From Publishers WeeklyGriffin's seventh novel in The Corps series (after Close Combat) continues the author's breezy look at the Marine Corps during WWII. Here, he uses guerrilla action behind the lines in the Philippines as foreground to tell the behind-the-lines tale of the power struggle among Marine General Fleming Pickering, General Douglas MacArthur and Bill Donovan of the fledgling OSS, all of whom are galvanized into action by a radio message from a self-proclaimed general named Wendell Fertig, who has established himself as a guerrilla leader against the Japanese. As far as the Marines are concerned, once the message is verified, a team of men with supplies will be sent in to evacuate any sick or wounded and evaluate Fertig as a potential leader. Complicating matters, however, are MacArthur's public declaration that guerrilla activity on the Philippines is impossible, and therefore nonexistent, and Bill Donovan's desire to get the operation under OSS control. Focusing on a variety of characters involved in the proposed mission, Griffin tells an absorbing story with his usual attention to dialogue rather than description, relying frequently on his favored device of moving the plot along through copies of memos, radio messages and telegrams. The boy's club aura of Griffin's primarily male world, where everything?even death?seems clear, sunny, bright and uncomplicated, is in full force here; and that should please his fans just fine.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalIn Griffin's latest, a bunch of mismatched World War II grunts search for a missing colonel who may be launching guerrilla raids on Japan. Sounds like a cross between The Guns of Navarone and Apocalypse Now.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: Old and new faces find themselves swept into a maelstrom of danger when the United States becomes deeply involved in the 1964 Congo Rebellion. Reissue. *NYT. *

From Library JournalBook 7 of Griffin's "Badge of Honor" series continues the saga of the Philadelphia Police Department, focusing once again on the Special Operations unit. Detective Matt Payne is sent to Harrisburg to gather evidence against a narcotics unit that is suspected of stealing from the very people whom they have arrested. Payne is also working with the FBI in its attempt to locate several terrorists who, in 1968, blew up a scientific laboratory, killing 11 people. While walking in the footsteps of law-enforcement officers, Griffin gives a clear picture of what it is like to be a police officer, how police officers think, how politicians bring pressure to bear on their actions, and how the justice system works. Everything Griffin writes immediately goes on the best sellers lists, mainly because he tells such richly detailed stories using a huge, engaging cast of characters who by this time will have become old friends to many readers?and this book is no exception.?Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OhioCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsThe latest installment--and first hardcover--in the prodigious Griffin's Badge of Honor series on detectives in the Philadelphia police force. As in his several successful series on soldiers (including The Last Heroes, Vol. I of Men in War, 1997, and Line of Fire, Book V of The Corps, 1992), Griffin is particularly deft at catching the hierarchies of all-male societies, and the ways in which men school themselves for action. His protagonist here, Special Operations detective Matt Payne, shares with Griffin's other heroes an appetite for testing himself, a knack for getting into very dangerous situations, and a willingness to meet violence with violence. In this case, Payne is up against both a group of corrupt and lethal cops and a cabal of urban terrorists. Don't expect George V. Higgins, or even Christopher Newman here--while Griffin endows his Philadelphia setting with a terse authenticity, and his characters are distinct, if not remarkable, you won't find realistic chat, deep plumbings of character, or a detailed portrait of police politics. What you will find is a shrewdly paced plot, sharp, vivid action, and a rather mordant view of human nature. Not deep, but lively. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: As the Vietnam War begins to escalate in 1964, the formation of the new Air Assault Division is delayed by logistical problems and by conflicts among the men and women who comprise the fighting force. Reissue. *NYT. *EDITORIAL REVIEW: As the Vietnam War begins to escalate in 1964, the formation of the new Air Assault Division is delayed by logistical problems and by conflicts among the men and women who comprise the fighting force. Reissue. *NYT. *

Amazon.com ReviewHaving wrapped up World War II with 1999's In Danger's Path, bestselling military author W.E.B. Griffin now deploys his Marines in Korea with Under Fire, the ninth volume in his Corps series. Back are familiar characters from Griffin's previous Corps books--daredevil pilot Pick Pickering, his Scotch-sipping father, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, Capt. Ken "Killer" McCoy, and Master Gunner Ernie Zimmerman--with historical figures including President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur making appearances as well. It's now 1950, and with Communist forces making their presence felt below the 38th Parallel, Griffin's plot centers on Gen. Pickering, now high up in the newly created CIA, and Ken McCoy as they work behind MacArthur's back to covertly pave the way for an invasion of North Korea. Readers who crave nonstop battle action and excitement may find it hard to stick with Under Fire, as Griffin takes the time to detail the background leading up to one of America's least-remembered modern wars. Griffin writes for the true armed forces aficionado, filling his prose with realistic descriptions of procedure, gear, and materials, an alphabet's worth of acronyms, and an ex- soldier's ear for military dialogue. Look for more sharp, authentic writing in this series' next installment. --Benjamin ReeseFrom Publishers WeeklyAfter eight books in the popular WWII Corps series, Griffin's latest kicks off on the Korean peninsula, where forces from the Communist North have just stormed over the 38th Parallel. Within a few weeks, the old team is back together, most under the steady command of Brig. Gen. Fleming Pickering, whom President Truman recalls from the helm of Trans Global Airways to assume the CIA's top Asian post. As the U.S. Army flounders to contain the North, Pickering struggles to restore Washington's faith in Comdr. Douglas MacArthur and his daring proposal to invade at Inchon. Meanwhile, as Capt. Ken McCoy and Master Gunner Ernie Zimmerman skulk behind enemy lines, seizing a crucial island in preparation for the invasion, a new calamity breaks out: Pickering's son, daredevil pilot Malcolm ("Pick"), gets shot down over a North Korean rice paddy. This new entry in the series moves more slowly than previous ones, as Griffin who served in the army in Korea sets up the historical elements of the conflict and positions all his characters. But once he gets going, he writes with even assurance and a keen eye for military camaraderie and nuance, offering galvanizing drama and a respectful yet irreverent treatment of military procedure and attitudes, not to mention plenty of Scotch. As the book ends with U.S. forces digging in for battle and Pick still missing the dean of the American war adventure has left himself room for plenty of action ahead. National television and ad campaign. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

A second installment of the series that began with By Order of the President finds Department of Homeland Security Charley Castillo working to conduct a discreet investigation involving a murdered diplomat's brother-in-law, a man possessing key information about America's scandalous food-for-oil program. Reprint.

SUMMARY: During World War II, a special rescue team assembles to save two Marines trapped on a small Coastwatcher island.

A Philadelphia narcotics cop is shot dead in his home. A bar owner's wife and partner are gunned down during an attempted robbery. And in a beautiful mansion, a young woman dies of a heroin overdose. At first the crimes seem unconnected. But these four deaths are about to trigger a massive convergence of corruption, cops, and the mob that could tear the Philadelphia Police Department apart from the inside out. All the way to the top...**

W.E.B. Griffin always hits the target-right at the top of the bestseller lists... W.E.B. Griffin's explosive Presidential Agent novels have gained worldwide acclaim for "leaving satisfied thriller readers hankering for more." Now, in Griffin's latest #1 New York Times bestseller, the Russian bear is stirring after many years of hibernation-and it is hungry. **

From Publishers WeeklyThe third installment and first hardcover printing of Griffin's series of WWII espionage novels (originally published under the pseudonym Alex Baldwin) once again conjures up the year 1942, an era when men were boys and women were, well... large breasted. Between bed hopping and libidinous musings, intrepid secret agents Major Richard Caniday (who's really not a major) and Eric Fulmar, members of the fledging OSS, aim to smuggle out of Germany the scientist whose knowledge of metallurgy holds the key to the Third Reich's development of jet engines. The professor has a lovely daughter, of course, who is being sexually used by the sleazy Nazis; she is also used by double agents in the German high command as a tool to help undermine Hitler's mad schemes. Other plot lines explore Fulmar's mission in Morocco and the Allies' attempt to develop a "flying bomb" of their own. Cameos by such historical figures as William "Wild Bill" Donovan, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., David Niven and Peter Ustinov lend color to a story so cluttered with specific detail concerning uniforms, automobiles, airplanes and women's silk undergarments that readers may wonder how the war was won by people so obsessed by military protocol and mammary glands. Anachronisms in speech further mar the story, but after one gets past the multiple PG-13-rated sex scenes and hackneyed plot, there are suspenseful scenes of subterfuge and derring-do. Unfortunately for those who didn't read the previous volumes and who may miss the next, this book stops rather than concludes, leaving many painstakingly embroidered subplots unresolved. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalOriginally published as paperbacks under the name Alex Baldwin, Griffin's "Men at War" series is now being released in hardcover. In this installment, World War II has hit North Africa, and Lt. Joe Kennedy Jr. has some ideas about pilotless bombs.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Griffin's popular Badge of Honor police series returns, with a story of murder and lawlessness as compelling as today's headlines.J ust as with his remarkable military novels, millions of readers have been captured by the rich characters and vivid realism of W. E. B. Griffin's police dramas. "Griffin has the knack," writes The Philadelphia Inquirer. "He sets his novel before you in short, fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes. Before you know it, you've gobbled it up."Homicide Sergeant Matthew Payne is used to murder, but lately there's been an awful lot of it in Philadelphia. A gangland shooting in a popular tourist location has left six dead, most of them innocent bystanders, and days later the body of a headless Latina turns up in the Schuykill River. Everybody assumes they're not related, but Payne can't shake the hunch that there's something more to it—and that hunch leads him far from the City of Brotherly Love to the Texas–Mexico border. There,...

SUMMARY: June, 1941. Determined that the United States will be prepared for war, Franklin D. Roosevelt and "Wild Bill" Donovan orchestrate the most complex espionage organization in history, the Office of Strategic Services. Young and daring, the OSS assemble under a thin camouflage of diplomacy and then disperse throughout the world to conduct their operations. And no operation is more critical than the one being conducted by hotshot pilot Richard Canidy and his half-German friend Eric Fulmar: to secure the rare ore that will power a top-secret weapon coveted on both sides of the Atlantic--the atomic bomb.

Special agent James Cronley, Jr., finds that fighting both ex-Nazis and the Soviet NKGB can lead to strange bedfellows, in the dramatic new Clandestine Operations novel about the birth of the CIA and the Cold War.A month ago, Cronley managed to capture two notorious Nazi war criminals, but not without leaving some dead bodies and outraged Austrian police in his wake. He's been laying low ever since, but that little vacation is about to end. Somebody—Odessa, the NKGB, the Hungarian Secret Police?—has broken the criminals out of jail, and now he must track them down again.But there's more to it than that. Evidence has surfaced that in the war's last gasps, Heinrich Himmler had stashed away a fortune to build a secret religion, dedicated both to Himmler and to creating the Fourth Reich. That money is still out there in the hands of Odessa, and that infamous organization seems to have acquired a surprising—and troubling—ally.Cronley is...

In 1943, Argentina Marine pilotturned- agent Cletus Frade is setting up an OSS-operated airline. But before Frade can get airborne, two interwoven German operations must be grounded. And for Frade-whose father was killed by the Nazis-the mission is about to get personal. **