Robert Ludlum (1927–2001) was an American author of twenty-seven novels between 1971 and 2006, the last being issued five years after his death. Of his twenty-seven novels, two were originally published under the pseudonym of Jonathan Ryder and another under the pseudonym of Michael Shepherd. Ludlum also created the Covert-One series, overseeing the first three novels with Gayle Lynds and Philip Shelby before his death. Following Ludlum's death, his estate has continued to publish novels under his name with eight authors having written a combined twenty-two novels under the Ludlum brand. Since 2007, publishing rights in the United States have been held by Grand Central Publishing, taking over from St. Martin's Press who held the rights from 2000 to 2006.
The latest book to be published is The Bourne Enigma by Eric Van Lustbader, the thirteenth novel in the Jason Bourne series. The fourteenth novel in the Jason Bourne series, The Bourne Initiative, is scheduled for release in June 2017.
All posthumous Jason Bourne novels by Eric van Lustbader bear the trademark inscription ROBERT LUDLUM'S™ (e.g. Robert Ludlum's (TM) The Bourne Dominion, see Amazon) but the owner of the trademark is not known.