The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 22 books · 1971 to 2002

Robert Ludlum

Thriller and suspenseLiterary and generalSpy and espionageAction and adventurePolitical thrillerComic fiction

Robert Ludlum's conspiracy thrillers include The Bourne Identity, about an amnesiac assassin, as well as the Matarese books and the comic MacKenzie Hawkins capers. Most of his other novels are standalones.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Only books Ludlum wrote himself are charted, not the continuation novels published under his name.

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Who appears in which book

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LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Robert Ludlum books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Jason Bourne

3 books · Set around the worldSpy and espionageAction and adventure
  1. 1The Bourne Identity1980With Jason BourneBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Bourne Supremacy1986With Jason BourneBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Bourne Ultimatum1990With Jason BourneBuy on Amazon

Matarese

2 books · Set around the worldSpy and espionagePolitical thriller
  1. 1The Matarese Circle1979With Brandon Scofield and Vasili TaleniekovBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Matarese Countdown1997With Cameron PryceBuy on Amazon

MacKenzie Hawkins

2 books · Set around the worldSpy and espionageComic fiction
  1. 1The Road to Gandolfo1975With MacKenzie HawkinsBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Road to Omaha1992With MacKenzie HawkinsBuy on Amazon

Standalone

15 books · Set around the worldSpy and espionagePolitical thriller
  1. 1The Scarlatti Inheritance1971Buy on Amazon
  2. 2The Osterman Weekend1972With John TannerBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Matlock Paper1973Buy on Amazon
  4. 4The Rhinemann Exchange1974Buy on Amazon
  5. 5The Gemini Contenders1976Buy on Amazon
  6. 6The Chancellor Manuscript1977Buy on Amazon
  7. 7The Holcroft Covenant1978With Noel HolcroftBuy on Amazon
  8. 8The Parsifal Mosaic1982With Michael HavelockBuy on Amazon
  9. 9The Aquitaine Progression1984With Joel ConverseBuy on Amazon
  10. 10The Icarus Agenda1988With Evan KendrickBuy on Amazon
  11. 11The Scorpio Illusion1993Buy on Amazon
  12. 12The Apocalypse Watch1995Buy on Amazon
  13. 13The Prometheus Deception2000Buy on Amazon
  14. 14The Sigma Protocol2001Buy on Amazon
  15. 15The Janson Directive2002With Paul JansonBuy on Amazon

Characters

15 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Bourne

Matarese

Hawkins

Standalone leads