There are some spy/thriller writers out there who actually can do some interesting, complex things with the genre; Ludlum just wasn't one of them. You don't read his stuff for complex characterization or deep meaningful examinations of the human condition, you read them for the page-turny "ok, what's going to happen next as this convoluted conspiracy plays out" value. Basically it's the same general plot and same character types over and over again, only the names are changed.