Some of WEB Griffin's recent books have been a bit shallow, but I feel he (and his son) are back on track with Death and Honor. Lots of detail and plot nuance add up to good old-fashioned read, just in time for summer and the beach!

Product was as advertised and sent when ordered. The only reason it is not five starts is that the box was crushed, but the CD's were ok.

Prolific author W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV introduce a fourth book in their Honor Bound spy thriller series, their first since 1999.

DEATH AND HONOR is set in Argentina near the end of World War II. U.S. Marine fighter pilot and ace Cletus Frade is recruited as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) for the United States government. Son of a wealthy murdered Argentine patriot, Frade himself has been targeted by unknown assassins. Newly married to an Argentine beauty, Dona Doro tea Mallin de Frade, he has his hands full running the family's Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo, in Buenos Aires Province. When a German Feisler Storch airplane taxis onto the Estancia's airstrip to land, Frade is not surprised. The pilot is German officer Hans-Peter von Wachstein, serving the German embassy in Argentina, which has declared its neutrality in the war.

A circumstantial quirk had brought the two fighter pilots together six months before. von Wachstein learned that the third Reich intended to have Frade killed, and his aristocratic heritage took over. von Wachstein had warned Frade about the assassins, and Frade thwarted the attempt. Grateful, he respected the German's honorable decision.

True to his style, Griffin transports his numerous characters into a panorama of settings. In Berlin, Admiral Canaris meets with Martin Bormann, an SS officer close to Adolph Hitler. Anticipation of an end to the war, with Germany on the losing side, prompts the spy network to action. The SS has allowed Jews to purchase freedom for relatives being held in concentration camps in order to escape a death sentence. They collect money and jewels, and crate the bounty and ship by U-boats to Argentina. The Reich hopes to tip a neutral Argentina toward the Socialist agenda by war's end. At this point, fugitive SS officers will find monetary reward and an easy lifestyle in a post-war friendly country.

Argentine Colonel Juan Peron is to be courted and assimilated into the Nazi plan. But a glitch exists. The SS believes that a member of their own embassy's staff has betrayed them. Canaris's protégé and attaché, Boltitz, is the man assigned to sniff out the traitor. Boltitz accompanies von Wachstein to the airfield at Frade's estancia.

Washington, D.C. is yet another scene used in Griffin's plot. Frade is summoned by OSS officials for a briefing on the Argentine situation. At OSS headquarters he is surprised by a meeting with the U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who charges him to start up an Argentine airline company. He will buy 14 Lodestar planes, train the pilot force and begin service. He is to monitor the Operation Phoenix problem. He will locate the cargo, discover the method it enters Argentina and follow its progress. But he will not confiscate the cargo. Roosevelt feels that the importance of Jewish prisoner release outweighs taking the ransom. Frade is authorized to protect the German traitor to his embassy. He is at liberty to keep the man's identity a secret, if necessary.

Extensive research is a trademark of the spy thrillers under the Griffin pen. DEATH AND HONOR extends knowledge of wartime experiences into believable scenarios. Frade, a multinational hero, morphs from macho man to a formidable patriot, duty-bound to his dual citizenship. Doro tea Frade, the newly pregnant wife, provides the softer side to a war story. She is constantly amazed by her fortitude and spunky prowess when he unintentionally involves her in the intrigue.

Spiked by history, Griffin and Butterworth collaborate well in their interpretation. Colonel Juan Peron is both rogue and friend throughout DEATH AND HONOR. The climax satisfies the reader as to his true place in Argentine history. Complicated titles, especially on the German side, prove the few stumbling blocks to an entertaining read. However, detail continues to be a fine trademark of a Griffin/Butterworth novel. Devotees of World War II books are certain to crave more of Cletus Frade.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

The past novels where Griffin shared credit with his son were not very good.

This one had lots of flaws with the events themselves, including meeting the president himself for no good reason, and learning about a lot of secret projects also for no reason, but the writing itself was much better.

I gave this three stars, where the last book was a 1 at best, and the one before that was a 2.

The ending was rushed and the action happened off stage, but it got the plot out of a box and ready for the next book.

I hope the son keeps getting better at writing.

I have ben a WEB Griffen fan for two decades. I also enjoy a continued story line of people that I almost feel are family to me. I will be sad when I finish the book as it probably will be his last in this series. I can say that within the first chapter, I could recognize that it was not WEB Griffen in his pure style, rather a collaberation with his son. Not that this is a bad thing, but a noticably different style. As a retierd US Marine with an Argentine wife, I have a special place for this series in my heart. Please Mr. Griffen, keep them comming.

Where's the action? Where's the story? This book is all bun and no beef (remember that old Wendy's hamburger commercial?) It is typical Griffin telling a character-driven story with much talk, endless inner voice, and far too much back story.

In all fairness, I do not see the hand of his son, the young man now being universally damned for "the fall of Griffin." Purely for curiosity and comparison, I re-read Griffin's first book, "The Lieutenants". and its the same style! He's been writing in the same way since before young Butterworth knew how to read, much less write.

Even so, this isn't a very good book. Nothing happens. In the action/adventure genre, we expect things to happen - bad guys, problems cropping up, characters getting attacked, maimed, and killed. This book absolutely lacks evildoers. The attempts at intrigue are pitifully thin. Even the usual incompetent bureaucrats have disappeared, leaving us no counterpoint to the endless yammering.

It appears that Griffin, with or without his son, has evolved from action/adventure to literary fiction where the characters, rather than the story, are the focus. Sadly, we no longer have a clearly defined hero. Poor Cletus serves as a Greek chorus, hardly more than a device to move the plot forward and tell us what's happening through endless talk.

However -- despite my disappointment in the lack of action, weak story line and mind-numbing repetition of old material, I still enjoy Griffin's books! I have read every one of them (some more than once) and look forward to each new arrival.

I have read every book Griffin has published but I must now write that the past few have ended before the end of the book. He has left the reader hanging once again. What happened to the Froggers and their son? Did they give the information that was a main theme throughout the book? What was done with the map of the beach where the UBoat unloaded? There are many other questions which should have been answered but weren't.

It seems that Griffin has developed a template for his latest books and just fills in the lines, and when the required number of words are written he just stops.

I can understand him leaving us hanging in regard to the search for the smuggled money since it is an ongoing theme in this series, but I cannot understand ending before the details of this particular book are concluded.

Cletus, like the protagonist in Griffin's other books is wealthy, knows all the important people in the USA and overcomes all obstacles put in his way. This is a given when reading a Griffin book,and expected. Leaving the reader mystified as to what happens to the story line is a recent Griffin occurrence.

I'm wondering who is really writing his latest books?

Once again the Butterworths have created a boring book.
Since the son has arrived, the combine have created three or four poorly written books.
If the original books were magnificent, the latest are poor.

An excellent book. I found it to be as gripping as most of Griffin's books, even if his son is doing, some, all or most of the writing now. This series, and The Corps, are my two favorite series.

I hope we don't have to wait several years for the rest of the Honor Bound series to be published. I want the next book now :)!

Griffin is my favorite author. Every time I read one from one of the series, I decide that it is my favorite series, only to have it trumped by the next book. I'll admit that his last two OSS books weren't up to the usual standard, but this one is. I skimmed through it quickly to get a first impression, then started over for a more detailed, and enjoyable, read.

Clete Frade and the whole Argentinian group are back in "Death and Honor." Dorotea even has a meatier part in the action.

The only thing I'd like to say to Griffin is to quit running around all over, sit your butt down and write! I want more, more, MORE.

Death and Honor is vaguely disappointing, although it's worth the read, it lacks the secondary story development of the three previous novels in the series i.e. the fleshing out of the characters and their families which raise W.E.B. Griffin's novels above being merely war or espionage stories. In particular the character development of Dorotéa is neglected to the point where the word 'bitchy' enters one's mind about the character.

I'm not sure why this is, certainly the father and son collaboration in writing The Shooters in the Presidential Agent Series which was released this Spring worked well and there was adequate secondary and back story development in that novel. However, Death and Honor is regretably a half step to a step below the other three novels in the series.

I really enjoyed the first three books in this series, but was a little nervous when I saw that it was a father-son collaboration (the two collaborations in the "Men at War" series were, in my opinion, well below the quality of the first four titles of that series). Fortunately, the plotting, story line, and characters in "Death and Honor" followed seamlessly on the first three titles. The only real complaint I can make about this book is that the closing scene left me wanting the next installment with no solid idea on when it will arrive (at least a year, and possibly/probably longer). At least, with TV series you know that the cliffhangers will be resolved in just a few months with the start of a new season -- Griffin juggles multiple series and we know we're only going to get one or two titles a year.

Sad to say, but I have had negative things to say about the last four Griffin books before "Death and Honor" and this makes the fifth.

The qualities that once made Griffin books compelling, the mix of history and fiction simply isn't there any more. The characters which at one time had some depth and believability are now cardboard cutouts, whose dialog you can practically predict. The same is also even more true of the plots: you can see plot developments long in advance. Why bother reading the entire book when you already know what will happen to these boring, transparent characters early in the book?

W.E.B. Griffin has been collaborating lately with his son, William E. Butterworth IV. Obviously there is no way of knowing how their collaboration works. Who writes, who edits, none of that do we know. One thing I have developed an opinion of, however, is the success of the collaboration - there is none. It is a failure. This is the fifth deadly dull book in a row to emerge under the Griffin name.

I will not divulge many details of the story because it is always possible someone else may find the book readable. I did not: I gave up (in disgust, frankly) at page 246, when things became unbelievable to the point of being nonsensical. I'd love to describe the scene that did me in so you could laugh too without having to endure reading a single page of this book, but alas, that would be a major spoiler.

The story in short is that Cletus Frade, the long estranged son of a powerful Argentine military leader and entrepreneur was sent to Argentina by the WWII OSS to reunite with his father and to further the strategic interests of the United States. Frade, the elder, is conveniently dispatched and the son inherits all. Griffin has used this tactic of the rich young man frequently and it used to work. Having his characters wealthy enough to do anything helped tremendously when the character would have otherwise been a low-ranking military officer having trouble making economic ends meet.

With Cletus Frade (and others in the last few books), Griffin has worn out the device. Frade encounters or already knows almost every important, wealthy, powerful or famous person in the Western Hempisphere. Though a junior officer of the United States military, he is casually entrusted with secrets that in real life were entrusted to very few.

Frade is supposedly crossing swords with the Germans in wartime Argentina. In reality, the novel is deadly dull up through page 246 where I stopped. It is obvious that one or both of the authors are conciously trying to ape the work of someone like Alan Furst who written some powerfully evocative novels of WWII Eastern Europe. The emulation fails.

The reader is supposed to believe that Frade as an uncanny ability to find Germans who are intent on betraying their country. It doesn't fly. Likewise, the "enemies" Frade encounters are described as brilliant and dangerous, but turn out to be fools who don't even notice what Frade is doing.

As noted, I made it through page 246 of the book's 470 pages. I should have saved my time and stopped at about page 100 when it became apparent that this was going to be another Griffin dud, the fifth in a row, I am sorry to say.

The writing style is still okay, so if you're stuck at an airport or aren't a critical reader, it's possible you may enjoy this to some small degree. If you are a Griffin fan and remember the thrill of reading the much-awaited new novel from Griffin way back when, I think you will be disappointed.

Jerry

I have considered the Argentina series of novels, perhaps, the best of WEB Griffin's work. Honor Bound and Blood and Honor are outstanding for action and history. This novel is a half-step lower in my estimation as the characters begin to show the inflation of ability and stature that we see in the Corps series. Cletus is now hobnobbing with Allen Dulles and Howard Hughes and privy to the greatest secrets of the war, like the Manhattan Project. In the Corps novels, Killer McCoy keeps adding more languages to his list. Still these are adventures and fiction and are all well done. The most fantastic plot twist in this novel, the real reason why Juan Peron supported the Nazis in WWII, turns out, in a typical Griffin coup, to be true. He adds a newspaper story from the present right at the end of the novel confirming the plot.

The story picks up when the last one in the series ends. Peter has returned from Germany and married Alicia. Cletus and Dorotea are married. The Nazi investigators who have come to Argentina to try to identify Clete's source in the Germany embassy are still there. The backstory fill-ins are not obtrusive here.

A new development then starts a new plot line. The German cultural attache defects to the FBI agent, Lieberman. This leads to a trip to California and a meeting with Howard Hughes. My mother-in-law was close to Hughes and the character depicted here is close to the Hughes that I knew. The caricature seen later in books and press accounts was not yet believable as Hughes was still squiring starlets around. The story moves fast although the character development, so powerful in Griffin's other novels, is a bit weaker here. The plot moves fast but the people are more cardboard than usual. I don't know if that is his son's influence. Whatever it is, the novel is enjoyable and I hope he keeps working.

I have become an avid reader of WEB Griffin's books - his "Brotherhood of War," "Honor Bound," "Men in Blue," "Soldier Spies" and the latest "Presidential Agent" books. Although the latest entry in the Corps series and in the Philly cop series were great, the last couple of Spy novels seemed a little flat. But this latest entry in the "Honor Bound" series is again on a high level. Historical figures are brought to life and some Rubicon's are crossed. Knowing what we know about Argentina's history after WWII and the nature of the attept to assasinate Der Fuhrer, WEB and his son have set us up for interesting stories in the next volume in this book.

WEB gets alot of criticism for explaining background history in each new novel which repeats what happened in earlier books. I don't ming this as I understand that the background is necessary to explain the characters' relationships for those who missed the earlier books. In fact, this information led me to go back and read the earlier Brotherhood of War books when I started in the middle. Frequently, I note that his recaps differ from the original material! But he is a grat storyteller who really brings out human nature (good and bad) in each new book. We should all thank him for the many hours of enjoyment his books have provided.

Death and Honor (Honor Bound)

several years have passed since WEB Griffin has written a book that I truly enjoyed. The Presidental Agent series apes Tom Clancy too much, and the Men at War series has been pretty flat to my tastes since it resumed a couple of years ago.

The present volume is the 4th book in the Honor Bound series of novels, and although I didn't think it would be continued, here it is --back in full force. To be honest, a couple of the other installments in this series were a bit disappointing, the present work makes up for previous shortcomings very well.

The protagonist--Major Cletus Howell Frade, exhibits a lot more depth of character than before. The plot revolves about a scheme that the sinister characters within the German SS have hatched to provide themselves with, what today would be called a "golden parachute", when the Third Reich eventually crumbled. "Special shipments" were being transferred to Argentina by submarine, consisting of gold, jewels, and currency extorted from the families of concentration camp inmates to effect a ransom release of loved ones. Criminal elements within the SS have chosen to divert these assets to themselves, rather than to the Reich.

The list of truly despicable characters is too long to enumerate here, but the steps taken by "Don Cletus" Frade, the son of an Argentine military officer, who is a Marine aviator cum OSS agent, are very interesting and entertaining in the way the plot unfolds.

There are some colorful cameo roles of Allen Dulles, and Howard Hughes as OSS insiders within the context of the story.

As has become a frequent complaint with WEB Griffin stories lately, there are several bonehead errors that escaped proofreading, such as Field Marshall Erich Rommel (should be Erwin!). This is my only quibble with the present work, which has the taste and feel of many of the earlier Griffin works. A solid and entertaining novel, Four Stars!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1Q13XBVVWK0YV Other folks will tell you the story in this book. In this video I tell you why it is enjoyable, who would enjoy reading it, and who might not enjoy it. And, I don't ruin the story for you. Frank Derfler www.greatguybooks.com

All WW2 historical novel fans have been waiting a long time for Griffin to come out with another in his Honor Bound series and I don't think they'll be disappointed. I had just finished reading Night of Flames: A Novel of World War IIby Douglas W. Jacobson, which is the best WW2 novel I'd read since the Herman Wouk classics, when I picked up Death & Honor. I had been so immersed in Jacobson's tale of a Polish cavalry officer recruited by the British SOE that I was a bit reluctant to shift gears, but I was instantly drawn into Griffin's story of a marine pilot recruited by the OSS. In true Griffin fashion we have a gripping, fast-moving tale filled with action and snappy dialog. I recommend it.

This new book in the Honor Bound series takes us back to the WWII OSS in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and the US. For those of you who have already enjoyed the first three books in the Honor Bound series, this will be like visiting old friends, particularly Cletus Frade, his friends, and his merry band of tough warriors. The saga continues into 1943, with the Nazis looking for a place to hide after they lose the war. I love all of WEB Griffin's books and this book is no exception. It has lots of action, but not as much shooting as the Army and Marine books, as you would expect. The book presents insights into Howard Hughes' personality, new insights into FDR's and Juan Peron's personalities, and it provides a unique insight into starting up a new Argentinean airline (run by Cletus) in an era when Juan Trippe did not like competition for his Pan Am airline.

Another great read that I finished overnight, as soon as I got it. It has lots of good guys and bad guys, and you can usually tell the difference, but not always. If you read all of Griffin's books like I do, you expect him to provide enough background on the players to allow this to be read as a standalone book. Authors have to do this in order to capture new readers. I don't consider this a problem, because I usually go back and reread all the books in the series before a new one comes out. Griffin's books have become my favorite gift to people who enjoy great stories about great military people, while pointing out the bad in every group. He knows the military and intelligence communities, and he tells it like it is. I have tried to read every book he has written, if I can get them, and I will continue to do that. He is the best, and most realistic author around. Not only do you get a wonderful story, but you always learn something new about history and the people who make it.

I have no idea what the first reviewer read. This new work from W.E.B. griffin is a long awaited sequel to the Honor Bound Series, which is one of the best in Mr. Griffin's many top notch thrillers. The book is as good as it gets and not only entertains but teaches as well. It reads as wonderful as anything the author wrote ten or even fifteen years ago. It is an old fashioned "can't put down" WW II historic novel. It has everything going for it and once again establishes that the "old master" is on top of his game.

when Griffin first hit the market in the mid 80's, I was totally enthralled. The last 4 books I have bought, I have been totally disattisified with. Since his son has entered the arena as co publisher, I have not enjoyed any of the work.

This book is the same as many of his latest. Heavy on repeating previously written segments of his prior books and little action. This book lacks any interest or action till the last 3 to 4 pages.

I am truly sorry to say that I have lost any interest in Mr. Butterworth.