. Now Cameron Pryce has to draw Scofield and his wife, Antonia, out of their Caribbean paradise hideaway and back to a place they thought they'd never have to go again -- back into the Matarese circle of death. For from the oil fields of the Persian Gulf to the boardrooms of Manhattan, from the hills of Corsica to the halls of power in Washington, the circle is closing, the noose is tightening, the panic is spreading. And Pryce has made a chilling discovery: the Matarese have broken new ground. . . deep inside the CIA. "The Matarese Countdown" is Robert Ludlum at his best, as he delivers a terrifying and persuasive vision of worldwide financial mastery that could only happen today. "
— Al, 2/14/2014 -
" Sequal to Circle set some two decades after the elimination of the Matarese Circle. New players but an old hunter. No great, Not bad. "
— John, 2/8/2014 -
" horrible, absolutely horrible...i gave it one star, but i couldnt even finish it. any book that tells its story through jilted and horrible dialogue isnt worth picking up. "
— Jeremy, 1/30/2014 -
" My second favorite Ludlum novel. "
— Michael, 1/18/2014 -
" Just okay. A bit of a disappointment considering how much I enjoyed the Matarese Circle. "
— Rick, 1/15/2014 -
" This sequel to 'The Matarese Circle' doesn't quite match the original story in intensity nor conflict. It comes off as Ludlum by the numbers. Put protagonists in harm's way, let protagonist avoid harm, and then wash, rinse, and repeat for 500+ pages. There is too much of the 'charming, almost over the hill' operative. The first book thrived on the solid premise of sworn enemies working together for something greater than themselves, but the threat of Ludlum's revived Matarese comes off as cliche and I was literally waiting for them to trip over themselves. Not Ludlum's best. "
— Dee, 1/9/2014 -
" Not an abridged version - or at least it does not say so. "
— Jean, 1/8/2014 -
" Beowulf Agate at his best. But the book disappoints. Vasili Taliniekov is sorely missed. And the Matarese Circle's awe, mystery and awesomeness disappears. Sad end. "
— Sushrut, 12/13/2013 -
" Could not get into it at all. Character development poor. Plot jerky and absurd. Not fun. Didn't finish it. "
— Ryan, 12/6/2013 -
" reading Matarese Circle first not a necessity but certainly added to the back-story "
— Kimberly, 11/14/2013 -
" It's been years since I read it and I think it's time to open it again. "
— Sheri, 11/13/2013 -
" His butler did it. "
— Tomaz, 11/12/2013 -
" Great book, and good story. It was a bit slow in the middle but picked up toward the end of the book. "
— Gary, 7/29/2013 -
" meh. $.25 at the library book sale, and worth every penny. "
— Rena, 3/3/2013 -
" A nefarious plot to take over the world pits a secret agent against a madman. "
— Jamie, 2/1/2013 -
" Disappointing sequel to the thrilling read that was The Matarese Circle. "
— Allison, 12/14/2012 -
" read this a long time ago, think it's a 5 "
— Lostswordsman, 10/26/2012 -
" Absolute power corrupts absolutely "
— MaRgArEtTe, 6/22/2012 -
" Excellent, gripping international suspense novel. "
— Elizabeth, 5/10/2012 -
" well plotted "
— Ndungu, 5/2/2012 -
" Another Ludlum thriller I couldn't stop reading! "
— Lawrence, 3/21/2012
About Robert Ludlum
Eric Van Lustbader is the author of more than twenty-five bestselling novels, including New York Times bestsellers The Ninja and The Testament. His novels have been translated into over twenty languages. He has also written several novels in Robert Ludlum’s highly successful Bourne series, including The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Betrayal, The Bourne Sanction, and others. Before turning to writing full-time, he enjoyed a highly successful career in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education.
About Michael Prichard
Michael Prichard is a Los Angeles-based actor who has played several thousand characters during his career, over one hundred of them in theater and film. He is primarily heard as an audiobook narrator, having recorded well over five hundred full-length books. His numerous awards and accolades include an Audie Award for Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman and six AudioFile Earphones Awards. He was named a Top Ten Golden Voice by SmartMoney magazine. He holds an MFA in theater from the University of Southern California.