The Hostage (A Presidential Agent Novel) [Hardcover]

W.E.B. Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Presidential Agent Novel | Publication Date: January 3, 2006

By Order of the President, the first novel in W.E.B. Griffin's crackling new Presidential Agent series, won immediate acclaim from critics and fans alike.

Charley Castillo works with the Department of Homeland Security, but more and more he is the man to whom the president turns when he needs an investigation done discreetly. And no situation demands discretion more than the one before them now.

An American diplomat's wife is kidnapped in Argentina, and her husband murdered before her eyes. Her children will be next, she is warned, if she doesn't tell them where her brother is-a brother, as it turns out, who may know quite a bit about the burgeoning UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal. There is an awful lot of money flying around, and an awful lot of hands reaching out to grab it-and some of those hands don't mind shedding as much blood as it takes.

Brimming with rich characters, strong action, and cutting-edge drama, this is Griffin writing at the height of his powers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Is Griffin our Homer or Tacitus? Those military experts wrote about real soldiers—and what the world needs now is a real-life Charley Castillo, Griffin's smart and efficient Department of Homeland Security agent, who works directly for the president on cases calling for more than routine skills. Introduced in By Order of the President (2004), Castillo is an excellent alternative to the usual crew who make it to the headlines. Told in Griffin's trademark clean and compelling prose, studded with convincing insider details, Castillo's second outing starts with an American diplomat's murder in Argentina, the kidnapping of his wife, and threats to murder her children unless she reveals the whereabouts of her brother, a U.N. diplomat involved in the food-for-Iraqi-oil scandal. Castillo and his team of tough and shrewd experts are just the kind of believable people we want in these situations. And if it takes a novelist like Griffin, who has honed his skills and weapons in five previous series, to bring them to life, at least their real counterparts will have some fictional role models to live up to. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Griffin's second novel in his Presidential Agent series is the best-selling author's thirty-sixth book. Delta Force Major Charley Castillo is the protagonist-hero; he works with the Department of Homeland Security. He is asked by the president to go to Buenos Aires, where the wife of the deputy chief has been kidnapped and her husband has been murdered, shot twice in the head as she was forced to watch. Terrorists threaten to kill her children if she doesn't tell them how to find her brother, who, it seems, may have knowledge about the UN-Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. The twists and turns here include the handling of a large amount of money--$16 million, to be exact--that a variety of people would like to get hold of, and the storyline is peppered with forged passports, special agents, and never-ending cell-phone calls. The convoluted plot will appeal to thriller readers, especially Griffin's many fans, and although some of the dialogue is hackneyed, fans of the genre and author won't care. The important thing is the fast pacing and the relevance of the story to today's events and headlines. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1St Edition edition (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399153144
• ISBN-13: 978-0399153143
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,451 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 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book holds the reader HOSTAGE!, January 6, 2006

By 

Michael D. Trimble (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hostage (A Presidential Agent Novel) (Hardcover)

Until now, I suppose I was the only person left in America who had not read anything by the prolific W.E.B. Griffin. Glad that's changed AND what a great book The Hostage was. At nearly 500 pages it is sort of long for a thriller, but I can't say there was very much if any real "fat" in the book.

This is the second book in Griffin's new Presidential Agent series. For what it's worth, if you have not read the first book in this series, I don't think you really need too. Griffin does a very thorough job of bringing you up to speed on how his "presidential agent" actually got the job he now holds. The editorial review from Booklist is a good plot review so I won't repeat that, but I can add that getting Major "Charlie" Castillo into his current position involves on-going turf battles with a lot of governmental intelligence agencies, and while you may not think that would make for good storytelling, it actually does. Put another way, each encounter is a satisfying adventure in and of itself. The book is as timely as reading today's newspaper or watching the evening news, only more exciting and more authoritatively reported!

This is an easy read, primarily because of its extremely accurate conversational quality. I have read countless books about soldiers or former soldiers who are doing the things that soldiers do, and I would think to myself that soldiers don't talk or act that way. Griffin however, has the lingo and the mannerisms cold. Hostage will appeal to a wide variety of people and especially people who are familiar with the areas portrayed in the book. I am amazed at the sort detail and "insider" knowledge Griffin shares with the reader. If you ever served in the 11th ACR (Germany) or the 3AD you will be very familiar with the description of the towns and terrain in and around what used to be the border between East and West Germany. Charlie Castillo's description of the purpose behind that barrier between freedom and communism is a hoot!

Personality wise, I would put Major Charlie Castillo and how he acts, somewhere between the tightly wound Mitch Rapp (CIA agent) by Vince Flynn, and the more cerebral and introspective Gabriel Allon (Israeli Intelligence) by Daniel Silva. The stories are all of the international espionage type and all very similar in plot.

Highest recommendation, but my guess is, mostly for guys.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real suspender snapper....., January 6, 2006

By 

Robert Busko (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hostage (A Presidential Agent Novel) (Hardcover)

As a public librarian I've handled almost every Griffin book published though I've never read one. For some reason, the cover, the author's rep, the advance publicity for the Hostage...who knows, I grabbed this book when it arrived at the library and read it. What a pleasant experience. There are more plot twists and surprises in the Hostage than a roller coaster has dips and turns.

Charles Castillo who works for the Department of Homeland Security and is a personal troubleshooter for the President is assigned to look into the death of an American diplomat in Argentina. In fact, the husband was shot in the head, and the wife taken hostage by terrorists who believe her brother has information related to the U. N./Iraq oil for food scandal.

Economically written with interesting characters and a timely, right off the front page story, Hostage will keep you in suspense. Grab this book if you get the chance.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Griffin is in top form, January 7, 2006

By 

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

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This review is from: The Hostage (A Presidential Agent Novel) (Hardcover)

The second book in the Presidential Agent series is excellent. The character, Carlos Castillo, was introduced in the first novel of this new series. The exposition of the backstory is done very well and is not as obtrusive as it was in some of the other series. Another review comments that you don't have to read the first book to enjoy this one and that is true. The author is in top form. He combines a topical subject with his favorite scenes in Argentina and Germany.

Griffin fans like me know that his novels follow his own life story with the addition of inside information that he is privy to through old friends in the military. The lead character Charley Castillo is also a German national named Karl Gossinger. His father was a Green Beret and helicopter pilot who was kiilled in Vietnam. His mother is a wealthy German woman who was not married and who knew nothing of what had happened to the father of her child. She dies young in the first book leaving Karl an orphan. An Army officer acquaintance traces the father at her request as she is dying and finds that he has been dead for years. That is why he never returned to her. The grandparents, wealthy Texas Hispanics, come to Germany, bring the boy to America and he assumes his second identity. He graduates from West Point and becomes a helicopter pilot like his father.

Griffin was a young soldier in Germany during the occupation after WWII. He then attended Phillips University in Marberg, as do many of his characters. He served in Korea, called up from the Reserves just as some of his characters were. In recent years he has lived part of the year in Argentina and the Honor Bound series, also excellent, explores the history of that country when Peron came to power. Griffin's history has been shown in other books to be accurate, even when the facts are not well known. For example, several of his Brotherhood of War books tell a story of Green Berets in Africa during the era when Che Guevara was trying to foment revolution. Other non-fiction works verify Griffin's facts. An example is Heart of a Soldier, the story of Rick Rescorla. Rescorla joined the American Army after meeting Green Berets in Africa and later was a hero at the battle described in We Were Soldiers Once and Young, referred to by Griffin in his front matter for this novel.

The novel is a thriller and is topical. The first of the series told of a hijacked airplane; this one concerns Argentina and UN corruption. Charley Castillo could be a composite of the lead characters in the Brotherhood of War and Honor Bound. The story of Special Forces here is probably more accurate than newspaper accounts. Griffin knows everybody and has sources that make his plots come to life. He is in top form.