Customer Reviews

Ghost Recon (Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Book 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If a novel is a contract between two imaginations author David Michaels gives us more than enough ammo to fight alongside Captain Scott Mitchell and his Ghost Team.

From the Southern Philippines, Northwest Waziristan, and Xiamen, China, Mitchell and his Ghosts carry out the Army's clandestine ops; coping with the impact of unforeseen tragedy, remembering lessons-learned, and treasuring camaraderie.

But during Operation War Wrath in Xiamen, China, a decade-old tragedy resurfaces endangering the mission and the team. Mitchell now must fight his rage, complete the mission, and bring his wounded and battle-weary team out of China --- vanishing like the ghosts they trained to be.

I've been a fan of the Ghost Recon series of games for years. When I heard about the book, I bought it immediately to check it out.

It's definitely not in the same category as other novels with Clancy's name on them. Yes, I am aware that it was not written by him. The way the book is presented can't really decide whether it is targeted towards middle school kids or adults.

If you are looking for an easy read with some action and interesting (though over-simplified) geo-political theorizing, this book will not disappoint you. If you are looking for phenomenal accuracy and a peek behind the scenes of the lives of actual special forces operators or government intelligence, this isn't the place.

This is a great one to three day read with lots of special forces action. It's based on a video game but I've decided to stop being so danged picky about what I read. Many of the facts about military hardware are inaccurate but... WHO CARES? If you're looking for special forces history there are plenty of options for you out there. The sad thing is that if this story had been more developed it probably would have been as good or better than a Tom Clancy novel. Maybe the author will get a chance to strike out on his own someday. One thing the reader may find annoying is the shameless and sort of funny Blackhawk tactical knife advertisements scattered throughout the book. I'm not talking about just one or two lines, these things go on and on. Here's an example;

"Brown unsheathed his Blackhawk Masters of Defense Nightwing and took it into his left hand in a reverse grip. He wasn't expecting to use it, but you never knew. The fixed blade had a fiberglass nylon handle with wing-walk inserts, a black tungsten diamondlike carbon (DLC) finish, and a serrated spine, giving him a secondary edge for back cuts and draw cuts. The blade was 5.9 inches of pure death, and he considered it the American Express Card of knives- because he never deployed without it."

This chestnut is truly gruesome, especially that Schwarzeneggar one liner at the end. Thankfully these deviations from the course of the story are not frequent and I think we should refrain from blaming the writer for them. I'm certain there was an advertising, marketing, or contractual issue that allowed those hideous lines to make it past the editor. Plus I'm probably being silly because this book may have been written especially for youngsters who might actually consider those bits of information useful and essential to the story. In that case I may be the real idiot here.
Bottom line: it's a quick entertaining read, if you like military stories you should buy this and take it on the plane with you. You won't hate it. And for the record, Blackhawk does make some fine gear.

As a big fan of the video game series, I was skeptical that a book could convey even the smallest amount of justice to the name. That said, I'm pleased to have been proved wrong.

Ghost Recon has great action, it's wonderfully written and actually very believable in some aspects. Much more so than some action book these days. A great read.

Ghost Recon is a fantastic game and a strong series. Often times video games don't translate well into other mediums like movies or novels. But while not Shakespeare Ghost Recon does a pretty good job of keeping fans of the video game happy while appealing to those looking for a light read in the semi high tech military genre. There is some character growth but not what you would find in a typical novel. That said since you can't kick back and play the game while killing time on a bus or plane, this is the next best thing. I recommend it for fans of the game and think those who haven't played the series but enjoy the Tom Clancy Universe will also find it a worth wild read.

I read Ghost Recon as the literary equivalent of a one night stand - nothing serious, no commitments. This is not deep literature that requires a set of Cliff's Notes. I was looking for a change of pace.

"Ghost Recon" fit the bill perfectly. Spotty character development, sci-fi weapons, lots of talk about honor and commitment (that works until it gets too syrupy towards the end). All of the good guys have big square jaws (or are pretty tomboys) and have wonderful biographies - a walking recruiting poster. The bad guys carry fetish swords and use prostitutes and plan to hijack China's foreign policy as part of their ill-defined personal vendettas.

Clunky writing and two-dimensional characters abound. But, the action scenes are intense and flow nicely. It is what it is - action-adventure writing without much else.

I've never read a Tom Clancy novel, or even a "Tom Clancy's" novel. They just didn't look like my thing. I did enjoy the Ghost Recon game though. Enough to take a gamble on a novel based on the franchise.

Though the book is based on Mr. Clancy's Ghost Recon game franchise, the story is entirely new. We begin with a long prologue following our hero Scott Mitchell prior to joining the Ghosts. On a covert joint operation in the jungles of the Philippines, American forces are ambushed. The heroism of one man saves the day and that man is recruited for the most special of the Special Forces, The Ghosts.

This leads to a secret mission into mainland China to prevent something referred to as Pouncing Dragon, which could trigger World War III.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It is quite well done for the most part. I was glued to the pages. One of those books where I would be annoyed when I had to quit reading, telling myself `just one more chapter'. The combat scenes are very well written. Tense and gripping and they will keep you turning the pages.

The non-combat, personal time stuff and characterization is not nearly as well written. Some of it is even clumsy. Diaz, the female sniper, joined the military to prove she could do anything as well as a man. Really? It came off as sexist and insulting to the writer's own character.

The other characters were also pretty two dimensional. I appreciate the token attempt to flesh out the Ghosts I guess, though perhaps summing up their background as dossiers would have worked just as well and maybe been less clumsy.

Luckily, the bulk of the novel is made up of that well written tension, action and combat and as such it was a thrilling read.

I have to say, even though the action was very well written, towards the end it felt like the writer was really piling it on. All sorts of stuff that was never mentioned before shows up and the last fifty pages or so become an extended battle. Since the main plot points have been wrapped up by this time, the last slog really felt tacked on to me.

I'll keep picking up the series (I'm assuming it will be one) so long as they keep them to this caliber. It wasn't perfect, but it was fun.

This novel is one of those items that a true fan of Tom Clancy's games can't' miss. Personally I'm more a fan of Michael Crichton's techno thrillers, but the narrative of Ghost Recon remembers me the good old Rainbow Six Novel... in parts, at lest. Not really a book for readers that revere Tom Clancy's own books, but the writer (David Michaels as pseudonym) really tries to emulate his master's style. Liked it, but as I said, is a light reading for fans of the game only, or for readers that enjoy short Tom Clancy-style stories.

some of Tom Clancy's stuff is good, some not so good; this is one of the latter ... based on a computer game it has the same problems as books based on movies or TV series, how to make the extremely visual work in a non-visual format, and everyone seems to use the same ideas; extreme detail about any weapons used ... no one every just draws his gun but draws his 1923 Match Grade Browning Designed High Power with the special 5.75 inch barrel with super duper rifling for additional spin and accuracy with the super new titanium shelled yadda yadda yadda at the same time as his enemy draws his yadda yadda yadda gun; action scenes resemble old Batman movies (OK, so it's not quite that bad), and the amount of time spent on character development (the usual sign of a decent or above series) is minimal ... this one is only for the terminally addicted to this format, usually a young adult male; if you need to read Clancy look somewhere else in his bibliography, even some of his non-fiction is good

Story is great. The author immerses you into story with wonderful imagery. Easy read. Excellent compliment to the Ghost Recon Series.