Special Ops

Rating:
Summary: Slow going
Review: I am a big fan of W E B Griffin and this book was a big disapointment. The story moves very slowly. I am used to Griffins style of repeating things and I actually enjoyed the "Blood and Honor" series which many readers found too dull. But, I thought this book was even duller. You have to be a real Griffin devotee to get through this!

Rating:
Summary: Ridden with errors
Review: I am still about a hundred pages from the end of the paperback version of this book, but there is no doubt it was written in haste and not up to the normal standard of Griffin's work. I have two pages of errors listed on my computer in the first 150 pages... You know I have long thought that there is a team of writers at work on these books, rather than one author. That might explain the repetitious nature of the books, and the clangers that get dropped in.

Rating:
Summary: Special Ops
Review: I found the book tedious, often disjointed and lacking "zip". My first excursion into what I now know to be at the end of Griffin's career. Between the all-too-numerous typos (I wondered what parent would name their child "Jiffy" until it later became apparent it was "Jeffy".), the interminable "dispatches" and the incorrect references (i.e Director of the CIA instead of DCI) and the totally implausible wives-in-operation, I found this book to be a waste of my time. I was reminded of the Western author (I think it was Zane Grey) who was asked why his gunslingers always took 6 shots (Bang! Bang! etc.)to bring down their quarry. His reply was that he was being paid 5 cents a word!! Griffin's incessant use of FULL names and ranks (with middle intitials!!) EVERY time he referenced a character was DISTRACTING. And WHY does he need to have characters with similar names - Portet and Porter, for example. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this had I read earlier works, but I'm guessing I never would have gotten to this one.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I had read all the prior reviews first............
Review: I found the book tedious, often disjointed and lacking "zip". My first excursion into what I now know to be at the end of Griffin's career. Between the all-too-numerous typos (I wondered what parent would name their child "Jiffy" until it later became apparent it was "Jeffy".), the interminable "dispatches" and the incorrect references (i.e Director of the CIA instead of DCI) and the totally implausible wives-in-operation, I found this book to be a waste of my time. I was reminded of the Western author (I think it was Zane Grey) who was asked why his gunslingers always took 6 shots (Bang! Bang! etc.)to bring down their quarry. His reply was that he was being paid 5 cents a word!! Griffin's incessant use of FULL names and ranks (with middle intitials!!) EVERY time he referenced a character was DISTRACTING. And WHY does he need to have characters with similar names - Portet and Porter, for example. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this had I read earlier works, but I'm guessing I never would have gotten to this one.

Rating:
Summary: Winds of War look alike
Review: I greatly enjoy fiction interweaved with fact. I well remember the saga of Che. I was in the service when Castro came to power and inspected us all at GTMO. Che rode in with him on horseback. If I recall correctly it was not long after that he poisoned our water at the base. Regardless for me it was quite interesting as I was privy to a lot of the information on the whole situation in the Congo and later in South America. The book for me was quite interesting but I wonder if others would feel the same. A lot of the interesting characters are no longer there but in all defense how many books can anyone keep writing?

Rating:
Summary: Pass on this one
Review: I have been a long-time fan of W.E.B. Griffin for many years. Having read everything he has published, I can say without a doubt that this one is a pass. The story line moved agonizingly slowly, was dull, and frankly, without the name of the author I would have just stopped reading it. I kept waiting for it to get better and it never did.

Rating:
Summary: I'm so confussed
Review: I have been reading Griffin for the past 8 years and never been disappointed until now. I loved these characters in the other books in the Brotherhood series. I could not get into his rhythm and train of thought. Just as I was getting into the character and scenario he jumped to another place and person only to be there a couple of seconds and off you go again. If this were a movie I would have been sea sick. Griffin has been one of the few writers I could read over and over but not this one. I am glad I got it rom the library.

Rating:
Summary: I read it, but it was far from my favorite.
Review: I have read all of the Brotherhood of War novels, and my favorites were the first two, by a long shot. I would rather see a "fill in the blanks" book about Craig Lowell's adventures in Vietnam! In the book "The Generals", we are told that Craig goes to Vietnam as a Lt. Col., and comes back a full Colonel with more medals, of course. One thing that bothered me about this book... the ending of "The Aviators" was re-written in this book to include Jack Portet, which seems very tacky. I have read the other Brotherhood of War novels so much that my copies are falling apart! I wish this novel had been as good as the others.

Rating:
Summary: I read it, but it was far from my favorite.
Review: I have read all of the Brotherhood of War novels, and my favorites were the first two, by a long shot. I would rather see a "fill in the blanks" book about Craig Lowell's adventures in Vietnam! In the book "The Generals", we are told that Craig goes to Vietnam as a Lt. Col., and comes back a full Colonel with more medals, of course. One thing that bothered me about this book... the ending of "The Aviators" was re-written in this book to include Jack Portet, which seems very tacky. I have read the other Brotherhood of War novels so much that my copies are falling apart! I wish this novel had been as good as the others.

Rating:
Summary: What happened to the rest of WW2?
Review: I like other reviewers were unhappy that the author left us hanging for so long between books only to skip the second half of the war and fast forward to Korea. The lame excuse of there were only bloody battles left is just that, lame. He could have used the coast watcher network, behind the lines before the big battles and other things.
With this book he brings back the cast of characters we have learned to love and Macklin who we love to hate. I think in his next book he has to either have him killed off by his own men or booted out of the corps for being a detriment to the service.
I have read other reviews that say this book is not finished, that is true, he has yet to finish any of his books so they lend themselves to sequels. This book has enough unanswered questions that begs for a final wrap up in future books.
Other reviewers say the book was slow starting, after reading the Bear and the Dragon, the last two Ludlum yawners before the Promethius Deception, and the last three books from Clive Cussler, I beg to disagree. This book was something those those 5 were not, well written and interesting.
While not his best work, compared to the previous 5 novels from others mentioned it was great. His portrayals of Truman and McArthur were very good and his mention of Lt and then Captain Al Haig leads me to believe that he will be seen in future books and his Napolean complex came from the ultimate ego, Douglas McArthur.