24 Declassified: Operation Hell Gate (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "The steady drone of the jet engines suddenly changed pitch..." (more)
Key Phrases: cell chirped, maintenance van, memory stick, Dante Arete, Captain Schneider, Jack Bauer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Within twenty-four hours a nightmare will be unleashed that could cause the death of untold millions and devastate a great nation. It's a plot being carried out by the unlikeliest of allies. A powerful mole within the deepest reaches of U.S. Intelligence has secretly conscripted the very criminals he's been charged with investigating -- former IRA terrorists, Latino and Asian gang members, Middle Eastern assassins and others -- creating one of the most insidious terrorist networks law enforcement has yet to take down.

One man stands between the destroyers and the death tide: Jack Bauer, lone wolf operative for America's brand-new elite Counter Terrorist Unit. But he's three thousand miles from the CTU command center without backup in a strange city, New York. He's been artfully set up and is being hunted by the FBI for the murder of two of its agents. And time's almost up . . .

About the Author

Marc Cerasini's writing credits include The Complete Idiot's Guide to U.S. Special Ops Forces and Heroes: U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Winners and several projects for Tom Clancy, including creating the bible for the Clancy Power Play series, writing the YA action/adventure thriller The Ultimate Escape for Clancy's NetForce series, and writing a major essay on Clancy's contribution to the technothriller genre for the national bestseller The Tom Clancy Companion. Among the movie tie-in novelizations Marc has written are Wolverine: Weapon X, based on the popular X-Men series, the USA Today bestseller AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, based on the motion picture from 20th Century Fox, as well as five original novels based on the Toho Studios classic "Godzilla," and co-authored (with J.D. Lees) a nonfiction look at the film series, The Official Godzilla Compendium. Marc's other credits include the book 24: The House Special Subcommittee Investigation of CTU, which he co-authored with his wife, Alice Alfonsi, and the previous 24 Declassified novels Operation Hell Gate, Trojan Horse, and Vanishing Point.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060842245
• ISBN-13: 978-0060842246
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #150,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 24:NY, December 14, 2005

By	Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Declassified: Hell Gate" takes us back in time to before the first season of "24", and tells some early stories about CTU. Make no mistake, Jack Bauer is still Jack. The TV series relies heavily on Kiefer Sutherland, and the books -- at least Tom Clancy alum Marc Cerasini's effort -- captures him believably on paper.

Most of the Season 1 CTU supporting cast, everyone except George Mason, shows up in supporting roles here. The bulk of the story, however, takes place in Brooklyn and Queens, with Jack chasing down a few overlapping terrorist plots prior to 9/11. The NYC settings are well used. You get the sense from Cerasini's writing that, minus a few days of second unit filming with Kiefer Sutherland, this entire story could still be filmed in Burbank. On the other hand, Cerasini captures mid-1990s' New York City well, with several interesting locations off the beaten path, and a large supporting cast of immigrants and ethnic New Yorkers.

The "real-time" format is also retained for the book. There are fewer cheats here than on TV, every character is able to get from Point A to Point B in sprawling Los Angeles in less than 20 minutes, and William Devane can change from orange prisoner garb into a neatly pressed $5,000 suit in 4 minutes and 20 seconds. In the book, fewer things happen, and characters vanish for whole chapters (hours) at a time. Most chapters are between 8 and 12 pages long, and that covers the whole hour. You can believe all this stuff happens in a day.

The potential for a bad TV tie-in novel is really, really high. Walk into any chain bookstore and head to the sci-fi section; you'll usually see two bookcases full of TV tie-ins. Some of those books are innovative and praiseworthy; many others are not worth the low-cost paper they're printed on. The recent tie-in to the TV hit "Lost" is the equivalent of Kim Bauer getting trapped in the woods and menaced by a cougar. So compared to that, at least, this first "24" novel is a good way of passing time in between one season's finale in May and the next season's debut the following January.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting It Dead On!, October 19, 2005

By	John J. Pierce - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's just a coincidence, of course, that this book appeared at the very moment that there was disturbing news about an actual threat America now faces, and on which Cerasini's first 24 novelization centers.

No, I won't tell you what that is. What I will tell you is that he has distilled the essence of the TV series onto the printed page. The characters, the conspiracies, the conflicts and the betrayals, are all there -- Cerasini has them dead on. Even more important, he has the RHYTHM of 24 dead on, not just in the time stamps but in the pulse of events. If you feel your heart beating faster as you read OPERATION HELL GATE, that's because the author has done his job. There's never a dull moment, but the suspense and excitement have as much to do with the characters -- including those new to this novel -- as with the action itself.

Cerasini is no stranger to the world of 24. Three years ago, he wrote 24: THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE'S FINDINGS AT CTU. An audacious mockumentary based on the first season on the show, its release was mistimed and thus many of you may have missed it. Buy it now. And buy OPERATION HELL GATE. You're in for a great ride -- and a ride with some real thought behind it, too.

--John J. Pierce (author of Imagination and Evolution, the best history of science fiction).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What can I say...This book is worth its weight in gold!, January 8, 2006

By	N. Berg (Anchorage, AK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I won't analyze this book's plot or character development, I will simply say; if you are a 24 fan, this book and the other currently out, Veto Power, are awesome.

They read like the show develops. Every cliffhanger is answered minutes later, rather than having to wait for a week. I read both of these back to back in about 10 hours of reading time over a two day span.

They are excellent. I have pre-ordered the other 2 coming out this year.