Death and Honor (Honor Bound) [Hardcover]

W Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2008 | Series: Honor Bound

In 1943, Argentina Marine pilotturned- agent Cletus Frade is setting up an OSS-operated airline. But before Frade can get airborne, two interwoven German operations must be grounded. And for Frade—whose father was killed by the Nazis—the mission is about to get personal.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This is Griffin’s fortieth novel, the fourth in the Honor Bond series, and the third written with Butterworth. It involves one Cletus Frade, a Marine fighter pilot who is also a spy in the Office of Strategic Services in 1943. Frade’s father was murdered by the Nazis, and Frade is asked to set up an airline in Argentina using Lockheed Lodestars. The story concerns two secret German operations—a Nazi scheme for German Jews to purchase freedom for their relatives in concentration camps and where that “dirty money” is really going, a plan labeled Operation Phoenix. The aim of this plan is to set up safe havens in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay for top Nazis who realize they have lost World War II. As in his other books, Griffin’s new novel  deals with honor and courage. And, as always, his many fans will want to read this one. --George Cohen --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“An immensely entertaining adventure.”
--Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Published Stock; No Edition Stated edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727866559
• ISBN-13: 978-0727866554
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,573,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More of Cletus Frade, June 9, 2008

By 

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

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This review is from: Death and Honor (Honor Bound) (Hardcover)

I have considered the Argentina series of novels, perhaps, the best of WEB Griffin's work. Honor Bound and Blood and Honor are outstanding for action and history. This novel is a half-step lower in my estimation as the characters begin to show the inflation of ability and stature that we see in the Corps series. Cletus is now hobnobbing with Allen Dulles and Howard Hughes and privy to the greatest secrets of the war, like the Manhattan Project. In the Corps novels, Killer McCoy keeps adding more languages to his list. Still these are adventures and fiction and are all well done. The most fantastic plot twist in this novel, the real reason why Juan Peron supported the Nazis in WWII, turns out, in a typical Griffin coup, to be true. He adds a newspaper story from the present right at the end of the novel confirming the plot.

The story picks up when the last one in the series ends. Peter has returned from Germany and married Alicia. Cletus and Dorotea are married. The Nazi investigators who have come to Argentina to try to identify Clete's source in the Germany embassy are still there. The backstory fill-ins are not obtrusive here.

A new development then starts a new plot line. The German cultural attache defects to the FBI agent, Lieberman. This leads to a trip to California and a meeting with Howard Hughes. My mother-in-law was close to Hughes and the character depicted here is close to the Hughes that I knew. The caricature seen later in books and press accounts was not yet believable as Hughes was still squiring starlets around. The story moves fast although the character development, so powerful in Griffin's other novels, is a bit weaker here. The plot moves fast but the people are more cardboard than usual. I don't know if that is his son's influence. Whatever it is, the novel is enjoyable and I hope he keeps working.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 2, 2008

By 

USMC Sniper (Northwest U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death and Honor (Honor Bound) (Hardcover)

I have read and still own at least 95% plus of Griffin's books. I may have missed one or two. I enjoy his style of writing e.g. story telling and the development of the characters. His ability to combine books make the reader look forward to the "next" book to see how the story and characters continue to develop. This book however falls short. While reading it I found myself wondering "should I continue"? The story telling became boring and gave me the impression many statements were included for the sole purpose of adding meaningless words to create more pages. In the last two or three books I have noticed a disconnect in the story telling. The story seems to bog down as if Griffin lost interest in the story line and kept writing to keep busy. I was really disappointed and I am not sure if I will look for or even care about his next novel. Sadly I must say "Not recommended".

37 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fifth bad Griffin book in a row, June 11, 2008

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Death and Honor (Honor Bound) (Hardcover)

Sad to say, but I have had negative things to say about the last four Griffin books before "Death and Honor" and this makes the fifth.

The qualities that once made Griffin books compelling, the mix of history and fiction simply isn't there any more. The characters which at one time had some depth and believability are now cardboard cutouts, whose dialog you can practically predict. The same is also even more true of the plots: you can see plot developments long in advance. Why bother reading the entire book when you already know what will happen to these boring, transparent characters early in the book?

W.E.B. Griffin has been collaborating lately with his son, William E. Butterworth IV. Obviously there is no way of knowing how their collaboration works. Who writes, who edits, none of that do we know. One thing I have developed an opinion of, however, is the success of the collaboration - there is none. It is a failure. This is the fifth deadly dull book in a row to emerge under the Griffin name.

I will not divulge many details of the story because it is always possible someone else may find the book readable. I did not: I gave up (in disgust, frankly) at page 246, when things became unbelievable to the point of being nonsensical. I'd love to describe the scene that did me in so you could laugh too without having to endure reading a single page of this book, but alas, that would be a major spoiler.

The story in short is that Cletus Frade, the long estranged son of a powerful Argentine military leader and entrepreneur was sent to Argentina by the WWII OSS to reunite with his father and to further the strategic interests of the United States. Frade, the elder, is conveniently dispatched and the son inherits all. Griffin has used this tactic of the rich young man frequently and it used to work. Having his characters wealthy enough to do anything helped tremendously when the character would have otherwise been a low-ranking military officer having trouble making economic ends meet.

With Cletus Frade (and others in the last few books), Griffin has worn out the device. Frade encounters or already knows almost every important, wealthy, powerful or famous person in the Western Hempisphere. Though a junior officer of the United States military, he is casually entrusted with secrets that in real life were entrusted to very few.

Frade is supposedly crossing swords with the Germans in wartime Argentina. In reality, the novel is deadly dull up through page 246 where I stopped. It is obvious that one or both of the authors are conciously trying to ape the work of someone like Alan Furst who written some powerfully evocative novels of WWII Eastern Europe. The emulation fails.

The reader is supposed to believe that Frade as an uncanny ability to find Germans who are intent on betraying their country. It doesn't fly. Likewise, the "enemies" Frade encounters are described as brilliant and dangerous, but turn out to be fools who don't even notice what Frade is doing.

As noted, I made it through page 246 of the book's 470 pages. I should have saved my time and stopped at about page 100 when it became apparent that this was going to be another Griffin dud, the fifth in a row, I am sorry to say.

The writing style is still okay, so if you're stuck at an airport or aren't a critical reader, it's possible you may enjoy this to some small degree. If you are a Griffin fan and remember the thrill of reading the much-awaited new novel from Griffin way back when, I think you will be disappointed.

Jerry