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In the 2020 preface to his novel Code To Zero, Ken Follett writes that when he wrote the book (in 2000), he had no idea there was such a thing as Jason Bourne. He had never heard of the books, much less read them, and this was two years before the film franchise was released. In fact (at least as of 2020), he says has yet to read any of Robert Ludlum’s series.

The introduction goes on to talk about how the plot point of a main character who has lost his memory is not unique to Ludlum. Some case-in-point is provided before moving on to the general background for the novel – locations and themes. A little 2020-style wokeism is tossed in for good measure (the book features female mathematicians from the 40s and 50s) and we’re asked to enjoy the book. “I didn’t steal this idea and, even if I had, so what!”

Part of me wishes I would have picked up this book back when I was all excited about the space race. Of course, this would have been impossible. Back then I had a pretty distorted idea about who Ken Follett was and would not have chosen to tackle a Cold War thriller from him. There’s also something to be said for following through with this Jason Bourne journey through literature, having little to no memory of what transpired over the past handful of decades yet, at the same time, being familiar with all of its effects. It’s like being able to read about Jason Bourne as Jason Bourne. Add to that, if I had read Code To Zero before The Bourne Identity, I never would have begun my reading with Follett’s 2020 introduction, thereby learning why this all fits together. I’m glad I didn’t miss out on that.

All that said, there is a reason that Follett is a successful WWII/Cold War thriller novelist.

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