The Bourne Identity (novel) - Plot

Plot

In the stormy Mediterranean Sea, a man is found floating in the water by a small ship. He has several bullet wounds, including a head wound which has resulted in amnesia. The doctor treating him finds a message surgically embedded in his hip which contains details of a Swiss bank account, presumably held anonymously.

The patient heads to Zurich to visit the bank, where he learns his name is Jason Charles Bourne, and finds US$ 5 million in his account. He transfers the bulk of this money and takes some in cash. As he leaves, he is attacked by three men, which he thwarts in their attempt on his life. In the panic, he escapes back to his hotel and takes a hostage, a French-Canadian government economist named Marie St. Jacques.

After a few incidents, Marie escapes and Bourne is caught by his pursuers but manages to escape and rescue Marie from a thug raping her who would have killed her. While doing so, he is shot several times and is taken by Marie to a hotel to recuperate.

The couple head to Paris to investigate Bourne's connection with the Treadstone Corporation, the apparent source of the money in his account. Bourne and Marie learn that their attackers may be led by Carlos the Jackal, an assassin whose trademark execution is a bullet in the throat.

Meanwhile in America, a secret conference is convened by the head of Treadstone and members of the Pentagon top brass, including an army officer named Gordon Webb. One of Carlos' operatives, known as "the European", storms the mansion in which Treadstone is based, killing everyone inside. Bourne is then framed for these murders. Alexander Conklin of the CIA and former friend of Bourne is tasked with handling the matter.

Bourne convinces French intelligence General Villiers to join his side, but realizes his wife may be a mole for Carlos. He discovers a boutique used as a drop for her intel, and is recognized by an employee named D'Anjou who claims to be a man from his past. He agrees to meet D'Anjou. He learns that they were comrades in a CIA paramilitary unit called Medusa during the Vietnam War, and that his codename was Delta.

Conklin, convinced Bourne has turned, baits him into a meeting at the Rambouillet Cemetery in France. However, Bourne arrives early and incapacitates Conklin's hidden associate. Although Conklin assumes Bourne will kill him, Bourne lets him get away.

Villiers' wife is killed and Bourne takes the blame in order to bait Carlos into following him to the USA. In New York, Bourne finds the Treadstone Mansion, he bluffs his way in and is attacked on the top floor by a knife-wielding Carlos. Carlos then shoots Bourne and escapes. Realizing that he will bleed out soon, Bourne manages to find the strength to kill all of Carlos' men. Conklin arrives and forces Carlos to retreat. Bourne passes out.

The final chapter returns to Marie and two other men who tell her about Bourne's tragic past. He was a young Foreign Service officer named David Webb, brother to Gordon Webb. While he was stationed in Asia during the vietnam War, Webb's Thai wife and their two children were shot down by a stray airplane, neither side claimed the plane. After that Webb joined Medusa, and became notorious for his near-suicidal guerilla tactics. During a mission in Tam Quan Webb discovered one his men was a double agent and executed him on the spot. That man was a criminal from Australia named Jason Bourne. After the Vietnam War Webb became a college teacher in New Hampshire until the U.S. government recurited him for Treadstone. The purpose was to create an assassin to rival Carlos and draw him out to kill him. Webb took Bourne's name and became an assassin called "Cain", taking credit for other peoples' kills as a way to challenge Carlos.