The Outlaws

A decent read for Griffin fans

As a long time fan of the books of WEB Griffin, I had some concerns about this book, given that the last book co-authored with his son was considerably less than wonderful. In fact, it is fair to say that the last book in the Badge of Honor series pretty much killed the series.

This latest offering in the Presidential Agent series worked. It wrapped up a lot of loose ends, but entirely too much time was wasted on re-telling the backstory-this happens a lot in Griffin books, but this book took the practice to extremes. Regular readers of Griffin's books don't need to have the story re-told, and too much information is thrown at new readers in too short a time.

And, the person who edited the book for story continuity failed. For example, the Speaker of The House is referred to as female at one point, and later in the book is referred to as male. Someone should have caught that error and others.

All in all, a good read (except as noted), with believable characters.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Half and Half

Let me begin by saying that I have read them all. I started with the first Brotherhood of War book back in the early eighties. I love Griffin's style. He paints a brilliant picture. Griffin conjures some fantastic characters. Charlie Castillo may be my favorite so I awaited this book eagerly. After reading the first half of this book I began to wonder if Griffin had gotten lazy and had used the rehash of the other books in this series merely to fill pages since very little new plot took place in the first 200 pages. very dissapointing to have to have to read through so much review to get to some new action. I know it's there in all of his series but it seemed to me that this book was just way over the top in telling the backstory.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Recommended for Griffin fans

Very good read for Griffin fans but like most of his books, he goes into to much detail for the same thing to many times.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Lacking any depth, intrigue...NOT a "Can't put it down" Book :(

I LOVE WEB Griffin...and I have LOVED this series; especially Charley, BUT...the last 2 books have really seemed to be lacking. They could have been combined into 1 book and it would have been worthwhile.

There was soooo much backgound -- you could not get through a chapter w/o tons of "what happened in book 2,3,4, etc..." It wasn't laborious -- it was plain BORING. If one were writing this book for those who've never read any of his series, all that background stuff still would have been unnecessary. For me, it was just redundant.

Charley & Svetlana -- this pair just doesn't have much chemistry in my option. To think of Charley saying something sort of religious, "taking God's name in vain", is just NOT in character. And I'll admit maybe Griffin is trying to get Charley to change -- but I just don't BUY IT. I really don't even like Sweaty & Dimitri... maybe time to move them on...

I didn't really care for the new PRES (Clendennen). TO me, this story just lacked any intrigue. I strolled through the end of the book -- there was NO RUSH to get to the end; and the end was so anticlimactic.
I can't say this was a good read. The next book I get in this series, I definitely won't pay hardcover price :(

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Another hit

For those that love Griffin's style, this is typical Griffin. A lot in previous books is explained in greater detail here. Castiillo is not a typical Army officer, but he is not meant to be. There are times where our wonderful men and women in the military wish they ciuld do more to make a difference. At least a reader can get lost in the feeling while reading this novel. well eorth the money!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Charlie and the virus factory...

I am a huge WEB Griffin fan, and this book met all my expectations. Laughed out loud in places, and my only regret is always when the book is over.

All forces turn again Charlie and his Merry Band, and once again we and he are never sure who is friend and who is enemy.

No spoilers, but just a suggestion if you are a first time reader, the Griffin books are ALL better when you read the series in order. Characters will live with you day by day till the next book is published. Not sure how they read for a new arrival to the author.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended

This was the latest in the series and it built on the previous five novels. To get the full benefit, you must read the series in order, since each novel builds on the previous ones. There was a little more background given in this one which would help new readers to the series, but there seemed to be a gap between the ending of the previous book and the start of this one.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not worth the time to read.

The most boring rehash by my hero author.
Tis a pity.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Price

Why does the Ebook cost more than the hard cover? This is just not right!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Clendennen For President

No one will say that this is a perfect book, but I sure enjoyed it, as I have all of the Presidential Agent novels. Those who read it will know that I am kidding with my title, but who would you want, Montvale? Fans probably want Charlie Costillo, but if that happened it'd be like Jack Ryan becoming president, and no one would believe that! So, fans of the novel are probably happy,and those just starting are advised to be patient. The story builds, it gets better.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is so substandard for Griffin. I'm not sure if its the But

This is so substandard for Griffin. I'm not sure if its the Butterworth guy or what but this book took a nose dive. First Five were great. About half of this book is background info from the other 5 books. Don't let Charley die a slow death...... Still hopeful.

Recomended

Great Series This was not as good as rest of series. But a fun read.

One of the best series i've seen in a while.

Although the author mentions certain specialized units (not by their real name of course) i think that the whole series is extremely well written. Some of my fellow spec ops buddies have enjoyed it a lot.

Typical Griffin ...

That is, it's a very good read. Griffin is one of the few contemporary writers whose work seems fresh no matter how often you read it. The Outlaws didn't advance the story line as much as I would have preferred, and the character background provided for first-time readers was so extensive it seemed formulaic. (If new readers can't pick up what they need to know through context, they should start the series from the beginning.) Nonetheless, I'm very happy to add this book to my Griffin collection -- shelves of old friends which are reread over and over again.

Not up to snuff.

This is the weakest book in the series. The authors depiction of

the President is far worse than any real life person has ever been

and does not add anything to the story. They also do a disservice

to the Military and the main characters who until now you could

consider as unsung heroes. In all of Griffin's other books

it was easy to understand the logic of decisions taken in the

heat of a situation. Up to this point I have read all of the

Military stories penned by Mr Griffin, I hope that this is only

a momentary lapse and his writing returns to his prior level.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Skip the Angst

OK, as noted in the past, WEB III has a certain style that all of us have come to expect and enjoy. The collaboration with WEB IV started off a bit imperfectly, but, heck, it's a family franchise. It is improving. The series is interesting, and the characters, if occasionally lacking in depth such that their reactions are a bit predictable, do seem to evolve over time, and I give the duo credit for not falling into the trap of making them one dimensional. They change and evolve. I'm even starting to appreciate Amb. Montvale, who is a bit more complex than first portrayed. Just read the series and go with the flow. Some volumes are better than others, but it's an entire story, so I think that's how best to approach it. If you know what happened in earlier volumes, because III & IV repeat it more than you like, just skip over those parts. They're easy to spot coming.

Too much recapping past books

It sure felt like half of the book was used to recap the previous books in the series.

Better and better

If your a fan of the previous 5 books you'll love this one. The books seem to get better and better with each new one. I'm really looking forward to the release of the newest one Covert Warriors.

SEND ME THE BOOK

I HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE BOOK YET

This book was terrible

This was the first book by W.E.B. Griffin I purchased. What a mistake. I had to force myself to finish it. Juvenile dialogue and plot and I really don't need to read the full name and title of every character throughout the book. Chracters flipping each other off wasn't funny the first 50 times I had to read about it. No more W.E.B. G for me, I'm moving on to Brad Thor.