Book
The hostage / W.E.B. Griffin.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780399153143
- ISBN: 0399153144
- Physical Description: 465 p. ; 24 cm.
- Publisher: New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2005.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | "A Presidential Agent novel"--Dustjacket. Maps on endpapers. |
Search for related items by subject
| Genre: | Crime thrillers. Political thrillers. |
Search for related items by series
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at South Interlake Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonewall Library | FIC GRIFFIN (Text) | 1000063845 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Teulon Library | FIC GRIFFIN P2 (Text) | 1000048255 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2005 November #1
Griffin's second novel in his Presidential Agent series is the best-selling author's thirty-sixth book. Delta Force Major Charley Castillo is the protagonist-hero; he works with the Department of Homeland Security. He is asked by the president to go to Buenos Aires, where the wife of the deputy chief has been kidnapped and her husband has been murdered, shot twice in the head as she was forced to watch. Terrorists threaten to kill her children if she doesn't tell them how to find her brother, who, it seems, may have knowledge about the UN-Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. The twists and turns here include the handling of a large amount of money--$16 million, to be exact--that a variety of people would like to get hold of, and the storyline is peppered with forged passports, special agents, and never-ending cell-phone calls. The convoluted plot will appeal to thriller readers, especially Griffin's many fans, and although some of the dialogue is hackneyed, fans of the genre and author won't care. The important thing is the fast pacing and the relevance of the story to today's events and headlines. ((Reviewed November 1, 2005)) Copyright 2005 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2005 December #2
The adventures of presidential go-to guy Charley Castillo continue in the latest from Griffin (By Order of the President, 2005, etc.), who has more series under his belt than the entire Stratemeyer Syndicate.Somebody has kidnapped attractive, rich, African-American embassy wife Betsy Masterson from the parking lot of the posh Buenos Aires restaurant where she had been stood up by her handsome, athletic, ambitious husband. Recovery of Mrs. Masterson is entrusted by America's no-guff president to Army Major C. G. "Charley" Castillo, polylingual heir to huge fortunes in Texas and Germany, handsome helicopter pilot and endlessly resourceful assistant to the Secretary of Homeland Security, yet another no-guff guy. Armed with total authority over everything and everybody in sight, Charley checks into the Buenos Aires Four Seasons under one of his several aliases and immediately ingratiates himself with the manly good-guys, whose number include the ambassador, at the embassy. What none of these right-thinking, Scotch-swilling men of action know, but what is revealed early on to the reader, is that Betsy Masterson has not been snatched by your everyday terrorist. Her taking is somehow involved with the Iraqi oil-for-food scheme in which her no-good brother, a U.N. bureaucrat, is somehow involved. The bad situation turns worse when Betsy's husband is murdered, having been summoned by the kidnappers, who release their badly traumatized victim. As Charley begins to sort things out, he finds that he needs help from home. Betty Schneider, the sexy, straight-shooting, ex-Philadelphia policewoman turned Secret Service agent on whom he has a serious crush, offers assistance. The well-toned couple has but one night between the smooth Four Seasons sheets before assassins nearly succeed in killing Betty, sending Charley into high gear and a lot of intercontinental travel until there is a climax in nearby Uruguay.The prolific, mega-selling Griffin is well on his way to a credible American James Bond franchise. It's slick as hell, but the big heart of the Marine series is not there, and that's too bad. Copyright Kirkus 2005 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2005 September #1
Charley Castillo, the Department of Homeland Security agent who got his start in last year's By Order of the President, must solve the kidnapping of a diplomat's wife. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2005 December #1
This is the latest in Griffin's exciting new "Presidential Agent" series, and his many fans will be delighted that the cast from the first, By Order of the President , have all returned. An army major turned special presidential agent, Charley Castillo is rich, brash, well connected, and very good at what he does. Tons of money have gone missing in a UN oil-for-food scandal, an American diplomat has been murdered in Argentina, his wife has been kidnapped, and others have been killed in the hunt for the money. It's up to Charley and his cohorts to solve the murders by finding the widow's missing brother, who is knee-deep in the scandal. Many important people in a number of nations want to put a lid on the story and don't care how much blood is spilled in the process. Griffin just keeps on getting better with a formula that, while predictable and sometimes implausible, is exciting and great fun. Recommended for most popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/05.]--Robert Conroy, Warren, MI
[Page 112]. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2005 November #1
Is Griffin our Homer or Tacitus? Those military experts wrote about real soldiers--and what the world needs now is a real-life Charley Castillo, Griffin's smart and efficient Department of Homeland Security agent, who works directly for the president on cases calling for more than routine skills. Introduced in By Order of the President (2004), Castillo is an excellent alternative to the usual crew who make it to the headlines. Told in Griffin's trademark clean and compelling prose, studded with convincing insider details, Castillo's second outing starts with an American diplomat's murder in Argentina, the kidnapping of his wife, and threats to murder her children unless she reveals the whereabouts of her brother, a U.N. diplomat involved in the food-for-Iraqi-oil scandal. Castillo and his team of tough and shrewd experts are just the kind of believable people we want in these situations. And if it takes a novelist like Griffin, who has honed his skills and weapons in five previous series, to bring them to life, at least their real counterparts will have some fictional role models to live up to. (Jan.)
[Page 50]. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
