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| The Shooters (Presidential Agent Novel) | 
 enlarge | Author: W.e.b. Griffin
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy Used: $3.99
You Save: $22.96 (85%)
New (63) Used (66) Collectible (2) from $3.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 3888
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 039915440X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780399154409
ASIN: 039915440X
Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Bottom corner is slightly bumped. Sound Copy. Mild Reading Wear.
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Product Description
The #1 New York Times-bestselling series returns with a story as up-to-date as the headlines.
The novels of W. E. B. Griffin featuring Delta Force officer Charley Castillo and his band of troubleshooters have won wide praise for their realism, action, and "punchy prose that connects like a right hook" (Chicago Tribune).
Now, still in Argentina tying up loose ends from his investigation into the UN oil-for-food scandal, Castillo is startled when a young man is marched into his office at gunpoint, caught trying to sneak through the fence. It turns out he's an American officer, a lieutenant assigned to the embassy in Paraguay. A key agent for the DEA has disappeared while trying to interdict drugs and very little is being done about it, for phony diplomatic reasons. The lieutenant's heard of Castillo, knows what he's done, and wants his help in getting the agent back. More than that, he's got an innovative plan for dealing with the drug lords themselves.
Intrigued, Castillo gets permission to try it, but the President has just one warning for him: Don't get caught. Charley couldn't agree more-but it might turn out to be something easier said than done. . . .
Filled with Griffin's trademark rich characters and cutting-edge drama, this is an exceptional novel by "a writer of true virtuosity and talent" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 48 more reviews...
 Charley Castillo Rides Again January 1, 2008
22 out of 27 found this review helpful
This is another great book about Charley Castillo and his band of Presidential operators. Read this book immediately, you will love it. I could not put it down, but I did stop to get four hours of sleep. Nobody writes about the military and special operations as well as WEB Griffin, because he knows the people so well, and they constantly feed him with new information about their methods and activities.
The book starts in Argentina. A young DEA agent approaches Castillo for help in freeing his kidnapped partner, Timmons, because no one else is interesting in doing anything about it. As events unfold, it becomes obvious that the kidnapping is an indication that a much larger problem exists. Eventually the President is involved by a political ally, and he orders Castillo's agents to free Timmons, over the objection of almost everybody else. The operation is put in motion, becoming a hunt that is as elaborate as the one for Osama bin Laden, involving new good guys and new bad guys, and operating primarily in Paraguay and Argentina.
This is another great book about how heroes overcome major obstacles in their efforts to serve their country. It shows the good, the bad, and the ugly about interagency cooperation, modeling true life.
 Griffin just drags on and on January 14, 2008
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
I have read all of the books in this series. I enjoy the lead character, Castillo. This character deserves better than what Griffin dishes out in this installment. It drags on and on and on. It reviews old material, digs up old cronies, sends the lead character back and forth across the US and South America. The book runs 422 pages and you will have to painfully read 400 pages before there is any action or intrigue. The entire book is devoted to backstory and planning the logistics of the raid to save the kidnapped DEA agent. Griffin devotes too much ink to trivial day to day activities like eating, drinking and Max the dog's bowel and bladder habits. There is a personal revelation for Castillo that is so poorly developed. It was completely unbelievable the way it unfolded. This will be the last of this series that I will buy in the hardbound version. I may not even pay for the paperback versions without rave reviews.
 Fourth in the Presidential Agent series January 10, 2008
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is the fourth book in the Presidential Agent series and it introduces a new plot. The first novel had a story about a stolen airliner. The next two concerned the kidnapping of an American diplomat in Argentina. This novel is set in the same period of a few weeks when all these adventures occur but has a new plot line. The first one-third is marred a bit by excessive exposition in filling in the back story of the first three books. It is a bit annoying as new information about Charley Castillo is included, along with the summary of the previous books. Because of that, the reader who knows the story cannot skip the exposition. Once that section is over, about a third of the way into the book, the pace picks up and this is another good yarn. A couple of unlikely developments suggests more sequels to come. The characters are interesting and the plot is good but this is a half step below the others. Another reviewer suggested that the other series are better and I agree. Still, if you like WEB Griffin's novels, you will enjoy this one. It is all set in South America and does mention the damage from Hurricane Katrina that occurred in the Gulf Coast area that is the setting of parts of the earlier books. I recommend it but will probably not reread it like I do many of the others
I'm done with WEB January 17, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've bought every one of WEB Griffin's books, many more than once. He used to have a talent for character development and action but no more. How many pages of guys with good connections, flouting the rules, chuckling and Famous Grouse can one person handle? I've reached my limit, that's for sure. It's so much writing and never any action. Even at the end the action isn't described at all just the aftermath. To say I'm disappointed at this point would be a huge understatement, maybe he let's his son do all the writing now and that explains it. Either way, do not buy this book, you will be bored and disappointed.
Overshot Dummy Bomb! January 16, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Be forewarned that if this is the first book in the series that you are reading, the series didn't have a very good start. The 2nd and 3rd in the series are about a tie in terms of their plot and pace. Nonetheless, this latest is once AGAIN, more overt dramatic prose that leads the reader to no-where.
If you were one of those that have kept up with this series in part or in total - the first was a putrid attempt at creating a foundation for his characters. Griffin then attempted to help the storyline along with the next 2 installments, by creating more external problems for his beloved "Carlitos", but failed to get things really moving - all because WEB couldn't move past the past. He just loves his "flash backs"! People give Griffin way too much credit for painting 'realism' in his writing, as it is supposed to pertain to the MODERN fight on terrorism. Griffin credits himself, on the inner jackets of his book, in being a member of some US Special Forces Association. You would think that with that type of membership he could have tapped into some current 'intel' on weapons and SOP. His portrayal of clandestine SOP and OPSEC is laughable. The weapons that he talks about are completely antiquated - I mean he discusses the 'Madsen machine gun' as a primary weapon in use by everyone good guys and bad. This gun, just by ballistics, is considered a relic - and its OVER-usage by everyone in this entire series is completely implausible! Planes, helicopters, and overall technology listed in the story all sound like they belong in an episode of the 'A-Team'. That is the technical gist of the series. Griffin likes to paint this picture that the President of the United States has an "enforcer" in CG Castillo, much like the "Lone Ranger" type characters from old westerns. But in today's modern war/bureaucratic songs and dances - the whole concept of CG Castillo would land his president in a whole lot of Congressional hot water. Regardless if the missions were kept off the books, the whole thing just smells like an amateurish attempt at telling a story from a "real world" point of view.
Griffin writes his story with a great amount of effort placed on events and scenery. I will give him credit for the imagery that he concocts, through his vast knowledge of places like Argentina, Germany, and a few of the Eastern bloc countries. However, 'events' are referenced, re-referenced, and then cross referenced by the main characters, supporting characters, and even Griffin himself. It becomes a trivial chore of keeping up with data that you have just read, then re-read, and then were made to re-remember a few pages down the line. It's as though he doesn't trust you enough to remember his ramblings a few pages beforehand! I wonder if readers find that part of his writing somewhat insulting in nature.
I honestly had hoped that Griffin would have cleaned this all up by now. In my previous critiques of his former installments in this series, I had mentioned that it would take about 5 or 6 books in the series, before he found a winner. But the advanced copy I got seemed just more of the same - it is his 'status quo' for the series, and he seems to relish in his presentation of this series - which points to the fact that this series is going nowhere fast. If you feel overly compelled to start this series with ANY of the novels, I implore you to pick up the audio books and just cruise. Don't bother sitting with it and reading - any avid reader will end up realizing the predictability of the plot. If you haven't started the series at all - do the audio books, and start with the 2nd novel first then go back to the first, then the third, finishing with this. But again, a warning to people looking for 'fun' the Tom Clancy, 'Jack Bauer', etc. characters/story bring to the table. This story, just like its predecessors, drops another WEB Griffin dummy-bomb!
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