Robert Ludlum’s The Paris Option

Third novel in the Covert-One series.


When an explosion and fire destory part of the esteemed Pasteur Institute in Paris, cyber wizard Marty Zellerbach is left in a coma, while the body of one of the world’s top computer scientists – Émile Chambord – hasn’t been found at all. Although a terrorist group takes credit for the bombing, American and British officials begin to wonder. Chillingly, perhaps the situation is even worse than it appears.


At the same time in a clandestine army lab in Colorada, Lt. Col. Jon Smith is part of a team working to create a DNA computer. With his background in molecular biology, this project intrigues him: molecular computers will be the most powerful computers the world has ever seen. A single bottle of DNA can crunch more mathematics than all the conventional silicon computers on earth today.


When Jon learns his old friend Marty is seriously injured in the explosion, he’s about to leave for Paris. Then Nathan Klein, the shadowy chief of Covert-One, shows up with an assignment – find Dr. Chambord. It appears the Pasteur bombing was a decoy to hide the kidnapping of the scientist, because, with Marty’s help, he’s succeeded in building the globe’s first working molecular computer. The military implications are terrifying if the computer falls into the hands of a rogue government or terrorist cell.


From Paris to London, Brussels and Algiers, Jon Smith searches for the scientist and the ambitious forces behind the bombing and theft. With the help of colleagues Peter Howell, Randi Russell, and a recovered Marty, Jon uncovers a web of deception on the brink of reshaping Europe and threatening the destruction of the United States.