Customer Reviews

Black: A Novel

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

As a follow up to Cold Zero, Black obviously tells the story that couldn't be told in non-fiction. A great story that will keep you turning pages well into the night, and then as you stay awake replaying the "could that really happen" scenarios in your head, you're sure to be exhausted the next morning. If you weren't sold on Whitcomb's talent as a writer from his first book or numerous magazine and newspaper articles, Black will definately convince you. Let's hope we don't have to wait long for the next book by this guy.

Black grabs you immediately, then takes you on a high speed international trip at race pace.
The characters met, detailed precision technology presented, the introduction of new age weaponry, all combine to capture, maintain and escalate the reader's interest.
As the main characters paths weave in and out Black builds continually through to the very last page.
Combining of the multiple plot threads is masterful.
When you do reach the end you will anxiously await a follow on.
A great read, done by someone that obviously knows the subject matter very well.

As a fan of W.E.B. Griffin and Tom Clancy's style of writing, I found BLACK engrossing, fast paced, and unpredictable. I am always drawn to stories where I feel I am being brought alongside the adventures of the characters, and not told of them.

The main characters in BLACK kept me looking forward to the next page and next stage of adventure. If you have read "Cold Zero", by this author, you will feel right at home with the FBI'S Hostage Rescue Team, and associated personnel. Jeremy Waller is a new member of "HRT" and is faced with many twists and turns on a professional level as well as trying to cope with the emotional toll his new assignment brings.

The plot takes us from the political intrigue of Washington, to the deserts of Yemen. You will need your own passport to keep up with the contents of this book!

"You know I don't have that kind of information," he said. "That's the way it is on the wet side. Shadows, suggestions, denial. Only the cash is real." -- Christopher Whitcomb, Black

"Black ops" are counter-terrorist intelligence operations that, officially, don't exist. You will never see their successes in the papers or their failures on the nightly news broadcast. Nor will current employees really even admit to their existence. The closest thing we'll come is by reading books and watching movies that, of course, only offer a filtered -- and often fictionalized -- version of actual events. Though, as Black author -- and former FBI agent on the Hostage Rescue Team -- Christopher Whitcomb stated in a recent interview, the FBI isn't entirely against this because "secrecy has its place, but there is also benefit in a fair representation of the people, agencies and events wrapped up in it."

The four protagonists in Black have their lives and actions intersect in ways that the beginning of the novel doesn't even begin to foreshadow. Jordan Mitchell is introduced during a hearing held by Senator Elizabeth Beechum where Mitchell's company Borders Atlantic's new telecommunications encryption method is being touted as dangerous to national security: if the enemy has encrypted cellular lines, how can we listen in? When Senator Beechum is subsequently attacked in her home, "blaming the victim" is taken to a whole new level. (Mitchell mostly comes across merely as a walking description, offering little in the way of the charisma the character supposedly has, while Beechum invites immediate empathy due to her situation.)

Meanwhile, Jeremy Waller is the FNG ("f-----g new guy") on the elite Hostage Rescue Team, just beginning his career with covert operations. One of these ops is so covert that no one else seems to have any information about it, and it doesn't involve "rescue" at all. Elsewhere, resident "Mata Hari" Sirad Malneaux doesn't hesitate to use her best attributes to obtain classified information from various sources. (Though it was difficult to keep track of the total number of double-crosses taking place, it certainly kept me on my toes.)

Whitcomb does break Orson Scott Card's first rule about naming characters: that no two characters' names begin with the same letter. In fact, he takes it a step further and gives Jeremy and Jordan the same number of letters. For a quick reader like myself, this was made confusing read as my mind kept switching from one to the other. A minor complaint, but one that made a difference in my perception of the book. Other flaws are that Mitchell's subsequent storyline was never quite as interesting as the others, a lack of suspense about the survival of a character based on the author, and almost no epilogue, but perhaps the consequences of these events are planned to be detailed in the proposed followup.

All in all, Black was an engrossing read. It was detailed enough to feel real, and fast-paced enough to be purely entertaining. None of those Tom Clancy-esque digressions for Whitcomb. The surprise twist ending was completely satisfying, though I would have liked more wrap-up, but Whitcomb makes Black a very suspenseful read with a surprisingly even-handed view of Saudi Arabians and Yemenis. The fact that Waller is having many of the same experiences that Whitcomb himself had -- his memoir, Cold Zero, covers his years on the FBI in different guises -- makes that character the most interesting. Whitcomb is not afraid to make Waller fallible when confronted with continually surprising information. We can only hope that Whitcomb's successors are as good at their job as Waller is at his own -- and as Whitcomb is at writing about it.

FBI Agent Jeremy Waller is living his dreams. Promoted into the elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), he gets to play with the big boys. But war on terror is a different kind of law enforcement and Jeremy finds himself in a situation where he doesn't know the rules and where he can't tell who are his allies or enemies. Senator Elizabeth Beechum is set to be the next Presidential nominee when she's attacked in her home--and then accused of murder. Those who were once her friends pull away from her, her nomination vanishes into thin air, and even loyal constituents back in South Carolina start to question their votes. CIA agent Sirad Malneax has infiltrated one of the largest, most secretive, and dangerous companies in the world. Now, though, her cover is compromised. Because the owners of Borders Atlantic will stop at nothing, certainly not murder, to keep their secrets and push their own agenda.

In a suspenseful thriller, author Christopher Whitcomb brings the war on terror to life. Morals, laws, and decency are sacrificed in the bloody war to prevent a financial catastrophy--but there are always some who are willing to sell themselves, their secrets, and their country's security to the highest bidder. When Borders Atlantic launches a super-secure phone system--one that even NSA computers cannot crack, the terrorists prepare to have a field day against a prostrate U.S.

Whitcomb weaves elements of his story together letting the reader scurry to catch up. Senator Beechum, in particular, is an interesting and well dimensioned character (Malneaux and Waller are perhaps a bit perfect). The exciting conclusion has a bit of a John Le Carre feel--which is definitely a compliment. I do wonder about Beechum's reaction at the end. Surely more heads would roll.

At some point you realize that all the threads of the story will never be tied up as the books remaining pages disappear. Then when the end arrives, so does anger. I can accept that this is the first of, how many? But the complex absurdity of the ending is insulting in this world, where a fanatic with a backpack cannot be stopped.

Christopher Whitcomb a former sniper with the prestigious FBI based Hostage Rescue Team has ample experience and resouces to fabricate the slick, crackling politcal thriller "Black". Whitcomb weaved together a series of plots involving the main characters in his novel that move toward a well conceived, albeit somewhat predictable conclusion.

Jeremy Waller, a recently recruited member of the Hostage Rescue Team is just getting his feet wet in their clandestine operations. Meanwhile multibillionaire telecommunications magnate, CEO of Borders Atlantic, Jordan Mitchell has just developed revolutionary cell phone encryption technology which prevents surveillance. A ruthless businessman, Mitchell intends to sell the technology to the Saudis prior to it's release in the U.S.. Senator Elizabeth Beechum, chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee and possible Democratic presidential nominee fears that this will tip the balance of power towards terrorism and vows to block Mitchell. Mitchell promotes Sirad Malneaux a gorgeous raven haired Borders Atlantic executive of Lebanese extract to broker the deal with the Saudis.

Whitcomb plunges these characters into a suspenseful plot which reveals some of the inner workings of government based anti terrorism policy. While the character development is a tad shallow, this enhances the clandestine nature of this nicely done tale.

Christopher Whitcomb, a fifteen-year veteran of the FBI and a former member of the elite Hostage Rescue Team, has written an electrifying novel about the shadowy world of spies, snipers, intelligence gathering, and terrorism. "Black" refers to the world of black ops, missions that are so classified that few details are known to anyone outside of the immediate chain of command.

Jeremy Waller is an FBI agent selected to be a member of the highly trained Hostage Rescue Team, and he couldn't be more excited. He enjoys the camaraderie with his fellow team members, and he loves the weaponry and the gadgetry that go along with the job. Waller is an expert marksman, and he thinks creatively and clearly under pressure. What Waller does not know is that he will soon be tested in ways that he could never have imagined when he signed up for membership in the HRT.

Another major character in "Black" is an embattled senator, Elizabeth Beechum, who is framed for a crime that she did not commit, and whose reputation and freedom are in grave jeopardy. Who is out to destroy this powerful Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee? Could her adversary be Jordan Mitchell, CEO of Borders Atlantic? His gigantic telecommunications company is about to introduce a new cellular phone that will enable terrorists to plan their attacks with no danger of electronic interception. Also in the equation is the beautiful Sirad Malneaux, a woman who uses her obvious physical attractions to pry secrets out of rich and powerful men.

Whitcomb shifts frequently from one principal player to another, until the plot resembles an intricate jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are scattered all over the floor. The author reveals only those pieces that he wants you to have. In "Black," Whitcomb includes some of the usual elements that writers of spy thrillers dearly love, including the aforementioned gorgeous and seductive female with a hidden agenda, hired mercenaries, and oodles of high-tech gizmos. However, Whitcomb succeeds in making the old formula seem fresh. He includes timely references to the war on Iraq and Al-Qaeda, and he shows a deep understanding of the high-stakes jockeying for power and influence that is going on both in our nation's capital and in corporate America. "Black" is thoroughly entertaining, with enough excitement, action, and surprises to please even the most jaded of readers. I can't wait for the sequel.

This is a very fast moving, thrilling novel that adds a chilling twist to the way America fights terrorism. The reader is quickly immersed into the lives of the three patriotic americans from different walks of life, who are caught up in a grand scheme to defeat a deadly terrorist plot. This is a hard book to put down. I put everything on hold until I finished it. The reader is never really sure who the good guys and bad guys are, and never does know until the startling ending. The plot will keep you guessing right to the last page. I highly recommend this book and hope to see more novels from Mr. Whitcomb.

O.k. I heard this guy on Imus and thought this book would make a great Father's Day gift. I bought it and 24 hours later, I was so engrossed in this novel, I was hiding all over the house to keep my husband from seeing me read it! You are in the driver's seat with this guy from the get go and it just gets better and faster with each chapter. This book is all about fighting terrorism in today's world with no guidebooks or rules of engagement. It's almost a vigilante effort within our government. As elusive as the terrorists are, so are the agencies' efforts to combat them. I am still asking myself, does this stuff really happen? Whitcomb clearly has personal insight in his ability to navigate this journey. Black takes you into a world that we never think about. Several worlds actually, that Whitcomb brilliantly brings together, in an unimaginable way, leaving you feeling safer as an American and begging for a sequel. A great read for Father's Day.