Black Ops (A Presidential Agent Novel) [Hardcover]

W.E.B. Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Presidential Agent Novel | Publication Date: December 30, 2008

Unabridged CDs ? 15 CDs, 17 hours

The Russian bear is stirring?and it?s hungry? in the #1 New York Times?bestselling series? thrilling fifth novel.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In bestseller Griffin's gung-ho fifth presidential agent novel (after The Shooters), the U.S. president assigns Lt. Col. Charley Castillo, a member of the Office of Organizational Analysis, a special task—to track down the terrorists who murdered an American diplomat in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When Castillo's inquiries lead him to a pair of defecting Russian spies, they offer information about an Iranian-run bioweapons factory hidden in the Congo. Readers who want exciting accounts of desperate battles have come to the wrong place. Griffin excels in describing the planning and the bureaucratic tussles that have to occur before the first bomb goes off. He understands the psychology and motivations of military and clandestine service officers. While he paints an enticing, if overly idealized, portrait of loyal, capable people drawn to others of their kind, realism isn't his strong suit. Still, Griffin's many fans will be rewarded. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

Griffin, the veteran author of military-themed thrillers, once again proves that the same old thing can sometimes be just what readers want. The latest Presidential Agent novel is written in exactly the same tough-fisted style, with exactly the same sort of shorthand characterizations and hard-edged dialogue, as the novels that came before it. The story, too, is typically involved: a series of assassinations leads Presidential Agent Charlie Castillo to believe that his own name appears on the assassin’s list of victims. But can Charlie and his band of operatives stop the killings in time? Oh, and what about those two high-level Russian intelligence officers who claim they want to defect to the States but only to Charlie personally? Do they really know who’s building weapons of mass destruction, or are they trying to sell Charlie a bill of goods? Griffin’s formula is straightforward: set up a bunch of obstacles, and let us watch Charlie knock ’em down one at a time. His novels promise action, suspense, and rousing entertainment, and they never fail to deliver. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1ST edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399155171
• ISBN-13: 978-0399155178
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

W.E.B. Griffin is the author of more than thirty epic novels in five series, all of which have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and other best-seller lists. More than forty million of his books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian. Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counter-intelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary. In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White. On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Mr. Griffin is a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, and the Armor Association. He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City. He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation's first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association; the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association; the Marine Raiders Association; and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. He is the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D'Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. Mr. Griffin's novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their "fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes." "Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books," Mr. Griffin says. Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The end of the series, January 3, 2009

By 

Michael T Kennedy (Lake Arrowhead, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Black Ops (A Presidential Agent Novel) (Hardcover)

This is the last of the Presidential Agent series which began with the story of the hijacked airliner. It starts slowly and I think Griffin may not have written the first few chapters. About a quarter of the way in, when I was getting impatient with all the exposition of back story and the rather wooden character development, the pace picks up and it seems Griffin is back. I suspect his son may have done the early chapters. If you are familiar with the other books of the series, skim those early chapters. The writing picks up and the plot gets going when Russian SVR agents contact Castillo and tell him he is set up for assassination. From that point on, we are back with the WEB Griffin skills in plot and character development that have kept us reading his novels for 25 years.

The plot pulls together all the seemingly unconnected threads of the other stories and explains the various characters and their relationships. Griffin is teaching us more Russian history, including the current Russian leadership about which he has strong opinions. I don't know how accurate his information is, for example he has another theory about Ivan the Terrible than I have read, but he has been right before. He has sources of information that don't write books. Anyway, after a slow start (for which I subtract one star), the novel gets going and is a great example of Griffin's story telling.

The ending, which others have complained about, actually opens a new chapter and may promise more books with Charley Castillo and his band of warriors. I had actually wondered how Griffin was going to handle the changes in Washington. The President in the series is obviously Bush and the other cabinet officers are recognizable. That will change so a Presidential Agent may now become the agent of the shadowy group of patriots that appears at the end. This novel also introduces what may be the real romance in Charlie's life and I can see more books with this theme, as well.

I recommend it for those who have read the other books in the series and, as far as I am concerned, Griffin hasn't lost his touch. Alexander Dumas had a writing team that composed large sections of his novels. Those novels have stood the test of time and these will too.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only stuck with it out of loyalty to the series., January 18, 2009

By 

Jason Gibson (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Ops (A Presidential Agent Novel) (Hardcover)

I really was a big fan of this series but the fifth and assumed final book is in my opinion a disappointment as a read. I was grabbed by the novels early on and the action and intrigue but I felt this version was pure boredom and just a recap of most of the things that I'd read in the previous novels. At one point I kind of cared about Castillo as a character and was willing to suspend the fantasy of his lifetime because the variety of circumstances in life seemed to help the story but even the protagonist became a just another of the lame tired group of characters, all constatly cracking wise, all the best at what they do but not appreciated by the system and all miraculously able to outwit the other 6 billion people on the planet trying to stop them. This book probably could've been condensed down to 100 pages easily without losing anything of value from the story to those of us that have been along since the start--was it necessary for Castillo to give Dick Miller the back story at one point? Did Miller (Castillo's sidekick from go) suddenly forget all that had happened in the previous 6 months? Castillo finally finds the woman of his dreams but I never took the bait as there'd been other woman of his dreams that appeared and disappeared suddenly in the past. Honestly about the only part of the book that I felt was compelling was Castillo's son finding out the truth but even that was done away with quickly so we could get back to the formula of Delchamps calling Charlie "Ace", somebody new being brought into the circle of hundreds that are given full disclosure of the Top Secret Presidential finding, and Charlie trying to squeeze in saving the world when he isn't having sex.

Loyalty to the series which really had moments of enjoyment give it two stars but I'm not sure it deserves more than one.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Presidential Agent - jumped the shark?, December 31, 2008

By 

M. Lavigne (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Ops (A Presidential Agent Novel) (Hardcover)

First off, I've read every book W.E.B. Griffin has written - all of the series books, anyway - and I always anxiously anticipate the release of the latest installments.

However, if you notice, most of them follow the same formula. The protagonist is filthy rich, or associates with those who are. They are all officers, or ultimately end up that way, relegating the "enlisted men" to supporting cast members, or comic relief.

Even with this in mind, I enjoy his writing style, even if his perspective on military service (even the stories set in the modern era) are quite dated.

I've enjoyed this series so far, even if the last book felt like one long lead-in - and until the final 20 pages, this book was headed up that path.

But - without giving the ending away, of course - this installment will be my last. I feel like it really "jumped the shark," moving from something that might be plausible with a small suspension of belief to something completely crazy. Not giving away details, but any fan of this series may be disappointed with the ending, as it takes away some of the charm of our lead character.

Too bad... I guess I'll have to pine away for "Brotherhood of War" to continue someday. Here's hoping the Philadelphia police series continues better than this. By the way, did anyone notice that the last Badge of Honor book jumped 30 years in reality in the space of one book?