Customer Reviews

The Hunters (Presidential Agent Novels)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is the 3rd book in the Griffin series that centers around Homeland Security. The only problem with this new WEB Griffin book is that I could not put in down. AT 2:30AM, I finally had to stop for sleep, even though I was only a little more than half done. Mr. Griffin's new book is full speed ahead, from beginning to end, continuing where The Hostage finished, but it seems to move at an even faster pace, which I enjoy.

Carlos Castillo continues to build his team with the best people he can find, from the various intelligence agencies, as well as the military. I love this aspect of his books, because it is so much like true life, where people progress in their careers, or die, and new people join the team.

The hunt for the bad guys crosses many international boundaries, proving that today's intelligence operatives need to be multi-lingual and very intelligent. An agent who only speaks English is no longer an effective agent against international terrorists. Hungarian, Russian, German, Spanish and English were the languages of choice for most of this operation. You have to read to the end, to find out who all the good guys and bad guys really are. Carlos Castillo and his growing band of experts move from country to country, progressing through firefights that reveal bad guys at the highest levels.

As with any Griffin book, the winners are the people who have both the intellignece to analyze complex data, and the strength of character to act on it. In addition to people with military and intelligence skills , Castillo's team now has: a financial analyst (with the financial and computer expertise to track billions of dollars through the labyrinth of secret international bank accounts); a newspaperman (with the instincts and contacts to uncover bad guys at the highest levels); and Max (who can actually smell bad guys).

For me, this book was as exciting and fast moving as Mr. Griffin's books on WWII, Korea and Vietnam, with so much action that you feel like you are in the middle of a declared war.

This new series continues to highlight Griffin's contacts with, and knowledge of, the modern military and intelligence communities. Although he points out some infighting between government agencies, he also points out that there are good people in every agency, and if they work together, they can stop the bad guys. The book deals with heroes from Homeland Security, the Diplomatic Corps, the FBI, the CIA, Special Forces, and other US military units, as well as like-minded patriots in Argentina, Germany and Uruguay.

WEB Griffin is truly the dean of American military story tellers, and this book reveals his understanding of the complex relationship that exists between varous intelligence organizations, as well as the military.

W.E.B. Griffin released a book last year called "The Saboteurs," which was co-authored with his son. It was horrible. Having read and enjoyed all of Griffin's other books, except for his police series, it was a major disappointment and the first time I had ever given a negative review of a Griffin book.

Happily, Griffin's name alone appears on "The Hunters" and the story has many Griffin trademarks.

Charley Castillo is made chief of the Office of Organizational Analysis, which is created by a Presidential Finding; a secret order from the President. With a few handpicked colleagues - and quite a collection they are - Castillo tries to solve the murder of an American consular official, the attempted murder of an old family friend, a newspaper publisher in Europe and unravel the secrets of the Oil-for-Food scandal.

This is classic Griffin. Characters whizzing in and out. There's Aleksandr Pevsner, a shadowy Russian ex-patriate. A bunch of folks from the FBI, Secret Service, NSA, Special Forces, Delta Team play out their roles, as well as Castillo's grandmother and cousin.

The action flies fast and furious on every page as Castillo makes up his own rules, ignores the law, does battle with the National Director of Intelligence. On his side, of course, he has the President.

I'm not about to spoil the pleasure of a Griffin novel by discussing the plot line. Aone of the pleasures of reading Griffin is that every page delivers a new twist - and I am not about to ruin anything.

Griffin does tend to talk too much in this novel; many points are repeated over and over without purpose. A small criticism. Maybe they changed editors on him or something.

In any event, if you like Griffin, then you want to read "The Hunters". Be prepared to set an evening or two aside because once you start, you aren't going to want to put it down until you are finished.

Jerry

I just completed W.E.B. Griffin's latest book in his Presidential Agent series and man it is long! The Hunters begins where the last book, The Hostage ended. Charley and company are tracking down the baddies involved in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. An interesting idea that does not realize its full potential. The characters of Charley Castillo, Col Jake Torine, and others are well drawn. But the various meetings and travel detail were at the expense of far less action scenes than there could have been. If there had been more action, it would have been a better book.

I enjoyed the first Presidential Agent book, By Order of the President. I have become a fan of Griffin's excellent Badge of Honor series in the past few years as well. However, the only reason I finished The Hunters was my own stubborness. I will think twice before spending (wasting?) the time to read the next adventure of Charley and company.

With more than 35 novels published, W. E. B. Griffin presents THE HUNTERS, the third installment in his Presidential Agent series. Griffin's protagonist is Charley Castillo --- tough, skilled in Special Operations methods and answerable only to the President of the United States. The story takes place in the summer of 2005, in locations from Europe to South America and the United States.

Post-9/11, the Office of Homeland Security is in place. The Director of National Intelligence, Ambassador Charles W. Montvale, resents Castillo's presidential appointment as Chief Officer of Organizational Analysis. Montvale would rather supervise Castillo but accepts the President's wishes for the time being. Amidst subtle reminders that Montvale requires constant updates on his progress, Castillo steams ahead with his task.

The action begins at Estancia Shangri-La in the Republic of Uruguay. Castillo and his small band arrive at the sprawling "big house" in time to find target Jean-Paul Bertrand, holder of a Lebanese passport. Bertrand's real identification is that of Jean-Paul Lorimer, who is suspected of heavy involvement in the oil-for-food scandal. Bertrand's sister had been kidnapped and drugged, and her husband was murdered before her eyes in order to drive home the serious intent of her tormenters. Castillo's mission is to determine the true identity of Bertrand and bring him back to the United States. By the time Castillo's group enters the man's office, they are under fire from unknown assailants. Bertrand has been murdered, and their Special Ops training kicks into place. Castillo's men return fire with deadly accuracy, killing all six unknown, dark-clothed, masked assassins.

Before exiting, one of their own is dead, garroted by an unidentified individual. The garrote is much like the ones used by the Stasi or KGB agents in Cold War times. Castillo finds and takes into possession a sheaf of colored bank-type notes, proof that Bertrand accepted bribe money for his part in the scandal. Sixteen million dollars, when signed by the bearer, can be deposited into an off-shore bank account. Bertrand is dead and has not been identified as Lorimer. With the President's approval, Castillo establishes a bank account for his Office of Operational Analysis; Castillo's web expenditure is the purchase of an airplane.

Meanwhile, Castillo's extensive international family becomes involved in the operation. His mother was German, which gives him exclusive German citizenship and a passport stamped as "Herr Gossinger." He is heir to Tages Zeitung, the largest German daily newspaper, and is its Washington correspondent. Eighty-two-year-old Hungarian Eric Kocian --- Castillo's adopted uncle and editor-in-chief of the paper --- is deep into the investigation of the oil-for-food scandal and targeted by unknown assailants in Budapest.

Castillo's American connection is by way of his father, a Huey pilot who had not yet married his mother. Upon her death, his dad's family, complete with an American passport, brought the boy to live in Texas.

Griffin writes with gusto and rich characters, brimming near-calamities at the precipice with drama. Action moves from one locale to another with breakneck speed. When Castillo needs information, he jets to the source with little time lost. His military rank is elevated to that of Major, a fact few in contact with him learn before recognition can be acknowledged. He isn't concerned with the frills of rank or the petty interferences of Ambassador Montvale.

Sheer numbers of military personnel, civil servants in numerous South American countries, diplomats, journalists and ambassadorial types make for a voluminous cast of characters. Each desires a "need to know" relationship with Castillo. However, repetition does not delay the action forward in THE HUNTERS.

When the pieces of the puzzle begin to settle into a playable picture, Castillo uses all of the resources at his command to bring the solution to fruition. At the heart of blackmail, money-laundering and espionage, he sets the finished product before the President. Surprises abound when treacherous identities are revealed. We'll anticipate the next book in this series; THE HUNTERS cannot be finished with the job.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.

I have to say at the outset that I've been a Griffin fan for a number of years and I've read all of the other books of his various series. But I have to be honest and say that this latest fix for my addiction is very unsatisfying.

The second book in this series was a welcome change from many other recent Griffin offerings, in that he didn't spend much of the book having characters make or carry out travel arrangements or order drinks and/or dinner. He also didn't use very much of what I have come to think of in his books as "novel helper." Novel Helper is a narrative device that Griffin master in the past to fill out one novel's worth of plot into two or three books. It works like this, have something notable happen between two characters early in the book. Then, whenever the two characters meet again in the story, or whenever either meets another character, they relate in inordinate detail the events of the first meeting. He would also have characters spend copious amounts of time trying to figure out how they get from point A to point B. Or they spend page after page deciding what they want for dinner or drinks.

As I say, it's unfortunate that Griffin has returned to form with this new Presidential Agent story. It is, literally, more than 450 pages of Charley Castillo making travel arrangements for his merry band, giving orders relating to travel arrangements, or figuring out what everyone wants to eat. There is only maybe 65 or 75 pages where the things actually happen and the story moves forward.

Please, Mr. Butterworth, let's make the next one interesting again.

Just as Nora Roberts is the Queen of Chick-Lit, W E B Griffin is the acknowledged King of Stud-Lit. But more and more, his style is turning into the chick-lit formula with a major exception - there is no sex!

The Hunters, his third book in the Presidential Agent series, has a story hidden somewhere but for the most part, all they do is talk-talk-talk. And now, he is leaning more heavily on the Inner Voice, where we are privy to the character's every thought. Somewhere in the Writer's Manual, there appears a line, "Show, don't tell." Modern-day Griffin involves precious little showing but a heckuva lot of telling and thinking. Inner voice is like curry powder - used sparingly, it highlights and enhances. Too much just leaves the reader needing mental Rolaids.

But...hidden amongst all the yammering are his great characters, interesting and well-developed - always Griffin's forte. But the action palls. Remember the great stories in the "Brotherhood of War" and "The Corps" series? Somehow, he's lost his knack of putting together a good action yarn ... but I still read every page hunting for it.

Here's the story in The Hunters: Charley Castillo (another rich guy, of course) working as a special agent for the president, runs around Argentina, Uruguay, Hungary, Germany, and Washington D.C.. looking for the killers of an American diplomat in Argentina. (See book two, "The Hostage") Among his rat pack is a Russian Mafioso, a disgraced Argentine secret service investigator, an Air Force aviator, a crippled Army major and an elderly Hungarian news reporter. The conflict comes when the Director of National Intelligence tries to take over Castillo's band of merry men. There are spear carriers aplenty but none come through as being of interest except for Max the dog, who incidentally is the only one that ever gets laid. And that's not until the last page!

I'm a lover of Griffin's books. I've read every book he ever published. But the older he gets, the worse he gets. Nothing was set up to follow The Hunters so hopefully, this is the last book in this series. Maybe Griffin will now finish his "Honor Bound" series, also set in South America and Germany. Its last volume set up a lot of historical action that could follow in another book.

I walked away from The Hunters with the feeling that this was nothing more than a first draft that somehow got published. Keep in mind what Ernest Hemingway said of first drafts: "All first drafts are s**t."

After really enjoying the first two books in this series, The Hunters is a big let down. I stopped reading it half way through because I was tired of both Griffin summarizing the previous 2 books for those readers who hadn't read them, and I was tired of Castillo continuing to fill every new character in on the "presidential finding." It is as if Griffin is so proud of his Castillo character and his nifty lifestyle that he has to continue to pound it into the readers skull how special he is. WEB: we don't care, we want some action, and action does not involve reading for the 18th time how Castillo does indeed hold dual citizenship, answers only to the president, and flys around the world in a G3. Good lord there was no reason to turn the pages accept to hope that the author would actually start putting some suspense in the story as opposed to a grocery list of people that Castillo had to fill in on the story. Did I mention the book is repetitively dull?

Normally, I like old W.E.B. ... might even say he is one of my favorite authors. However, this opus has horrid flaws, besides being just boring... He places some scenes in the Hotel Gellért in Hungary - which I have know since my childhood and of course I do speak Hungarian...

Now, in Mr. Griffith's earlier novels (yes, I know it is Griffin, but he is a bit too liberal with everyone else's spelling, so let me be liberal, too) I have noticed that he quotes German speakers speaking in "German" ... but he has minor errors. Does the same in Spanish. His errors are not great - looks like "another American trying to speak our language, missing it here and there"...

His "Hungarian" is another thing... Imagine a Hungarian author, on Page 1, in a Hungarian novel, quoting two English speakers, one calling the other "Kocian Mister" (consistently, not just once or twice). Now, if we wanted to imitate someone who does not speak English, fine, but that is not what W.E.B. does... He has no idea of the Hungarian language, but of course, for "local flavor" he continually quotes "Hungarian" sentences, which he obviously failed to have checked by anyone who actually speaks Hungarian...

The travelogue is not bad, although he often mixes up minor things (in another novel of his talks about "North longitude", etc.). I wish Griffith Mister had the humility of one of the best known current "legal thriller" authors, who, at least when he goes outside the legal arena admits he knows nothing of his subject (so he makes a major the Director of CIA, etc...).
Mr. Griffith has a standard recipe: "Rich American boy from well to do family with a private income is a somewhat unconventional military hero, there are few not-so-rich boys, too; a few rich girls go fall for either kind and have unbridled sexual encounters which is noble, and with the help of our hero we win everything..." Not bad, if predictable. (And, when he has real people as his models, like Wendell Fertig, he is very good). The problem is these novels made Mr. Griffith (or shall I call him Griffith Mister?) a bit too self-satisfied. Too many honors, so we are stars, we don't have to check.
Well, happened to Tom Clancy sooner, and at least Griffith-mister is writing his own...
In summary: it is not worth buying. Perhaps dropping sales will correct the course.... and we can get back the "old" W.E.B. Griffith...

This book, like the last ten or fifteen of his efforts (not counting the dog he wrote with his son last year) is fine for fans of W.E.B. Griffin. I had forgotten details of this first in this series, but it came back fairly quickly, but frankly, there were some characters apparently from the first book that I really never figured out where they fit into this one. That's one complaint, too many fairly interchangeable undeveloped characters.

Griffin violates one of the first rules of writing, which is "show them, don't tell them" which is actually how every one of his books works, but this time it got a little too tiresome. Too many times the same details were told to one of the many characters. This book really could have used a strong editor who could whack about a hundred pages out of it.

A couple of other comments: Griffin seems to be currently in love with cell phones as a means to further the plot. At least me realizes they have batteries that run down, but for heavens sake, with all the loose money in this story, didn't anybody ever think to buy a spare battery?
I wonder when he will discover ipods?

This is probably the first Griffin novel in which the main character does not guzzle Famous Grouse Scotch, although it is referenced a couple times. They all drink beer here, and smoke cigars.

The lead also did not "make the beast with two backs" in this story, another first, although there is reference to two babes he nailed in the previous novel.

In previous books set in Argentina, he painted such a lush picture I wanted to book a vacation there. Here it seems like any American town, just without a Wal-Mart.

I enjoyed this book, and I have read all of them. It is kind of like the Hardy Boys series for military buffs.

I liked the first 2 books, but the Hunters drove me NUTS! It was beyond repetitive, the writing was trash, there were so many spelling mistakes that you wonder if it was ever edited! Please do not try to write in a different language without consulting someone that can speak it. The mistakes were unbelievable.

Nothing happens until 3/4 of the book - all it is Castillo going from one country to the next telling a history of the last book over and over again to anyone that will listen. I finally started skipping pages without missing anything..I want the days back that it took to read it.