The Gemini Contenders: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – August 1, 1989

I wish I could give this book more than three stars. This novel had me flipping the pages late into the night. There was a great overarching mystery, fascinating characters, thrilling fight scenes, looming shadowy villains, and even heartbreak. Ludlum is a master, and we should not expect less from him. Unfortunately, the final pages were a dud. After excellent build-up, and plenty of clues about the nature of the central mystery, Ludlum just dropped the ball at the very end. But, the first 98% was great! Read it, but set aside your expectations & just let the novel deliver what the author wrote. It’s an Ok ending. I just expected better.

I have owned several copies of this book over the years. I have now read it, seven times. It's that good!Long before the "da Vinci Code", there was the "Gemini Contenders". Without going into ANY of the plot's details, I will say only that it is a well written, religious theory based story. One of those books that you cannot put down.Sorry, but I don't want to ruin it for you!

A saga that is like 2 books--these days probably would have been published that way. The mystery hidden and quested after remains a mystery until revealed, which surprised me! I was sure I had figured out what it would be! Ludlum spins a great tale but is also a great prose writer, not always in the same package.

The story begins in the 1920's and is told by the padrone of the family, wealthy and powerful family and the secret of the Greek train and it's cargo, a vault that everyone wants to find and control. Through 3 generations and a name change to protect Victor and later Jane..and the Gemini twins born to them, Andrew and Adrian. Many unexpected twists and turns make this a must read.

Haven't read the kindle copy of the book yet but I did read the hard cover about 20 years ago and found it to be one of his best.

Not quite classic Ludlum. But fabulous. Weaves together WWII, Nazi horrors, British MI6 and other secret services, several generations of a wealthy, industrial family, and a 2,000 year old secret parchment with the power to disrupt and change the world. Loved it! Couldn’t put it down.

Started out good but became rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull...rather dull... rather dull... rather dull...

The final, final ending was a little too obvious but getting there was all the fun. If you like mystery adventure with a little religion thrown in you will love this one.

Robert Ludlum was one of those hugely successful writers who knew what his fans wanted and gave them exactly that. His books were variations on a theme and he tended to just shuffle the same cards whenever he wrote a new one. So you know you will get a complex plot, anti-heroes, violence, twists and turns, super wealthy people, shadowy organizations, some romance etc, the story may be different but you know it will be very much Ludlum. If all that sounds negative, it is also the case that he was so successful because he could write a gripping story and for all their faults (some of the romance scenes are a bit cringe inducing) I still find his books very enjoyable to read. One of the barometers of any story is whether you are immersed in the story enough to let the inconsistencies and plot devices in any story go by without breaking that immersion. If you keep getting reactions of "nonsense" and end up just highlighting plot holes or absurdities then the story has failed (think of the dire new Star Wars movies which were so full of holes and absurdities even my Star Wars loving children were pointing them out). I find with Ludlum books that when reading his books I get immersed in the story and these inconsistencies and holes don't bother me, so job done Ludlum.So, onto this book. It's typical Ludlum, anyone who has read Ludlum will know what to expect and receive just what they expect. This one is one of his better ones in my opinion as the story is about an ancient Christian artefact with the power to shatter the Christian faith. Ludlum's premise of the potential effect on the world is overblown and a bit silly really but as I highlighted above the story just carries you along and I didn't think too much about it while reading the story. Lots of action, lots of twists, all the usual Ludlum fare. This is the sort of book literary critics deride and dismiss as "holiday reading" if they are forced to say anything remotely positive, but it is a hugely enjoyable read which just carries the reader along. 5*.

Never ending twists, action galore, interesting characters - you’re not sure who to trust. Never boring or predictable.

This is not one of RL's best. I found it hard to retain an interest in the characters possibly because the twins did not seriously enter the story until quite late in the book. The ending was predictable but the reason for the search was an intriguing one. That said, I cannot imagine that the discovery of the hidden document would have had the ramifications attributed to it.

Nice book, in easy to read print. Thanks.

great book really good read