Product Description

The Russian bear is stirring—and it’s hungry— in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series’ thrilling fifth novel.

The first disturbing reports reached Delta Force Lieutenant Colonel Charley Castillo in the form of backchannel messages concerning covert U.S. intelligence assets working for a variety of agencies suddenly gone missing and then, suddenly, inexplicably, found dying. Or dead. One in Budapest, Hungary. One in Kiev, Ukraine. 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 finds the information both infuriating and fascinating, particularly after a recent experience with two CIA traitors whose own deaths were swift and suspicious. Despite there being some similarities, though, he thinks there’s something different with these new cases, something he can’t quite put his finger on. At first, it’s idle thought, but Castillo expects it’s only a matter of time before the commander in chief assigns him and his group of troubleshooters in the innocuously named Office of Organizational Analysis to look into the deaths while all those 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—both foreign and domestic. And then comes another back-channel message, this one delivered personally by his lethal friend, the Russian mobster arms dealer. All that has happened so far, he says, is just a warm-up for what’s about to come out of the Kremlin.

Could sabers be rattling for a new Cold War? Or worse? Presidential Agent C. G. Castillo is about to find out. . . .

Filled with Griffin’s trademark rich characters and cutting-edge drama, this is another exceptional novel in an exceptional series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30336 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780399155178
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Griffin's gung-ho fifth presidential agent novel (after The Shooters), the U.S. president assigns Lt. Col. Charley Castillo, a member of the Office of Organizational Analysis, a special task—to track down the terrorists who murdered an American diplomat in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When Castillo's inquiries lead him to a pair of defecting Russian spies, they offer information about an Iranian-run bioweapons factory hidden in the Congo. Readers who want exciting accounts of desperate battles have come to the wrong place. Griffin excels in describing the planning and the bureaucratic tussles that have to occur before the first bomb goes off. He understands the psychology and motivations of military and clandestine service officers. 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. (Jan.)
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From Booklist
Griffin, the veteran author of military-themed thrillers, once again proves that the same old thing can sometimes be just what readers want. The latest Presidential Agent novel is written in exactly the same tough-fisted style, with exactly the same sort of shorthand characterizations and hard-edged dialogue, as the novels that came before it. The story, too, is typically involved: a series of assassinations leads Presidential Agent Charlie Castillo to believe that his own name appears on the assassin’s list of victims. But can Charlie and his band of operatives stop the killings in time? Oh, and what about those two high-level Russian intelligence officers who claim they want to defect to the States but only to Charlie personally? Do they really know who’s building weapons of mass destruction, or are they trying to sell Charlie a bill of goods? Griffin’s formula is straightforward: set up a bunch of obstacles, and let us watch Charlie knock ’em down one at a time. His novels promise action, suspense, and rousing entertainment, and they never fail to deliver. --David Pitt

About the Author
W. E. B. Griffin is the author of five other bestselling series: The Corps, Brotherhood of War, Badge of Honor, Men at War, and Honor Bound.

Customer Reviews

The end of the series
This is the last of the Presidential Agent series which began with the story of the hijacked airliner. It starts slowly and I think Griffin may not have written the first few chapters. About a quarter of the way in, when I was getting impatient with all the exposition of back story and the rather wooden character development, the pace picks up and it seems Griffin is back. I suspect his son may have done the early chapters. If you are familiar with the other books of the series, skim those early chapters. The writing picks up and the plot gets going when Russian SVR agents contact Castillo and tell him he is set up for assassination. From that point on, we are back with the WEB Griffin skills in plot and character development that have kept us reading his novels for 25 years.

The plot pulls together all the seemingly unconnected threads of the other stories and explains the various characters and their relationships. Griffin is teaching us more Russian history, including the current Russian leadership about which he has strong opinions. I don't know how accurate his information is, for example he has another theory about Ivan the Terrible than I have read, but he has been right before. He has sources of information that don't write books. Anyway, after a slow start (for which I subtract one star), the novel gets going and is a great example of Griffin's story telling.

The ending, which others have complained about, actually opens a new chapter and may promise more books with Charley Castillo and his band of warriors. I had actually wondered how Griffin was going to handle the changes in Washington. The President in the series is obviously Bush and the other cabinet officers are recognizable. That will change so a Presidential Agent may now become the agent of the shadowy group of patriots that appears at the end. This novel also introduces what may be the real romance in Charlie's life and I can see more books with this theme, as well.

I recommend it for those who have read the other books in the series and, as far as I am concerned, Griffin hasn't lost his touch. Alexander Dumas had a writing team that composed large sections of his novels. Those novels have stood the test of time and these will too.

Only stuck with it out of loyalty to the series.
I really was a big fan of this series but the fifth and assumed final book is in my opinion a disappointment as a read. I was grabbed by the novels early on and the action and intrigue but I felt this version was pure boredom and just a recap of most of the things that I'd read in the previous novels. At one point I kind of cared about Castillo as a character and was willing to suspend the fantasy of his lifetime because the variety of circumstances in life seemed to help the story but even the protagonist became a just another of the lame tired group of characters, all constatly cracking wise, all the best at what they do but not appreciated by the system and all miraculously able to outwit the other 6 billion people on the planet trying to stop them. This book probably could've been condensed down to 100 pages easily without losing anything of value from the story to those of us that have been along since the start--was it necessary for Castillo to give Dick Miller the back story at one point? Did Miller (Castillo's sidekick from go) suddenly forget all that had happened in the previous 6 months? Castillo finally finds the woman of his dreams but I never took the bait as there'd been other woman of his dreams that appeared and disappeared suddenly in the past. Honestly about the only part of the book that I felt was compelling was Castillo's son finding out the truth but even that was done away with quickly so we could get back to the formula of Delchamps calling Charlie "Ace", somebody new being brought into the circle of hundreds that are given full disclosure of the Top Secret Presidential finding, and Charlie trying to squeeze in saving the world when he isn't having sex.

Loyalty to the series which really had moments of enjoyment give it two stars but I'm not sure it deserves more than one.

Presidential Agent - jumped the shark?
First off, I've read every book W.E.B. Griffin has written - all of the series books, anyway - and I always anxiously anticipate the release of the latest installments.

However, if you notice, most of them follow the same formula. The protagonist is filthy rich, or associates with those who are. They are all officers, or ultimately end up that way, relegating the "enlisted men" to supporting cast members, or comic relief.

Even with this in mind, I enjoy his writing style, even if his perspective on military service (even the stories set in the modern era) are quite dated.

I've enjoyed this series so far, even if the last book felt like one long lead-in - and until the final 20 pages, this book was headed up that path.

But - without giving the ending away, of course - this installment will be my last. I feel like it really "jumped the shark," moving from something that might be plausible with a small suspension of belief to something completely crazy. Not giving away details, but any fan of this series may be disappointed with the ending, as it takes away some of the charm of our lead character.

Too bad... I guess I'll have to pine away for "Brotherhood of War" to continue someday. Here's hoping the Philadelphia police series continues better than this. By the way, did anyone notice that the last Badge of Honor book jumped 30 years in reality in the space of one book?