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Book Summary and Reviews of Black Ops by W.E.B. Griffin

Black Ops by W.E.B. Griffin

Black Ops

A Presidential Agent Thriller. #5

by W.E.B. Griffin

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • Published:
  • Dec 2008, 480 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

The Russian bear is stirring - and it's hungry.

Delta Force Lieutenant Colonel Charley Castillo receives a series of back-channel messages concerning covert US intelligence assets gone missing and then, suddenly, inexplicably, found dead. One in Budapest; one in Kiev; one in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan - mere klicks from the Iran border. And then one in Virginia, along the Potomac River, practically in the shadow of CIA headquarters.

Castillo suspects it's only a matter of time before the commander in chief assigns him and his group of troubleshooters to look into the deaths while the intel agencies fight among themselves trying to put the pieces together.

Meanwhile, Castillo has problems of his own - fallout from recent missions involving a clandestine rescue of a DEA agent from South American drug runners, and the confiscation of some fifty million dollars from thieves in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. He's made more than a few enemies, he knows. And then comes another back-channel message. All that has happened so far, it says, is just a warm-up for what's about to come out of the Kremlin...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"While he paints an enticing, if overly idealized, portrait of loyal, capable people drawn to others of their kind, realism isn't his strong suit. Still, Griffin's many fans will be rewarded." - Publishers Weekly.

"His novels promise action, suspense, and rousing entertainment, and they never fail to deliver." - Booklist.

"Based on this novel's conclusion, the series is either changing drastically or ending—either is overdue." - Library Journal.

This information about Black Ops was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

G.B. Hood

BLACK OPS by WEB Griffin- not up to snuff
I've read and enjoyed a great many of Griffin's books, including ALL of the Presidential Agent series. Normally they are GREAT! But this one just doesn't measure up to his normal quality level,which is why I rate it a 3 out of 5. All the others in the series I rated at 4.5 or 5 out of 5. This one is giant summary rehash of the previous books with a very jumpy plot. The paperback version is ~800 pages, that I see as 600 pgs of 'fluff & filler', and 200 pages of mediocre content. I'm hoping his next in this series greatly improves.

Surfbuster

Days of your life you won’t get back…
Too laborious, and rife with too many uninteresting characters. Should have been a 200 page book…

Hammond

padded
This is one of the most padded books I have ever read. It is laden with irrelevant mind numbing details. Endless commentary on these dogs C is hauling around with him. Endless irrelevant detail that involves - walking down the sidewalk, how hot it is, how people are seated - on the train, at the table, etc - efforts at clever irrelevant conversation, many instances of arguments between C and various others where C trumps with his presidential orders. Not much action half way through. If I hadn't paid good money for this paperweight I would throw it away without reading the second half, but as it is, I probably hope in vain for something to get going with this piece of trash.

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Author Information

W.E.B. Griffin Author Biography

W.E.B. Griffin (William E. Butterworth III) is the author of more than 50 epic novels in seven 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 fifty 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 counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland and was assigned 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 ...

... Full Biography
Link to W.E.B. Griffin's Website

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More Recommendations

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