Splinter Cell

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell #1

by David Michaels (House Author), Raymond Benson (Writing As), Tom Clancy (Series Creator)

In response to the growing use of sophisticated digital encryption to conceal potential threats to the United States, the National Security Agency has ushered forth the new dawn of intelligence-gathering techniques. The top-secret initiative is dubbed Third Echelon.

Its existence denied by the U.S. government, Third Echelon deploys a lone field operative. He is sharp, nearly invisible, and deadly. And he has the right to spy, steal, destroy, and assassinate to protect American freedoms.

His name is Sam Fisher. He is a Splinter Cell®.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Action, Espionage, Military Fiction, Suspense, War

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2004

Reviews

[Safi Ullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a video game enthusiast and fan of the Splinter Cell game, I decided to explore the books. To my surprise, I discovered that I enjoy the books even more than the games! The story is captivating, and the author writes with a well-paced, easy-to-follow narrative. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series!

[Vignesh Ashok Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating - 7.5/10(Good) - Not a cool spy toy compared to games but will do



I am Sam Fisher. I am the Splinter Cell..

I am an avid fan of Splinter Cell games by Ubisoft. My favorite of the series is the BlackList. So, when I heard there was a novel, I was totally pumped. But after reading, I got the feeling that it was good but not great when compared to the games.

The story mainly suffers from more exposition - there are more historical events that are explained which spoiled the game experience that I needed. The story was fine, but the characters were two dimensional - they don't have any real emotions except for Sam and his daughter. The antagonist sucks - the real motive was cliche. The spy stuff was the only cool and the most awaited thing but sometimes illogical.

But despite these shortcomings, it was a total popcorn flick which was damn entertaining till the end.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Splinter Cell is arguably one of the greatest video game franchises of all time, and in 2004 a series of nine books, the most recent of which was just published I believe last year, was started. This is the first book, and it follows NSA Third Echelon operative Sam Fisher as he tracks down an illegal arms dealing organization known as the Shop and the main terrorist organization who buys their arms, known as the Shadows, in the Middle East. Along the way Fisher's daughter Sarah is kidnapped by the terrorists to try to get to Fisher, as they have a list of operatives and are trying to take them out. Can Fisher take down the Shop and the Shadows and save his daughter? And can he stop the Shadows' weapon of mass destruction before it's used and changes the Middle East forever?

This wasn't bad. The first eighty pages were awful, and read like really bad and amateurish fan fiction. Sam would constantly narrate things like "If you can't do X, you have no business being a Splinter Cell" or "X is the reason I became a Splinter Cell." I have played the games and I don't think Sam Fisher, or anyone else in the games, ever actually referred to the operatives as "Splinter Cells"; it's just the titles of the games. Having Fisher call himself by that title seemed really juvenile and pathetic, and leads me to believe the author never played a minute of these games. He was probably just given notes about them and wrote this book based on those, and it shows.

But after the eighty-page mark it's like the author (whose real name is Raymond Benson; David Michaels is a pseudonym used as the author's name on many of the books in this series, but they were really written by a few different authors) woke up or suddenly learned how to put effort into his work, because the story and writing dramatically improved after that point, and although this isn't a great book, it ended up being a decent one.

Raymond Benson only wrote the first two books in the series before he proclaimed he was "done with Splinter Cell" (I'm not sure why) and another author took over, so I'll now move on to his second and final book, Operation Barracuda. Looking forward to it!

[Renae · Rating 2 out of 5]

At page 50, I find this book to be a tremendous disappointment. This is not literature, and this book was not written by Tom Clancy.
It turns out that Clancy now sets up a book story line based on a video game then farms out the actual writing to apprentice writers.
The quality of work here is pedestrian. I’ve read longer, more developed sentences on twitter. There is no nuance, no development of scene or character. Page 30 reads. “Maybe I’m just not very hip. I’m not a social guy. I don’t go out and I stay pretty much to myself. “ The whole book follows in this way.
I understand that the new Clancy audiences are the persons who enjoy the video games. Is Mr. Clancy’s stamp of approval on this piece of work an admission that he believes gamers to be of a lower intellect than those who would otherwise recognize this body of work to be the literary equivalent to a letter home from summer camp?

[هادی امینی · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب‌هایی که از روی بازی نوشته میشوند هیچ وقت تجربه خوبی ندارند. مخصوصا اگر خواننده اون بازی رو هم تجربه کرده باشه.
ولی این کتاب رو دوست داشتم. شاید چون عاشق سام فیشر هستم.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Splinter Cell series by Ubisoft has about as much to do with Tom Clancy as I have to do with the proliferation of grimdark fiction. Which is to say, not much other than my name on a few works. Tom Clancy created the character of Sam Fisher as well as Third Echelon but everything after that was the work of Ubisoft's writers. Despite this, the Tom Clancy name has a good deal of clout in literary circles and they wanted to see if there would be an audience for it. There was, albeit not as large as the video game audience.

While the series is officially written by David Michaels, this is a pseudonym for a variety of authors of which the first was Raymond Benson. I am a huge Raymond Benson fan from his time on the James Bond books as well as his Hitman novel. He's a great writer and the perfect guy for writing spy stories of a slightly exaggerated nature, which is what the Splinter Cell games are all about. So, is it any good? I think so, albeit more of a satisfying hamburger than lobster bisque. Call it Tom Clancy-lite, if you will.

The premise for Splinter Cell is Sam Fisher is a 47-year-old ex-CIA agent and Navy Seal who has been recruited in his middle-age to serve as a spy for a secret branch of the NSA. Sam is not an assassin but someone who is designed to use his covert ops skills to go behind enemy lines and undercover to gather information from hostile situations. You know, what actual spies are supposed to do.

A secret techno-savvy Arabic terrorist organization known as the Shadows (basically, ISIL before ISIL existed) is threatening Western-allied countries around the world. The Shadows are assisted by a Russian-backed crime syndicate known as the Shop. It's the sort of alliance which you'd find in a Splinter Cell game and Sam swiftly finds himself in-between the two. Sadly, in a Kiefer Sutherland's 24-like twist, his daughter Sarah ends up becoming a pawn to use against him.

The biggest appeal of this novel is the fact it gets into the head of Sam Fisher, a character who is too often ignored in the games in order to focus on gameplay. Raymond Benson creates an image of a reserved taciturn man who has been isolated by his job but loves what little time he gets to spend with his family. Unlike James Bond, Sam is forced to be near-celibate because his job means he can never allow anyone to get too close without endangering them or the secrecy of his work.

While threatening Sam's daughter Sarah is a somewhat easy way to create drama, it works well here as we get to know her before it happens as well as suffer through her ordeal. It's her plot rather than something which is designed to give Sam motivation to rescue her. The fact Raymond Benson was able to craft so realistic a character is something which makes the scenes where she is imprisoned and tortured all the more moving.

The villains are nothing to write home about with Arabic terrorists and renegade Russians being played out by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Even so, Benson adds his own twists to the formulaic foes by having the leader of the Shadows more interested in his vendetta against Iraq than fighting America. The Russians are also businessman first and foremost, uninterested in the specter of a fallen Soviet Union. I found the would-be honeypot Eli to be the most interesting of them as he finds himself less than happy with the fact he's led his fake girlfriend to her (apparent) doom.

In a very real way, this book reads like Tom Clancy-lite with realism juxtaposed against dangerous spy adventures. It's a fun little popcorn thriller and one I recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy reading about a semi-realistic spy against only slightly exaggerated terrorists. Certainly, I'm going to read the rest of the series.

9/10

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

After playing the games I decided to take a risk & read the first Splinter Cell book. The pseudonym David Michael's means there is a different author for almost every book in the series. This book was strongly written & I enjoyed having the mental pictures of the video game before I read the book. Usually seeing a movie before reading a book taints the mental pictures I have when reading it myself, but not in this series. Highly recommended.

[Tannaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

first boring..... and ta ta da : u cant even blink!

[AB · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very Good spy novel . A fun fast paced sam fisher

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good. It was based on the video games, but it didn't beat you over the head too much with that fact. The devices used and a few of the moves described were right out of the game, but otherwise the novel stood on its own.

To me it was just technical enough without becoming too boring. I don't need pages of technical jargon to help me enjoy a story. The story wasn't simple but it wasn't complex either, so you had a nice enjoyable story that was easy to follow.

If you're a fan of the video game I'm sure you'll enjoy this one, but even if you aren't it's still a good read.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf. This is the single worst written book I’ve ever read. I am an absolute sucker for all things splinter cell, except for the books apparently. I’d ask if this was written by an AI but it came out in 2004 and was published by fucking Berkeley. That’s an actual imprint with actual editors and actual people making decisions and actually doing shit. Or at least they’re supposed to be editing and doing shit but now I’m questioning everything. This will not scratch any elite spycraft itches nor will it make up for the fact that splinter cell does not exist on the current or previous gen consoles and goddammit let me play those games. If I sounds desperate it’s because I am.

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay

[Balter Balter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the coolest book I ever read. I kind of bit disappointed when I find out that it's not Tom Clancy who write this book, but some fellow writer named Raymond Benson a.k.a David Michaels. Reading the book, I immediately hooked by the easy-flow narration and perhaps also because I love martial arts (especially Krav Maga, yea, that's why it's easy for me to enjoy the story), I like action with terrorism, politic and spy actions. It's like a perfect book for me.

Setelah selesai baca buku ini, gua yakin sekali kalau si penulis ini bukan asal penulis. So I do some research and--suprise, surprise--it appears that Raymond Benson is an official author for James Bond series from 1997-2002. Tapi hebatnya, karakter James Bond dan Sam Fisher tidak mirip (seperti penyakit kebanyakan penulis yang sulit terlepas dari trope "hero has 1000 faces"). Sam bukanlah seorang playboy flamboyan yang dikelilingi cewek-cewek, dia hanya seorang ayah yang punya pekerjaan berbahaya dan anaknya perempuan, masih muda dan lugu. Mangsa empuk buat siapapun yang punya dendam kesumat bagi Fisher atau Echelon.

Secara keseluruhan gua suka sekali dengan apa yang dimasukkan ke dalam narasinya, tidak sekadar pamer pengetahuan mengenai alat-alat spy-kit yang super canggih--Ketimbang merasa sedang dipamerin kalau si penulis tahu ada ini atau itu, gua malah kepengen jadi agen NSA sekalipun hanya dalam mimpi!

Cara berantemnya juga oke, aksi namun santai. Gua belum main gamenya, dan bisa enjoy baca ceritanya. Maka gua yakin siapapun yang belum main gamenya dan suka isu politik, terorisme, spy dan matrial art, bakal enjoy buku ini juga.

Tentang plot dan cerita, konfliknya mengenai isu di timur tengah, tentang terorisme berbasis agama, hostility terhadap westernisasi, dan ada beberapa tokoh yahudi di dalam novel ini yang involved dalam kehidupan Fisher. Tapi buat gua ini worth banget untuk dibaca, karena endingnya tidak mengecewakan dan yang terpenting, terlepas dari temanya, konten di dalamnya tidak menghasut atau bias. Beberapa bagian sukses bikin gua ngakak, terutama waktu mengadu domba antara dua orang tycoon, dan yang paling menyenangkan adalah waktu Fisher ke Jerusalem untuk menyelamatkan putri tercintanya and play as angry dad! Don't mess with his daughter!!

5 stars for me, David Michaels!

[08andreb · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a top secret organization within the U.S. government called Third Echelon. This organization works by deploying a single highly trained spy, called a splinter cell, who does whatever is necessary to complete his mission. This book is about one splinter cell named Sam Fisher as he tries to bring down a quickly rising terrorist army, shut down a group of weapons dealers, and stop a mad man from destroying Baghdad.
This book takes place all over the world from London to Cyprus in the near future. Most of the action occurs in Europe and the Middle East. The book begins in Hong Kong, where Sam Fisher is trying to find out more information about a group of weapons dealers known as the “Shop.” The story ends in Jerusalem after some dramatic personal events.
The main character is Sam Fisher. He is a man with a dark complexion and dark hair which helps him blend in while he is in the Middle East. He is divorced with one daughter who is about 19 years old who he raised after his ex-wife died tragically. Because of his work, his is anti-social and doesn’t like to get close to people, other than his daughter. He is one of the most highly trained spies in the world.
One of the main villains in the book is Tarighian, the Iranian leader of a terrorist organization called the “Shadows.” He is very wealthy and has assumed the identity of a Turk called Mr. Basaran. Mr. Basaran ironically is the leader of a charity that helps victims of terrorism. Tarighian’s family was killed in an Iraqi air raid on his hometown and he has spent the rest of his life fixated with revenge against Iraq.
The book is filled with intrigue, action and adventure. Sam Fisher is like a more high-tech James Bond. He has lots of amazing gadgets that keep him under the radar of his adversaries. All-in-all this is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of a good spy novel.

[Juan Hidalgo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poner el nombre de Tom Clancy en letra grande en un libro que no es de Tom Clancy es un sucio truco, pero una vez que hojeas el libro sabes que no es suyo, así que eres libre de leerlo o no, aunque probablemente para entonces ya nos haya enganchado la curiosidad.

Aparte de eso el libro está bien, es entretenido, tiene mucha acción y bastante información que parece veraz sobre armamento y sobre los países de Oriente Próximo.

Como pega, diría que tiene ese aire de producto comercial demasiado correcto y bien planificado (a partir de un videojuego). También es como las típicas pelis de Hollywood (el bueno se carga a cien malos y no le toca ni una de los millones de balas que le disparan :-)

En suma un libro ligero y entretenido como típica lectura veraniega. A quien le guste le recomendaría No Easy Day, estupendo libro de acción bélica... sólo que se trata de hechos y operaciones reales de los SEALs estadounidenses.

[Jhon(Original) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe because I am such a big fan of the game, I loved the book. I have to say that playing the game is fun, but reading the story that I usually ignore in the game is interesting because then all the gameplay and missions make more sense to me. The plot was basic, but it gave a lot of substance which makes this book enjoyable. It tells of a world where these splinter cell operatives are called upon to diffuse a grave situation. These are considered the heroes that we never really hear about. I find it interesting how this world works, which is why I like this book a lot.

[Paul Dabrowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the games and when I saw that Clancy (ghost wrote by Raymond Benson under a pen name) made it a full fledge novel, I had to have. And I wasn't disappointed.

[Fredrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

a definite must-read for every fan of the Splinter Cell games!

Really enjoyed it from start to finish, and I will definitely read the other 5 (soon to be 6) Splinter Cell novels.

[Home Video Hustle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of the Splinter Cell video game series and am still mad at every day that goes by without a new game being released. I first read this book when I was a teenager and remember loving it. I saw it pretty cheap at a used book store and thought, “why not relive my youth and get it.” I had sold my copy years ago, probably for money toward a new video game. I finally finished it again and I still liked it but not as much as I remembered.

It’s a spy thriller, so I expect a lot of techno babble but it gets crazy at times in this book. There will be multiple pages of details about a boat or some weapon and it’s cool for a paragraph or so but it goes on and on and eventually I started to just skim the pages and outright skip sections to get back to the story at hand.

The story at hand is a pretty good one and feels like missions of play in the video game. The Sam Fisher characterization felt pretty spot on and I couldn’t help but hear the video game voice actors in my head the whole time. You can also feel the time period this was written in with some of the descriptions of the Middle East. There were a few times where I audibly went, “ooohh” when I read the book.

It’s a good start for this series of books but I just hope that from the next one on, the author(s?) can find a better pace and not kill it as much with overly detailing things that don’t really matter much to the story. You can tell me all about the super weapons and Sam’s weapons but I really don’t need multiple paragraphs about a boat.

[Aidan Greatrex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded to 4.

As someone who grew up on the Splinter Cell games and recently started replaying them, I decided it was time to dive further. This first book is a great expansion for any SC fan. Whilst I’m aware the first 4 books aren’t technically cannon, they don’t need to be. I just read this as a mission we didn’t hear about in the games.

The writer does a great job fleshing out one of the coolest main characters in my gaming experience, Sam Fisher. Yes I 100% read his parts in Micheal Ironside’s voice. It’s nice to have other characters fleshed out too but this is mainly Sam’s show and it was a fun ride. I’d give this a 4.5/5. The only small issues I had was a slightly generic plot (but SC series has never been about convoluted or ground breaking), there are some inconstancies with lore compared to the games and I didn’t need Sam explaining history and facts as much as he did (just a personal gripe).

Whilst I’m not a reader who normally goes for spy, action thrillers; I’m normally a fantasy or horror guy. I enjoyed this experience and would recommend it to both SC fans or fans of espionage novels as it seems to hit all the right beats. Overall I can’t wait to get the next book and read more about one of the coolest gaming characters around.

[Sabastian Burlison · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love the games you'll love this

This was a wonderful compliment to the Splinter Cell series and wider Clancyverse. David Michaels or in this case Raymond Benson did a wonderful job creating Sam Fisher in book form.

It was a bit slow at times but it picked up towards the end. While this isn't my first rodeo with Fisher in book form. I'm excited to check out what the other books have in store.

[ste · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actionreich, spannend, flüssig zu lesen. Den Hurra-Patriotismus hätte man allerdings etwas zurückschrauben dürfen und es hätte der Geschichte trotzdem nicht geschadet.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Splinter Cell by Tom Clancy and David Michaels. I don't know whose story or imagination this was - Tom Clancy or David Michaels, but it was a very interesting and fast read. I had Christmas things to do and couldn't read it non-stop like I would have wanted. The book is written in a different way then I'm used to. The main character reads in first person and then changes to the traditional writing when it's not pertaining to the main character directly. The best part - I didn't need a dictionary next to me to understand. However, the author does go into detail about the different weapons. It's great for those understanding or interested in weapon details, but it's way over my head. At least I learned a tiny bit about them. I have no idea how much is made up or real. Sounds real, though.
P.S. I read over some of the other reviews. I had no knowledge where the story or character, Sam Fisher, came from. I picked up the book to read from my husband's personal library because it sounded good and had Tom Clancy's name written large across the book. I hadn't read one of his books in a long time and thought it was time. After reading one or two reviews that went into detail where the story comes from I got the drift. That's why the book was easy to read; it's not a true Tom Clancy book. Whatever! It's still a good book.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Story and writing. Easy to read, not dull with the 'getting to know the characters'' phase. Stays relatively true to the original video games

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally, video game novels stink or just don't capture the attention of hardcore gamers. And some video games are way to complex to read and understand, like starcraft, diablo and warcraft books. Yet when I first bought this book, expecting to return it, I discovered a very good plot and narrative. Sam Fisher, the hero of the series, battles extreme terrorism, the book turns out to be a page-turner till the very end. Sam fisher's daughter is captured by a man she thought was a good date, and Sam must save her. Spoilers aside, the book is very good, but a little mature, dealing with arms dealers and other adult topics. Kids can read it if they are mature enough to understand that they should not try these things at home. Parenting aside, buy this book. If you are not a big fan of videogames, or even action, check it out.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This action packed thriller is set in 2004 in the middle east. Third Echelon (group covert agents called splinter cells)is out to stop The Shop from selling weapons into the wrong hands. The shadows (Iranian terrorist group is on a mission to acquire weapons of mass destruction. The summary of the book is the shadow trying to turn the region and its people against the U.S. in any way possible. The shop is aware of splinter cells and tries to capitalize on any opportunity to eliminate one and make their business easier. Sam fisher is sent in to investigate the murder of a splinter cell and infiltrate the shop and shadows. This book is an excellent read and very well written.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying I was a huge fan of the Splinter Cell series of video games and thought it was a travesty when Michael Ironside wasn't the voice of Sam in the Blacklist video game.

The book series (one I started years ago and never did finish for some reason) isn't quite as good as the games. My biggest pet peeve is now Sam magically has gadgets that he's never had in the video game series (because authors need them to advance story). For example Sam never had any type of a grappling hook (he was a Splinter Cell, not Batman).

So while book and story is good, really wish they wound have stayed true to the video game universe.

[Aaah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stick to the games. This isn't a story, it's propaganda disguised as a novelization. Here is a book with so much contempt for Middle Easterners and so much awe for the US and Israeli militaries it's a wonder George W. Bush doesn't hide it among his nudey mags. Arabs and Muslims bad, Israelis and Americans good. America, num-ber one! It's not even an entertaining puff piece. How is a "thriller" this dull?

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up liking the book, but I can't bump it up to 4 stars because, in the beginning, Sam just felt a bit out of character. Also, some of the earlier info dumps were far more tedious than they could have been. It certainly picked up, though, and the book hit its stride at about the 1/3 mark. Once it did, any awkwardness receded and it just took off.