Customer Reviews

24 Declassified: Trinity

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like the show you will like the book. The story keeps you just as captivated as the show does. I found myself picturing Jack in the scenes. It is hard to stop reading once you get started. Buy them all - I have and they are all great books...

Put all the 24 novels in chronological order and this is the 1st. Jack is a CIA agent whose case mixes with those of the LAPD, an investigating agent from the NTSB, and the newly created CTU which has just made its very first arrest two days prior to this day. We see CTU in infancy and very disordered. Jack, hesitant to take a job with CTU, begins assisting with a case that eventually will lead to an assassiniation attempt on Pope John Paul II at a peace conference. He partners with Nina for the first time and has a very brief introduction to Tony. He also meets and butts heads with Chappelle which is just a sign of things to come.
Overall, the book is an OK read. I enjoyed reading the beginnings and Hendersons attempts to recruit Jack into CTU. I also liked Jack's first hesitation to use a torture technique yet he allows himself to do so in order to get information needed. There were things I did not care for but this is entirely my opinion and certainly different for other readers. I am not big on the humorous foreshadowing that took place. Things like Jack telling Teri that if he worked for a guy like Chappelle he would "end up shooting him in the head". Nina's extremely aggressive come-on to Jack was also a bit out of character. I would expect a slight attraction from each to hint at an affair but not something so obvious and desperate.
Kim also plays a very big role as the indirect cause for CTU's successful first mission with Jack. Not really something I cared for. Even Jack and other CTU members admit their failure if it weren't for the interference of an outside character.
Like other 24 novels, the last climactic hours are condensed into a small number of pages. The last 6 hours are spread over 70 pages (the last 3 hours are written in 28 pages) and seemed very rushed. There are lots of players and decoys including Hell's Angels Bikers and an over-the-hill actor all of which seem too much to occur on the same day.
Action sequences are good and but there really was no "what is Jack going to do now" moments. Still, any 24 fan will enjoy a 24 read while we wait until January. There are better 24 novels out there but there are worse ones as well.

As a die-hard "24" fan, I have really enjoyed all the "24" Declassified novels (except for "Storm Force"). This one was interesting because through the main storyline featuring a terrorist threat surrounding a historical "peace" conference gathering of the major religions of the world, we learn about the early days of CTU and how Jack Bauer is recruited to work at CTU. We also find out that Jack and Ryan Chapelle didn't get along from the very beginning. This made for some interesting dialog/conflict between these two characters. It was also fun to read about when Jack & Nina first met & worked together. All and all another interesting and fun read.

There's only one problem though; I read through these novels so fast I wish two of them were released at one time. I hope more are coming. They are great for us "24" fans waiting for Season 7 of the series.

I think this is the best one I read so far, I usually do not like to read, but the 24 series are so much fun to read, once you start you cant put the book down. A+ Now I wont read the ones from Jacob, they got too many bad reviews.

Being an avid 24 fan, I (naturally) was quick to pick up this adventure, which chronicles CTU's first 'main' case.

The action was good, and I loved the foreshadowing from major characters. The main problem for me was the amount of hard swearing. As a devoted fan of the Fox TV series, in which the main word used to quantify Jack's culmination of frustration, angst, etc. has been the now-infamous 'da--it!', I was extremely put off by the amount of 'f-bombs' being thrown around by major characters, especially Jack Bauer. I am no prude, it just simply did not fit with the character created in the series, who many a fan (myself included) have grown to love and follow, somewhat religiously.

On the pro side, it was good to read about characters we havent seen/heard from in awhile, like revisiting old friends. Overall, the book could have been much, much more. Instead it turns into a good forgettable book rather than a great memorable one.

Best line: Chappelle, in reference to Jack: "We need that guy like I need a hole in the head."

...And then there was no turning back!

This book marks the beginning saga of how Jack joins the then-fledgeling CTU, leaving behind the overseas skulduggery of the CIA, when he realizes that he can do what he does best while in the US. The war is no more oveseas, but here and now - and he can perhaps do more here than there.

This story is a particularly well-written 24-declassified mission to come out in recent times - and I've read quite a few of them. This book has the speed of the TV series, as well as about as many twists and turns, and also comparable number of dead-ends and red-herrings that are thrown in - for good measure, I must say.

All characters are shown as if introducing them for the first time, which itself would not have been an easy task, knowing as how well the reader would already know them all. Still, this is handled well by Whitman, and he introduces all characters with some pertinent information, most of which is new but still fits into the personality as displayed by the TV series. Chapelle, Henderson, Myers, Almeida, Jamie, and many more - they're all here!

Jack's character is introduced as being a hot-headed rogue CIA agent, who is being eyed by Christian Henderson, director CTU, to join his newly-created Federal agency. Henderson knows that it's just a matter of time before Jack's skills as an investigator and agent provocateur become essential to the success of CTU. Jack, however, sees no need to leave the CIA, which he finds to be the best place to fight terrorism, and to serve his country. The plot in this book serves to open his eyes to the fact that the action can no more be preventive but reactive - for the terrorists are on US soil already. Whick would implicitly mean that the CIA has failed in its assignment of nipping the caper in the bud.

This one day gives Jack enough action to realize that he can do more with CTU than with the CIA, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I didn't know there were 24 books, until I stumbled upon them by accident.
I enjoy the show so much and thought they might be pretty good. Well, I wasn't disappointed. I've purchased every one, and looking forward to more. Can't wait for the 24 movie, and the show to return in 2009. If you love the show and like to read, you can't go wrong.

I loved this book, and after the horrific Storm Force I was a little worried about the series. But here, Jack is back in his full glory, in a wonderfully contorted plot that involves interdenominational terrorists. With action that picks up and doesn't let us down.

I think the only negative for me is that Jack never really gets to meet the man whom the terrorists are after here, and that could have been a real revelation. But there was plenty to enjoy so that I practically read this in one sitting.

Got to say it: I love the '24 Declassifed' series of tie-in novels. Not only do they present Jack in all his glory, but they also feature more innovation than the on-screen series at times ('Operation Hell Gate' had Jack running around New York... before season eight got on it). In carrying on the tradition of adding another bad day for Jack Bauer on the calendar (in spectacular fashion), the novels succeed with equally captivating plots from the authors - but without the bile. There's no struggle for ratings in this format, so there's no gratitious action in each hour, adding more plot twists to the mix at weird times, and forcing Jack to make incredibly impulsive decisions based on shaky legal ground. The White House element is also very toned down, virtually absent in 'Trinity', allowing for the novels to feel tighter and more focused overall. The result is a more sober '24' experience that's more in line with traditional law enforcement agency methods rather than straight up 'Bauer Power' all the time. We also get more facetime with Nina Myers, Tony Almeida, and Ryan Chappelle before... well, you know.

'Trinity' carries on this tradition gracefully. While all the novels are prequels to the first season, this is essentially the prequel to all that. That's right, this is Jack's very first day with CTU. Still employed the CIA, Jack clashes boundaries with the newly founded agency (with some of the equipment still encased in plastic wrapping and incredibly short-staffed) and meets some of his old friends (and enemies) for the first time. This time a whole lot of plastique is missing and with a lot of dark motivation involved, the clock winds back up for Jack and crew to find it before it goes off. It's not a mind-blowing plot by any means, but the author keeps you engaged with his knowledge of law enforcement and his spot-on characterization of Jack and the rest of the Bauer crew. And once the finale rolls around, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and make the book explode upon conclusion.

There are some slight continuity errors (such as CTU somehow being founded in 2000 rather than 1993, references from 'Hell Gate' to CTU being active in 1998, and Jack and Tony knowing each other since 1999 as noted by season seven). However, these are easily overlooked because the author simply knows what he's doing and respects the lore (author David Jacobs had trouble here in his books 'Storm Force', 'Head Shot', and 'Death Angel'). It's a ride still worth taking. Simply put: this is 24.

I do enjoy reading these books. They are a little more detailed and graphic than the series was allowed to be.