Rating: 
Summary: too long, too late
Review: This is a long, tedious, very slow moving book. Between all the asides and meetings, the telex messages and the slow plot, it was all I could do to finish the thing. I just kept hoping Griffin would spring some surprise, but the closer I got to the end, the more I suspected deflation. And I certainly got it. This is not Griffin's usual level of effort. He has been away too long and it shows.
Rating: 
Summary: A great Griffin book
Review: This is one of the greatest Griffin books in years. So many readers lust for the action, but Griffin seems to remember that it's planning and waiting that makes an opertaion work.The story moves along and the characters are really allowed to develop. There is the standard romantic stuff that seems to be part and parcel of Griffin's work, as well as the idea that being an officer (or at least a Special Forces noncom) is really "where it's at", but that's part of the fun. Let's face it, the kind of stuff Griffin writes is not about the ordinary soldier. It would be boring writing if it were. I wonder if he has any more stories like this left. I would be very interested to read them.
Rating:
Summary: Continuing excelence
Review: This new book is a great inclusion to his Brotherhood series! Having not read about the main characters for ten year now. Picking up and reading about Col. Lowell, Col. Felter and the dozen others who make up the story line is a great treat. Seeing that he could expound on the characters last brought up in the books, The New Breed and The Aviators. Getting to know them is even better and hopfully he can continue the story line past the events of the real end of the series in, The Generals. The way the story evolves includes you, you are there experiencing the story and the people involved. This is what good writing is about. I couldn't put the book down. W.E.B Griffin can write about the people in the military like no other. If you read this book you will soon find yourself wanting to know about all the characters and the story line from the beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: A Welcome Return to Where It All Started.......
Review: This one was a surprise to find. I was, like so many other fans of this writer, hoping that Mr. Griffin would somehow find a way to "back into" this series, the one that got us all started. I always thought that when Griffin first ended the Brotherhood of War series (before writing the Berets) that the end came all to quickly (esp. after Craig Lowell is forced to retire at th end of THE GENERALS). In SPECIAL OPERATIONS, Griffin once again "backs into" the series by going back to 1964-65, before the characters get completely embroiled in the Vietnam War and the books he wrote to cover that part of the series. This ability, to slide backward while keeping the stories fresh, has been one of his stronger suits and I am glad he finally did so. In this installment, all of the characters from B o W are reprised. In many cases, they are about to be or have been promoted. Craig Lowell is now a Lt Col, Sandy Felter a COL working directly for LBJ, Red Hanrahan is a Brig Gen and Bob Bellmon is a Major General. We even spend more time with these warriors ladies and as usual, Griffin has done a fine job of fleshing the characters out and building up the reader's knowledge of each of them. With this story, Griffin chooses to take the reader to Africa and South America where most of the diplomatic, intelligence and military action take place. The U.S. Government is trying to stymie Communist insurrection in the Congo and Che Guevera has gone there to become a catalyst for rebellion and takeover. Rather than assassinate the Argentine born surrogate for Castro, the USA decides to keep him alive, while controlling him and minimizing the potential for damage and communist takeovers. Above all, Sandy Felter has convinced LBJ that Che must not become a martyr for the communist causes he espouses. My main reason for not giving this (or any of Griffin's books) five stars is his annoying persistence in "lionizing" the upper and aristocratic classes of the countries in which he sets his novels. His fawning over the wealthy and elite members of American, Argentine, German, British and other societies is so heavy-handed and cloying as to be sickening. For instance, in this book and all of the others in the Brotherhood of War (as well as The Corps, Men at War, Badge of Honor et al) officers are shown as always being intelligent, witty, honorable, wealthy or financially well off, possessed of a high level sense of mission and so on. Very rarely does Griffin show officers the way they can be and are in the "real" military. In the real military of the USA, most officers (these days, at least) live on their government incomes, are not from upper class backgrounds, and have an uncanny propensity for doing what is best for THEIR careers and the enlisted members and the country be damned. In addition, most flag officers (regardless of service) these days spend more time worrying about themselves, the next star and their perks and creature comforts than they do about the enlisted people entrusted to them and the nation they protect. In reality, many senior military leaders are self-serving and venal and in this regard, Griffin does his readers a gross injustice because his books paint a picture that doesn't exist and never did. Several reviewers for this book and others in the Griffin library have also commented on technical mistakes, editing errors and questionable authorship. I will say that I cannot disagree with them. There are technical errors here such as calling a CAR-15 a CAR-16, the confusion of Johnny Oliver and Jack Portet, the time span over which Lowell and Felter have served and so on. The historical math for many of the events in Griffin's story line is also lacking in spots. Another annoying aspect in this story is the direct commissioning of Jack Portet, his "abbreviated" Special Forces course and his marriage to Marjorie Bellmon. Granted, his flying skills are superb, but to shorten his SF training can only be viewed as gratuitous and would place him and anyone under his leadership in jeopardy once the "hit sit the fan." The constant special treatment for "pet" military personnel is what makes these novels most incongruous. I wish Griffin did not have to resort to the constant fawning over the Craig Lowells of the world if for no other reason than it creates unnecessary envy. The editing errors, as well as the over-use of fake government communiques is also distracting. Other than that, as I said earlier, I was very happy to see Griffin resurrect some of my favorite characters. I'd also like to continue hoping that he is in fact, still writing this series so that I can have some measure of confidence when I buy them. Despite my minor criticisms, this was a welcome return to a series that had been left hanging for far too long. I like these characters and what Griffin does with them and to them. Now if he could only clean up the minor annoyances, I might be able to write a future review with 5 stars at the top.
Rating:
Summary: Back to the REAL series
Review: W. E. B. Griffin has returned to his REAL series, "The Brotherhood of War". Had he to do it all over again, I'm sure he would have slowed down the pace at which he went through World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, to stretch it out longer. But this is a return to the REAL characters -- the real Craig Lowell, rather than the millionaire-playboy clones who people THE CORPS, and the other Griffin series. SPECIAL OPS is good and authentic (down to the parking sticker color for an enlisted man's POV, and the hassle required to change it. My only criticisms: it goes on about 150 pages too long, Argentina AGAIN, and no Rudy MacMillan.
Rating:
Summary: Romance, Intrigue, and Green Berets
Review: W. E. B. Griffin is a very prolific, and very popular, writer. He has five series currently in place: The Brotherhood of War, The Corps, Badge of Honor, Honor Bound, and Men at War. (The Men at War series was published originally under the pseudonym of Alex Baldwin, and was not carried to conclusion. Republished in hardcovers under Griffin's name, it has been very successful-maybe Griffin will now finish the story line.) The Brotherhood of War series really established Griffin as a popular writer, and was carried to its conclusion. He later wrote a new entry, The Aviators, which was roughly coincident with the series' main line book The Berets. He now repeats that with another companion piece set in the 1960's - Special Ops. Special Ops revisits (rehashes) some of the action from both The Berets and The Aviators, but in Griffin's "episodic" style these sections repeating those from the other books fit right in and make the current story coherent. Leaving them out would leave gaps for those who have not read, or have forgotten, the previous books. The "new" story is about a detachment of Special Forces troops, many of whom were met in the other books, who mount a clandestine operation to defeat, and discredit, Che Guevara's attempt to export Cuban communist revolution to Central Africa. Sandy Feltner, one of the ongoing characters in the series, is an intelligence counselor to President Johnson (as he has been to Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy). He sees the risk Guevara poses, while the CIA does not, and proposes Army-based covert operations aimed at embarrassing Guevara while foiling him, rather than assassinating him and thus creating a martyr. Griffin's sometimes contemptuous treatment of the CIA is interesting, given his usually favorable treatment of the OSS in Men at War and Honor Bound stories. As always, Griffin honors the warriors and their supporters while spinning an interesting tale. He also connects well with his Argentinean research (the Honor Bound series). The ending is conclusive, if perhaps flawed by relying on printed reports and messages rather than direct narrative. On balance, Special Ops is a very satisfying addition to the Griffin bookshelf, and a nice reminder of the old series. It would be nice to see The Corps brought to its conclusion, however, and save revisiting a "completed" series. And isn't it past time for a new Badge of Honor story?
Rating: 
Summary: Griffin Needs to Get Back Into Action
Review: We turn to Griffin for action, but Special Ops is about getting ready for action. The first chapter, a flashback, is exciting but thereafter the theme is preparation-assembling a covert force, getting it and its equipment to Africa, watching the bad guys, and planning the attack, a predictable setpiece. I also object to page after page of copies of messages. A quarter of each is information-jargon, hard to read, but information. The rest is heading, classification, signature, and blank space. Padding. Finally, it is annoying to find the head of the CIA called the Director of the CIA. His title is Director of Central Intelligence, DCI. (It is an easy mistake, like referring to Rehnquist as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; his title is Chief Justice of the United States.)
Rating:
Summary: Special Ops
Review: What a waste of money. This book must have be assembled from rejected material on some of Griffin's other books. I've read all of his military & CIA/OSS books and enjoyed them all but Special Ops was a huge disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Is Griffin dead?
Review: While most of this book was enertaining, the last 100 pages or so were horrendous. Many years had passed between the last installment in this series and this book, so remebering the charachters certainly detracted from enjoyment. Griffin also has tried to bring in too many of his previous charachters into the story. The use of orders, messages, etc. has always been an effective tool for Griffin to move his books along. However, he choses to write the last 100 pages in this format. Occasional use of this format doesn't detract from the reading, however constant use of this method destroys a book. His use of this method has led me to question who actually finished this book? To new readers of Griffin: His works have always been enjoyable. Of particular note is the Badge of Honor Series and this one. Start from the beginning and enjoy. Grffin's better days as a writer may be behind him.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet
Review: Without a doubt this is the best novel Griffin has written to date. He has done a masterful job of using snippets from past "Brotherhood of War" books to introduce his charactors and make them believeable, then taken historical fact and woven a compelling story.
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