Robert Ludlum, TM
“Since his death, the Estate of Robert Ludlum has worked with a carefully selected author and editor to prepare and edit this work for publication.” — Copyright page of “The Ambler Warning,” published by St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2005. Copyright by Myn Pyn LLC.
“The Ambler Warning” is a BookList entry.
I have no idea when Robert Ludlum died, but he’s still publishing books. Or at least his namesake is. His trademark.
Meanwhile, a nameless author is being published under the name of Robert Ludlum, TM. I mention the TM because it’s important. It lets you, the reader, know right away that the novel you are about to read is not in fact written by Robert Ludlum but by a ghostwriter. A corporation. By Myn Pyn LLC.
This all-important mark, however, is stamped in the tiniest of letters next to the name Robert Ludlum on the cover of this novel, so good luck seeing it in dim lighting without your glasses. I was all the way home with this one — reading, even, puzzled by the mediocrity — when I noticed that “The Ambler Warning” was written by a business.
(Sidebar: Don’t you have to take some small bit of evil glee in the fact that the disclaimer on the copyright page contains a potentially confusing modifier?)
Now that I realize this book wasn’t actually written by Robert Ludlum, I am suspicious about the rest of the books listed in the front matter under his name. Did Robert Ludlum write “The Sigma Protocol”? Did he write “The Moscow Vector”? To be accurate, there’s a separate list in the front matter labled with TM. Regardless, keep a sharp eye.
Even now I’m thinking of Carolyn Keene, author of the Nancy Drew mysteries. And we all know that not one woman but a collection of authors throughout the years wrote under that name. And I know there are arguments to be made for business and marketing and money and such — decisions made, perhaps, with the full cooperation and consent of the living Robert Ludlum — but use of the TM seems a blatant, audacious tool to live past your time and sell books that aren’t yours in your name. No child ever read a Nancy Drew book because it was written by Carolyn Keene.
