Product Description

June, 1941. Determined that the United States will be prepared for war, Franklin D. Roosevelt and "Wild Bill" Donovan orchestrate the most complex espionage organization in history, the Office of Strategic Services. Young and daring, the OSS assemble under a thin camouflage of diplomacy and then disperse throughout the world to conduct their operations. And no operation is more critical than the one being conducted by hotshot pilot Richard Canidy and his half-German friend Eric Fulmar: to secure the rare ore that will power a top-secret weapon coveted on both sides of the Atlantic--the atomic bomb.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73370 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780515123296
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Kirkus Reviews
First hardcover edition of a volume from a paperback series, on the OSS in WW II, that the ever-popular Griffin (Blood and Honor, 1997, etc.) published pseudonymously (in 1985) as Alex Baldwin. In mid-1941, fun-loving Richard Canidy and straight-arrow Edwin Bitter are hotshot pilot instructors at the Navy's air station in Pensacola. With minimal prompting, they soon volunteer to serve with the so-called Flying Tigers. Before heading off (on a slow boat) to China, however, these two well-connected friends find time to join the social whirl in Washington, where crafty FDR has detailed Wild Bill Donovan to create an Office of Strategic Services. Shortly after arriving in Southeast Asia, Dick becomes an ace, downing five Japanese planes in a single sortie. The very same day, he's whisked away on orders from the White House. Meantime, the US (now at war against the Axis powers) plans to build an atomic bomb but lacks a secure source of uraninite. Which is where Dick comes in. His prep-school chum Eric Fulmar (the son of an American film actress and a German industrialist) is dodging the draft boards of both nations by hiding out in North Africa. Operating under cover from the US Embassy in Morocco, Dick is to enlist the aid of Fulmar in abducting a French mining engineer with badly needed information on a vital ore cache in the Belgian Congo. To make the mission more challenging, the amateur agents must carry out their assignment on a split-second schedule (to make an offshore rendezvous with a submarine) and get their man away without arousing the suspicions of either the Nazi or Vichy forces controlling the Maghreb coast. A rousing to-the-ends-of-the-earth start for an absorbing narrative takeout on the shadow warriors who handled some decidedly odd jobs in aid of the Allied cause. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable action adventure.
A friend tipped me off to WEB Griffin and I started off with his "Men At War" series, but out of order. This being the kickoff to the series, it came up as my second read.

Therefore, it was most interesting to get the complete back-story on the principle fictional characters. It certainly puts a more proper perspective on chapter two ("Secret Warriorts").

I particularly enjoyed the mixing of actual events and real people from the WWII era with the fictional characters. It gives a greater feeling of reality and you feel part of the action.

The series revolves around the founding and early days of the OSS...and our quest to beat the Axis powers in the race to develop the Atomic Bomb. Here we experience the setup to covertly attain the uranium necessary to complete the task.

The primary fictional characters are remarkably portrayed in a way that would make Errol Flynn, John Wayne and Tyrone Power proud. The action and plot flow smoothly and the book is great fun.

The characters are truly well developed and you feel an intimacy with many of them. You want them to show up in the next book in the series. Mr. Griffin does a good job of getting you to care about the players and to cheer for them all the way.

I am thankful to my friend for this recommendation and plan to read plenty more WEB Griffin.

Good read, but . . .
Griffin has been one of my favorite authors for over ten years, and I've read other books of the same genre. One thing to note about this particular series is that the books were all written over a decade ago (under a psuedonym), but the publisher is promoting the books as "new" now that Griffin is revealed as the author. Still, an enjoyable window into the formation of the OSS/CIA -- before it was corrupted in its mission in the Fifties.

W.E.B Griffin is still the insomniac's dream
If you are looking for non-fiction or classical literature, walk down another aisle. If you enjoyed the Hardy Boys (or Nancy Drew) as a kid, you will probably love "The Last Heroes" as another intriguing episode in the Griffin web.

If you want a historical picture of World War II, read a history book. If you want a feel for the war and want someone with imagination to connect the illogical dots surrounding FDR, MacArthur, and Corregidor, then read this novel.

Richard Canidy and Eddie Bitter bring the "Flying Tigers" close to home and Richard Canidy gets swept off on a James Bond-type adventure. From aerdahls to "bubbleheads" (submariners), W.E.B. puts the likely military psyche into an unlikely but entertaining romantic adventure of another lifetime.