The Traffickers (Badge of Honor Series #9)

Good, but clearly written and edited in haste

I love the books of WEB Griffin, and re-read all of them at least every couple of years. I am somewhat less enamoured of the ones being written by/with his son.

The Traffickers was a good read, but shows many signs of having been written in haste and edited carelessly. Typos. Missing words. Major example (this is a paraphrase): There were four women in the room. Three of them were fifteen or under. The third was eighteen. That was written in haste and apparently edited not at all.

I love the Badge of Honor series, but it has had continuity problems since the beginning.

That being said, I hope there is at least one more book in this series, in which Matt Payne's grandmother Moffett gets put in her place once and for all.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Too much traffic !

What could have been an interesting continuation of his badge of honor series is instead an erratic and awkward storyline. The author insists on recounting previous incidents and information from prior novels; many of which have no real bearing on this story. A glaring flaw in the plot regarding the near decapitation of one of the characters is never explained; indeed scrutiny of the timeline reveals that it never could have happened. One has to assume the author threw it in for shock value and then forgot about it. The conclusion felt rushed and was not of the same quality as Griffin's previous works; all in all, it left a lot to be desired.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Get these men a competent editor!

First off, I am a huge Griffin fan. That being said, the editors of G.P. Putnam and especially the editor(s) of this book should be shot. riffin has been a cash cow for Putnam-Penguin for almost 30 years and deserves a far better editing effort than has recently the case. This story is disjointed, poorly structured and faintly ridiculous. There are glaring discrepencies, plot points abruptly terminated, and an absolutely ridiculous romance. If you have been waiting for this book and absolutely have to read it now, I won't blame you for shelling out the money for it (I obviously did), but I would recommend the library, waiting for the paperback (probably out sometime in january) or even better yet pick it up off the remainder rack in about 18 months.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

A Downward Spiral.."Write This Down..."...(a), (b), (c), (d)...

"Let Me Count The Ways..." Loved all the Griffin book series The BADGE OF HONOR series WAS wonderful, until the son of W.E.B. became involved. From this point on, , to quote Charlie Brown; "Good Grief!"with emphasis on the grief. Someone in there loves the expression, "Write This Down..," and uses it repeatedly. The same expression can also be found in the HONOR series with Cletus Frade as protagonist.
Other glaring problems: (a) Introduction of the range character with no development except for his hat and a hide-out gun; (b)Matt suddenly changing his characterfrom a focused, motivated, solid man to a maudlin fool; and (c) a terrible affectation by the author(s) with listings of reasons for something using (a), (b), (c), (d) repeatedly (15-20 times)instead of letting the language flow. Result is Lazy, sloppy, page-filling, confusing, and grating on the overall read. Toss in the text messaging, etc, and it becomes a task..
The ending was absolutely ridiculous, because the Payne character would not have reacted like a love-sick, weepy school boy, and no one would have accepted the denoument used to solve the El Gato problem
Individual books in this series, like all of them, are written to stand alone, which accounts for the repitition of characters' histories. I understand the reasoning here...as long as the facts are not confused and erroneous.
This reminds me of what happened when Ian Fleming died and the publishers tried to find someone to ghost write more books in the series. The result was muddled, and like a "near beer" of novels...close, but not equalling the prior books which were page-turners.
I;ll continue to buy his books, but I've also gone to the WEB Griffin website and complained about these very things...maybe someone out there is listening.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Who wrote the book

Based on the previous attempts by his son to join him this book is right up there or actually right down there. I have come to believe that maybe the son is writing the book and not the father. In a prior review "hamptons657" stated that maybe there should be a gun battle and they can kill off some of the characters. The only one who should be killed off is the SON. If it wasnt for finding glaring mistakes reading this book would be very boring. In the beginning the author talks about how Matts mother met his adoptive father the only problem is that he was with two children one of them was his daughter Amy not as the author stated the he had the daughter with Matts mom. In another scene he talks about the mayor, I'm not sure who he was talking about since Jerry C was no longer the mayor in Final Justice.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Continuing story of Det Sgt Payne

This is a good seris but startubg to get stale, as the lsat 3 books seem to be the same, Det Payne finds hot girl, soves csae that only he can find the answers too

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

So, so

A minor league Mexican drug lord know as El Gato, The Cat, brings his drugs, including Cheese, and his underage girls to Philadelphia. El Gato is attempting to copy The Executioner, a real drug enforcer, by whacking off the heads of girls who disobey him.

A huckster from a good Philadelphia family who is always working an angle, gets into the meth drug business, but things don't work out.

Matt Payne and the gang from homicide become involved. A Texas Ranger joins the group. "The Hat" was funny the first time it was used, but its value diminished with each following use.

The story is confined to a two day period, which limits the author's ability to create and tell a good story. Just how much can occur in 36 hours to a limited number of people in one place?

The Gulf Cartel, Zetas, and the Executioner were mentioned near the end of the story. "Cheese", a drug used to hook children on heroin is used effectively in the story.

The author(s) spent too much time on conversations and text messages between characters, and not enough on expanding the story. America Reborn has a much more exciting drug cartel story line as a sub-plot.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not up to usual standards

Mr. Griffin has always been a "revisionist" in his series, but this particular series is the most blatant to date. He stated the series in the 1973 but with the book prior to this one moved it up to present days. With this book he kept up this practice even though it has been several years since "Final Justice," book number eight, came out the plot takes place just after that novel ends, however the technology in this book is today's. Also this one does not show the usual plot development and characters I have come to expect from Mr. Griffin. My feelings are that most of the writing is now being done by his son not Mr. Griffin. That is somewhat understandable I guess. However if this is any indication, the son is no where near his father as an author.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good Read!

Badge of Honor is a great series, and this book is right up there. Matt as usual is in the right place at the right time. He finally likes a girl I actually like and think is right for him. Anyone who has watched the intensity with which a twenty something young man can text his girlfriend will relate to that as well. As always, could use better editing, hey I'm available! At least I know who the mayor was in the last book of the series, and that in the original book Matt has two step-siblings and one half-brother. Glad I bought it though, instead of waiting for the library copy. I'm really looking forward to the next Honor Bound series as well. I loved Death and Honor. Except for the last presidential agent book, I think father + son rock.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hope this is the last of this series or that he goes back to writing what he puts his name on.

I will be short with my thoughts on this book. Do not buy, you will be disappointed that W.E.B has let this book go out with his name and could very well discourage you from reading any of his other books.

Great Series

Love all his books.

Not as good as usual.

While the series has been excellent, The Traffickers read like it was written by a different author. Emphasis was not on the characters of the series but rather on the "bad guys" with extensive background and development of background. Sincerely hope the next one returns to the original format.

New WEB Griffin

Good reading, continues characters we are already familiar with and like.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

All my friends

I'm a huge fan of WEB Griffin's books. And am delighted to see his son grow into an accomplished writer in his father's footsteps. Perhaps what is most enjoyable in all of their books is the continuity of characters. In a sense it is like vicariously sharing in their lives.

Disappointed

I have read most of W. E. B. Griffin's books and, without exception, I have enjoyed them all. "The Traffickers" is the exception, It was hard to read, and it does not deserve to be on this author's best seller's list.

Good read

Not as good as previous books, but a good read non the less

Badge of Honor series gets mighty thin!

This book read like the authors had to find something for the characters the the previous novels in this series to do. Minimum originality - series getting tiresome. Its time to have a shootout that eliminates most of these characters!

Good read

Easy to get into, especially after reading through the series.
Hard to put down.
L.

Fun read

As usual Griffin's latest in the Badge of Honor series keeps you wanting more. I wish he would write more of this series i can't wait for the next one.

Don't Waste Your Time

the title says it all-don't waste your time. the book was simplistic, poorly plotted, and predictable. Frankly the last 4 or 5 books have all been this way. This can't be the W.E.B. Griffin who wrote the masterpiece series Brotherhood of Arms and The Corps. Either fix it or quit gentleman.