Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Bourne Identity  By  cover art

The Bourne Identity

By: Robert Ludlum
Narrated by: Darren McGavin
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $8.06

Buy for $8.06

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

He is a man with an unknown past and an uncertain future. A man dragged from the sea riddled with bullets, his face altered by plastic surgery—a man bearing the dubious identity of Jason Bourne. Now he is running for his life, the target of professional assassins, at the center of a maddening, deadly puzzle.

Who is Jason Bourne? To answer that question, he must find the secret buried deep in his own past. And the only one who can help him is a beautiful stranger—the woman who once would do anything to escape him. Plus, hear a preview of Ludlum's riveting thriller The Bourne Ultimatum.

©1987 Robert Ludlum and Bantam Audio Publishing (P)1987 Bantam Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

What listeners say about The Bourne Identity

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    135
  • 4 Stars
    105
  • 3 Stars
    102
  • 2 Stars
    102
  • 1 Stars
    177
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    109
  • 4 Stars
    57
  • 3 Stars
    75
  • 2 Stars
    53
  • 1 Stars
    104
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    111
  • 4 Stars
    74
  • 3 Stars
    72
  • 2 Stars
    50
  • 1 Stars
    85

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Then Bourne Identity

The actual book itself may be good, but this audio version is horrible! Between the music and the reader who sounds like he is reading with a mouth full of phlegm it was a nightmare to get through the first 30 minutes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

56 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Abridged must to be eradicated from Earth!

Because I was in a hurry, I ordered this abridged novel by accident (stupid). If this were unabridged, it would be excellent, however, I find it distasteful that a book which would run several more hours has been boiled down to a little over two. The memory of Ludlum deserves so much more than that. It’s time the publishers stop treating those of us who listen like we are idiots, and start recording ALL the words the Author intended!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing to Ludlum fans

The abbridged version leaves many details out that makes Ludlum writing interesting. The reader's voice and inflections are extremely difficult to understand. I won't get another book by this reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

If you haven't read the book DON'T SEE THE MOVIE

I can't rate this abridged version since I almost never listen to them. Doug (reviewer on July 7) said he needed to watch the movie to see what the book was about because the abridgement was so bad. Doug, that would be a big mistake. The movie turned Ludlum's noble character into the freak result of the terribly twisted US government - great story in this day and age where its good sport in Hollywood to paint the American govt. as the evil empire. In the book, a CIA agent took a false identity - Jason Bourne - who subsequently took credit for Carlos' murders in an attempt to flush Carlos out and end his career. Note that he wasn't brainwashed or part of a larger group of mummified hit men. When he got shot and left for dead at the start of the book and lost his memory the pieces of that false persona that came back were the result of his being immersed in the role for so long trying to complete his mission. As the book, and ultimately the trilogy unfold there are two story lines; (1)finding and stopping Carlos and (2)David Webb, aka Jason Bourne, finding his way back to his real identity. I personally am on pins and needles waiting to see how Hollywood further bastardizes Ludlum's most popular writing in The Bourne Supremacy. Bottom line - if you want to know what Ludlum wrote there's only one way to do it -- read the book. Audible - where are the unabridged versions of Ludlum's early writings? The Holocraft Covenant, The Matarese Circle, The Bourne trilogy - wonderful writing when Ludlum was at his creative best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Awful abridgement!

I bought this to bring me back up to speed on the Bourne series - I read it so long ago - so I figured an abridged version would be OK. Man is this version awful. Jerky plotlines, poor reading, I hate the music in the background - sounds like a cheesy movie.

Don't waste your time. Buy the book instead. I'm going back to unabridged-only purchases.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A Painful Listen

This is the only time throughout my membership with Audible that I wished I had bought the actual book. The narrator will make your skin feel like it is shearing off layer by layer until the last nerve is exposed. What a shame to have dishonored Ludlum's work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Hard to Understand

I often could not understand what the orator was saying. I knew the name at the time of purchase of McGaven and liked him as an actor but after listening to the first recording I must admit that I wish I had not bought the other two books. I also found the abridged edition to be fragmented and you can tell some important details are missing. Overall, very disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Horrible dramatic reading

The horrible dramatic reading destroys any value that the text itself might have.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awful!!!

This abridged version and the other two narrated by Darren McGavin are a waste of time, and money too. I just finished listening to the NEW unabridged version, and it was wonderful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

new reader needed

The reader was awful! The full book is great. this chopped up version was not even the same book. The background music was annoying.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful