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Covert-One is a series of thriller novels written by several writers after the death of Robert Ludlum. One of the founders and best writers in the series is Gayle Lynds, the award-winning author of a series of thriller novels. Lynds has written three novels in the series. The first novel in the Covert-one series by the author is the 2000 published title, The Hades Factor.
Order of Covert-One Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hades Factor | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Cassandra Compact | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | The Paris Option | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The Altman Code | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | The Lazarus Vendetta | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Moscow Vector | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Robert Ludlum's The Arctic Event | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | The Ares Decision | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The Janus Reprisal | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | The Utopia Experiment | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | The Geneva Strategy | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | The Patriot Attack | 2016 | Description / Buy |
Most of the concepts and ideas in the novels follow those of the late Robert Ludlum, one of the best thriller writers of the generation. The novels feature a team of technical and political operatives, which are members of one of the most secret of US Spy agencies known as Covert-One. The stated aim of the group is to combat bio weaponry, conspiracy, and corruption at the highest levels of government and society.
The Hades Factor, the debut novel in the series tells the story of the outbreak of a virus that brings unspeakable terror on the United States. Retired Covert-One agent, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Smith is with Sophie Amsden is girlfriend in Berlin, where they are attending a congress. Meanwhile, Rachel Russell a brilliant Covert-One agent has been sent to Berlin to retrieve some important information about the virus. She succeeds in tracking down the vials, but is double-crossed by two dirty agents, who she later kills. But she now has to find a secure hiding place and someone she can trust to protect the vials.
Jon Smith is recalled from retirement to help determine what kind of virus is threatening to devastate the United States, Flying back to the US, he soon determines the virus to be the infamous Hades Virus, a rare and extreme variant of the deadly Ebola Virus. But he soon discovers that the US is not only facing bio-terrorism, but also a highly complex and well-organized conspiracy plot with tentacles all over the globe. What follows is a race against time as Jon, Sophie, and Russell travel across the world on the trail of the terrorists and conspirators.
COVERT ONE BOOKS INTO TV/MOVIES
The first novel in the Covert-One series, The Hades Factor was made into TV miniseries in 2006. The film was released under the name Covert One: The Hades Factor and starred Stephen Dorff in the lead role of Jon Smith. It was first broadcast as a two-part CBS miniseries and then later aired on Sky One as a film, which was later released as a DVD by SONY Pictures.
BEST COVERT-ONE BOOKS
The first novel in the Covert-One series of novels, The Hades Factor, is one of its most popular. The fact that it was made into a highly successful movie speaks to the excellence of the story.
The Altman Code: The second Gayle Lynds novel in the Covert-One series, is also one of its most popular. It starts with the president receiving information that the Chinese have a ship loaded with dangerous chemicals, en-route to a rogue nation that intends to manufacture biological weapons. But with the proof of the shipment in the hands of an agent in Taiwan, the president cannot act unless Jon Smith, Covert-One’s best agent can retrieve it. But before he can get to the agent and the ship manifest, the agent is murdered, the document destroyed, while Smith is ambushed nearly losing his life. With the ship drawing near the port, Smith is running out of time to uncover the truth about its cargo. What he does not know is that, the truth involves an international cabal whose power extends through the Chinese ruling party and even as far as Washington.
The Paris Option: The third Gayle Lynds novel in the series is another brilliant novel in the Covert-One series. The novel starts with an explosion in Paris’s Pasteur Institute that kills Emile Chambord, a leading scientist with the committee charged with creating a DNA or molecular computer. Unfortunately for the committee, nobody knows the details of the work the scientist was doing as she either had kept it all secret, or they had all burned down in the inferno that had taken her life. But someone seems to have gotten hold of the blueprints and has made just such a computer. It is now up to Jon Smith of Covert-One to find the connection the person behind the new age computer and the explosion and stop them from wreaking havoc that could shape the world forever.
OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE
If you are a fan of the Covert-One series of novels, you will love the “Jason Bourne” series by Robert Ludlum. These novels are light thrillers featuring Jason Bourne, an assassin with no face or identity, who is plagued by vague memories of the violence of his previous life. Fans of the Covert-One series of novels will also enjoy “The Janson Command” series of novels by Paul Garrison. These thrillers feature Paul Janson a retired operative turned independent contractor, who works for international government agencies to take down international covert plots.
What Is The Next Book in The Covert-one Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Covert-one Series. The newest book is The Patriot Attack and was released on September, 22nd 2016.