Checkmate (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell) [Mass Market Paperback]

David Michaels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2006

He is Sam Fisher: Third Echelon special operative. And when a cargo freighter loaded down with radioactive material is headed towards the coast of the United States, he has minutes to disable the ship - or die trying.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; First Printing edition (November 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425212785
• ISBN-13: 978-0425212783
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Characters, Mediocre Plot, Poor Editing, January 5, 2007

By 

R. Snyder (Grove City, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Checkmate (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell) (Mass Market Paperback)

I just finished this book last night. It was the first Splinter Cell book I have read.

As other reviewers have commented, the grammatical errors in this book are glaring. I'm really surprised any book would seem so unedited. While some errors formed other words and could have easily slipped past spell check, others were quite butchered. This did not really take much away from the book though. I had to reread some sentences, but usually I would not even notice the error at first, as my brain would figure it out as I went over it. Since I picked the book up at a discount supermarket, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece though.

As far as how Checkmate compares to other books in the series, I don't know since I have not read them. But I have played the Splinter Cell games. The slow paced sneak around genre greatly appeals to me. This book read like it could come from a game. I thought it was true to the vision of Third Echelon and Sam Fisher, and what I would expect. The story was farfetched with plot twists, deception, and number of places visited by Sam, but that is how the games are played out. If you are looking for a work of brilliant espionage, turn elsewhere. It reads like a corny video game and is predictable.

My biggest grip is with the author's description of technology. I have a good grasp of most things technical, and it appears this author doesn't. One part describes a character trying to `defeat' a spreading virus in the computer system. I read the segment out loud to my room mate and we both had a good laugh over it. It is just completely `Hollywoodized' and not true to reality. Some depictions are wordy and hard to follow. This is a work of fiction, and I wouldn't expect it to be technical document, but I thought the author did a fairly poor job in this regard.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I found the story intriguing, more to see how the characters would react to events than the overall plot itself. I think I liked the book more for the characters from the Splinter Cell series I have grown to love rather than the book itself. I probably would not read it again, but I would recommend it to people who are interested in Splinter Cell, but not as an introduction to the series (I did notice a complete lack of character development, as others have noted as well. This did not both me since I have seen the development of these characters already).

Enjoyable read, but not a classic in any sense.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unenjoyable for more reasons than the plot, November 12, 2007

By 

Chris Martinez (Huntington Beach) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Checkmate (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've enjoyed the first two books in this series and I love the games but I'm sad to say that this book was terrible. The story never really captivated me for a moment and there were far too many scene changes. Additionally there was an INCREDIBLE amount of errors that plague this book. One moment you'll actually be getting into a scenario and then you'll get caught up on sentence after sentence because they're so full of errors, and I mean blatant ones! Examples: He pinned his sight on back for head. I certainly owed him am apology.
Even if the story were intriguing, which it wasn't (rather dry actually), it's literally impossible to immerse yourself in it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh, I have much to say.., January 4, 2007

By 

SC Agent 4 "JJ" (Langley, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Checkmate (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell) (Mass Market Paperback)

So, I don't normally review products, but I feel that this book is worth a review.. I have played the Splinter Cell games and have now read all three SC books by David Michaels.. Wy thr bok wastn edittted, I doont now.. But the grammatical errors really took away from the flow and the feeling that you were reading of some elite secret force.. In other words, it killed the "coolness" of the book and also the enjoyment of reading it..

As far as how this book measured up with the first two (minus the editing problem), I would say it is enjoyable at best, but nothing close to the first two.. There was fairly little advancement of Sam's personal life, Sarah only being mentioned twice.. It was almost as if DM was forced to write this book in a week and brainwashed about the first two books..

I have looked forward to the publishing of SC 2 and 3.. I hope there is a SC 4. However, I hope and would really like it if the thought and work that was put into SC 1 and 2, was also used in the writing of SC 4..

-JJ