Book
Special ops / W.E.B. Griffin.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780399146466 (alk. paper)
- ISBN: 0399146466 (alk. paper)
- Physical Description: 665 p. ; 24 cm.
- Publisher: New York : Putnam's, c2001.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | "A Brotherhood of war novel"--Jacket. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Guevara, Ernesto, 1928-1967 > Fiction. Congo (Democratic Republic) > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Historical fiction. Adventure fiction. |
Search for related items by series
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Interlake Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonewall Library | FIC GRIFFIN (Text) | 1000009319 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 November 2000
For readers who are counting, this is Griffin's thirty-first book. Previous ones have included such popular titles as Brotherhood of War (1982), Honor Bound (1994), The Corps (1990), Badge of Honor (1992), and Men at War (2000). Now comes Special Ops, the ninth Brotherhood of War novel, and it's filled with characters from Griffin's other works. The story is set in 1964 and involves the real-life Che Guevara, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader who was Fidel Castro's chief lieutenant in the Cuban revolution. Guevara, with the help of 200 soldiers, wants to overthrow the government of the Congo and ultimately all the governments in Africa and South America. He fails, returns to Cuba, recruits more mercenaries, tries to take over Bolivia, fails again, and dies there under mysterious circumstances. Griffin's characters include, as always, Green Berets, beautiful women, good guys, and bad guys--all tough talkers and heavy drinkers. One of Griffin's more interesting features is his inclusion of the texts of many "top secret" memos, most of them from the CIA to the president. The result is the kind of sophisticated entertainment typical of Griffin, and his many fans won't be disappointed. --George Cohen Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2000 November #1
Mammoth, Clancy-sized novel, ninth in the Brotherhood of War series by immensely canny superseller Griffin (Secret Honor, 2000, etc).Previously, in this and other multivolume sagas, Griffin has covered encyclopedic aspects of US military history, as wellas the birth of OSS and US spycraft. Now he takes on the political passions of the 1960s, chronicling US Special Ops' successful effort to undermine Che Guevara's hopes of spreading revolution throughout Africa and South America. For this massive operation, Griffin brings back all the Brotherhood regulars: Craig Lowell, Geoff Craig, Master Sergeant doubting Thomas, Robert Bellmon, George Washington "Father" Lunsford, Sandy Felter, et al. First, the President orders Lowell's Operation Dragon Rouge to rescue 1,600 white people, including the staff of the US consulate and 60 Americans, held captive in Stanleyville, Republic of Congo, by Joseph Olenga's rebel Simbas, who threaten to kill two or more hostages per day if Olenga doesn't get his way. As Lowell leads the strike staff of Green Berets, Guevara addresses the United Nations General Assembly to great applause, then goes back to plotting takeovers in Africa and Central and South America. Often telling his story through top-secret letters among the White House, the CIA, and other groups, Griffin's smarts about how undercover ops are carried out blister the pages with irony and a towering wisdom as he holds each richly satisfied fan in the palm of his hand. Eventually, Guevara is run to ground in Bolivia. The CIA wants to ship him back to Argentina, but Bolivia's president won't give up the prisonerâand there the story ends, as foredoomed, with the famous image of Guevara's wounded corpse stretched out on a table.Gripping indeed, far more readable than Clancy, and as a bonus we get the heroes' love lives limned in hugely amusing detail. Griffin fans will dance with delight. Copyright 2000 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2000 September #1
In his first "Brotherhood of War" novel since 1988, Griffin considers how his familiar characters (e.g., Craig Lowell, Sandy Felter) might have been involved with the death of Che Guevara. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : Library Journal January 2001 #1
The extremely prolific Griffin has returned to the "Brotherhood of War" series, which began nine books (e.g., The Aviators) and several other series ago. In 1964, Cuba's Fidel Castro tried to export communism to Africa under the leadership of the legendary Che Guevera, and Special Ops details the efforts of the U.S. military and the CIA to stop him. With the world's attention focused on Vietnam and Europe, the deadly fighting in some of the world's most remote and primitive places went unnoticed. Griffin writes from the military perspective, and while it helps to enjoy his unique style and to be familiar with characters from the preceding books (many of whom are featured here), neither is necessary. This is an exciting, intriguing, and fast-paced novel about an often-ignored period in our recent history. For general collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/00.] Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2000 November #2
Newly initiated readers of Griffin (The Fighting Agents) will find the latest in the Brotherhood of War series strongly reminiscent of modern American military classics From Here to Eternity and The Winds of War. Longtime Griffin faithful, eager since 1988's The Aviators for the next BOW installment, will deem this '60s action drama well worth the wait. Fresh from disobeying orders on a rescue mission to the Congo in November 1964 (and receiving two medals for his heroic efforts), former airline pilot now Green Beret Sgt. Jack Portet is promoted to lieutenant and assigned to Top Secret Special Operations under Col. Sanford T. Felter, adviser to the president. CIA sources report that Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara is going to the Congo to establish a major Communist foothold in Africa, before moving on to South America. LBJ, with counsel from Felter, decides that it would be better politics to humiliate Guevara in the Congo than to elevate him to martyr status by killing him. To that end, Portet, Felton and Maj. George Washington "Father" Lunsford persuade Joseph Mobutu, president of the Republic of the Congo, to allow a crack unit of African-American Green Berets, all fluent in Swahili, to carry out the assignment. The Special Ops manage to chase Che out of Africa only to see him try to gain power in Bolivia. His writing enriched by new, fully developed characters, Griffin also reprises BOW favorites Craig Lowell, Robert Bellmon, Geoff Craig and William "Doubting" Thomas as he renders an intricately layered, epic novel of the fascinating machinations of international politics and the life and passions of the men who make it happen. Given Griffin's track record with military adventure he launched the Lieutenants of the Brotherhood in 1982 the audience for this rouser is ready and waiting. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
