Black Ops

Pretty similar to previous Presidential Agent novels by Griffin. Griffin seems to dedicate a large portion of the story to how the procedure and protocol unfolds within the overall plot. The actual events that occur (assassination attempts, bombing of an African chemical factory) seem to be just mere mentioned background items, while most of the book focuses on the interaction between Castillo and those in the government and in his secret cabal, plus a little love story thrown in...albeit somewhat awkwardly to fit in with the overall plot. This being said, the book seems a little better paced than the other Castillo novels. Overall, I enjoyed reading this.

Book 5 in the series, one wonders how much fun a bunch of malcontents can have in one 18 hour novel? Familiar places: DC, South America, Africa and Europe with many hours of flying in between. And, finally, the DC bureaucracy catches up with him. I did not think that it would last, but it's a really fun read watching Charlie make a fool of the DCI and the DNI. On to book 6.

Fast read typical of genre. the

Black Ops is the 5th book in the Presidential Agent series. This time Charlie REALLY seems to be pissing off Ambassador Montvale, and other heads of the intelligence departments. The book starts out with 4 apparently unrelated murders/attempted murders but all have a common denominator, Charlie and gang. While looking into the people behind the Iraqi oil for food scandal and OOA stumbled across something else very big and dangerous to the US. Namely a reported biological weapons factory in a very bad part of a very dangerous area of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since, no one wants to believe him and the CIA is extra mad at him, he has to find a way to get proof that will convince the President the threat is real.Once again I enjoyed the book, but this is another one where some decisions were made that made me scratch my head. Quite a few reactions I thought were over the top by several different people. Not bad though a couple plot points seemed to be used merely to help turn the story to a specific destination and seemed a little out of place and inconsistent. This book also like several of the others, where we get some kind of a resolution and then the set up for the next to keep up wanting more.

The fifth installment in W.E.B. Griffin's Presidential series, it may be the best yet. I would recommend reading the series in the order they were written as the character development is enhanced if you do. While I have never been a fan of Griffin's other series particularly (military series set in past wars, etc.), this series is present day and eerily possible in the military scenarios presented. Highly recommended.