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Honor Bound #7
Empire and Honor
October 1945: The Germans and Japanese have surrendered. For Cletus Frade and his colleagues in the OSS, it should be time to pack up - but they have far more important things to do.
Chief among them is the protection of their assets, especially the human ones. In the closing months of the war, the United States made a secret deal with the head of German intelligence’s Soviet section. In exchange for a treasure trove of intelligence - in particular the identity of the Soviet spies in the U.S. atomic bomb program - his people would be spirited to safety in Argentina. Only a handful of people know about it. If word got out, all hell would break loose, and the United States would lose some of its most valuable sources and secrets.
Meanwhile, in Argentina, a U-boat captain pops up out of the blue and surrenders his submarine and crew. And in the American Zone of Occupation in Germany, a young counter-intelligence agent pursues an unusual assignment perhaps a little bit too vigorously. The consequences of both actions will affect not only Frade and company, but everything they're working on.
Now things are really going to get complicated.
Chief among them is the protection of their assets, especially the human ones. In the closing months of the war, the United States made a secret deal with the head of German intelligence’s Soviet section. In exchange for a treasure trove of intelligence - in particular the identity of the Soviet spies in the U.S. atomic bomb program - his people would be spirited to safety in Argentina. Only a handful of people know about it. If word got out, all hell would break loose, and the United States would lose some of its most valuable sources and secrets.
Meanwhile, in Argentina, a U-boat captain pops up out of the blue and surrenders his submarine and crew. And in the American Zone of Occupation in Germany, a young counter-intelligence agent pursues an unusual assignment perhaps a little bit too vigorously. The consequences of both actions will affect not only Frade and company, but everything they're working on.
Now things are really going to get complicated.
517 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
250 people are currently reading
762 people want to read
About the author
W.E.B. Griffin
351 books1,298 followersW.E.B. Griffin was one of several pseudonyms for William E. Butterworth III.
From the Authors Website:
W.E.B. Griffin was the #1 best-selling author of more than fifty epic novels in seven series, all of which have made The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other best-seller lists. More than fifty million of the books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian.
Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary.
In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White.
On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Mr. Griffin was a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, the Armor Association, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society.
He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City.
He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation’s first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association, the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, the Marine Raiders Association, and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. In January 2003, he was made a life member of the Police Chiefs Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and the State of Delaware.
He was the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D’Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. (Details here and here)
He was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association. And he belongs to the Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pensacola, Florida, chapters of the Flat Earth Society.
Mr. Griffin’s novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their “fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes.”
“Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books,” Mr. Griffin says.
Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.
Notes:
Other Pseudonyms
* Alex Baldwin
* Webb Beech
* Walker E. Blake
* W.E. Butterworth
* James McM. Douglas
* Eden Hughes
* Edmund O. Scholefield
* Patrick J. Williams
* W. E. Butterworth
* John Kevin Dugan
* Jac
From the Authors Website:
W.E.B. Griffin was the #1 best-selling author of more than fifty epic novels in seven series, all of which have made The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other best-seller lists. More than fifty million of the books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian.
Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary.
In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White.
On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Mr. Griffin was a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, the Armor Association, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society.
He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City.
He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation’s first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association, the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, the Marine Raiders Association, and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. In January 2003, he was made a life member of the Police Chiefs Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and the State of Delaware.
He was the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D’Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. (Details here and here)
He was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association. And he belongs to the Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pensacola, Florida, chapters of the Flat Earth Society.
Mr. Griffin’s novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their “fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes.”
“Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books,” Mr. Griffin says.
Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.
Notes:
Other Pseudonyms
* Alex Baldwin
* Webb Beech
* Walker E. Blake
* W.E. Butterworth
* James McM. Douglas
* Eden Hughes
* Edmund O. Scholefield
* Patrick J. Williams
* W. E. Butterworth
* John Kevin Dugan
* Jac
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
October 30, 2019
This is kind of the end of the Honor Bound series. But it is the start of the CIA in Europe series in that it introduces 2LT James D. Cronley, jr. and sets that series up.
If you've been reading my reviews of this series you already know everything I have to say about it. It's very good and probably tells more inside info about certain aspects of history than the actual histories do. WEB Griffin, was at one time the senior enlisted aide to General ID White, and, as such, was the fly on the wall as a lot of guys with a lot of stars haggled things out. He knows how those people handle themselves. He also, after his army time, was the tech writer on the Howze Report, which was the document that led to the conversion of the 11th Airborne Div. into the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which is to say the document that led the army into helicopter warfare big time. Here again he hung with the big boys. I have learned stuff from him about the army that I never knew while I was actually in the army, and I was in the army for a long time in elite units and in combat. In all that time I never had a personal conversation with a general, though I did once stand next to General Abrams at a urinal. Truthfully this did nothing for my military education. WEB Griffin, on the other hand, has done wonders for my military education. It was too late to do anything with it, but it was gratifying nonetheless.
If you've been reading my reviews of this series you already know everything I have to say about it. It's very good and probably tells more inside info about certain aspects of history than the actual histories do. WEB Griffin, was at one time the senior enlisted aide to General ID White, and, as such, was the fly on the wall as a lot of guys with a lot of stars haggled things out. He knows how those people handle themselves. He also, after his army time, was the tech writer on the Howze Report, which was the document that led to the conversion of the 11th Airborne Div. into the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which is to say the document that led the army into helicopter warfare big time. Here again he hung with the big boys. I have learned stuff from him about the army that I never knew while I was actually in the army, and I was in the army for a long time in elite units and in combat. In all that time I never had a personal conversation with a general, though I did once stand next to General Abrams at a urinal. Truthfully this did nothing for my military education. WEB Griffin, on the other hand, has done wonders for my military education. It was too late to do anything with it, but it was gratifying nonetheless.
January 19, 2013
The WEB Griffin empire jumped the shark and having a 500+ page volume #7 proves it. I’d say 175 pages max for the amount of new material provided in the latest offering of the Argentina series. The author and co-author, I.e. the co-author succeeded in converting once interesting characters into parodies of themselves, while slogging them through a totally uninteresting, often confusing tale. You'd think the father would instruct the son to just stick to the time tested formula (stick to the script, stupid). He didn't listen, or more likely, thought he was Hemingway. It appears the WEB empire intends to expand into volumes #8, #9 and probably #10 – count me out. Evita made an appearance in this book so Butterworth Hemingway must be chomping at the bit to bring in Andrew Lloyd Webber as a guest B.I.S. agent or S.A.A. passenger.
February 10, 2013
W.E.B Griffins latest. Just a continuation of the story. You should read this series from the start!
April 10, 2015
This series has now moved beyond the end of World War II and introduces new characters, which have kept it fresh and interesting as Cletus Frade and his friends – some from his hometown of Midland, Texas, and others from Germany, all now residing in Argentina – battle with Juan Domingo Peron and his ilk.
But it’s also important for Cletus to keep his “Tio Juan” alive to prevent Argentina from falling into civil war, and Cletus and his friends and colleagues in from the now-dissolved OSS have to juggle that with the disintegration of their covert operation to smuggle German intelligence officers and their families out of Europe (in exchange for identifying Soviet spies in the U.S. government and with the Manhattan Project).
Of all Griffin’s series, this one is my favorite. I hear it said often that his books “aren’t as good as they used to be” (and that since they are now co-authored by his son, William E. Butterworth IV, that the books are not even by Griffin anymore), but that’s simply not the case. The recent books in this series (Blood and Honor) and the one about the cops in Philadelphia (Badge of Honor) have had recent books that were in the same class as early books in those series.
But it’s also important for Cletus to keep his “Tio Juan” alive to prevent Argentina from falling into civil war, and Cletus and his friends and colleagues in from the now-dissolved OSS have to juggle that with the disintegration of their covert operation to smuggle German intelligence officers and their families out of Europe (in exchange for identifying Soviet spies in the U.S. government and with the Manhattan Project).
Of all Griffin’s series, this one is my favorite. I hear it said often that his books “aren’t as good as they used to be” (and that since they are now co-authored by his son, William E. Butterworth IV, that the books are not even by Griffin anymore), but that’s simply not the case. The recent books in this series (Blood and Honor) and the one about the cops in Philadelphia (Badge of Honor) have had recent books that were in the same class as early books in those series.
June 22, 2016
This book is set at the end of WW2, when the allies were trying to clean up and capture all the Nazis and their equipment. Submarines containing riches, equipment, and art were sent out to help powerful Nazi leaders escape and set up for a "phoenix" rebirth of the reich, primarily to Argentina.
This is a book in a long series of stories involving established fictional characters interweaving with real ones, and as such drops the reader in the middle of a saga, but not uncomfortably. There is, perhaps, too much recapping and explanation, including several sections that seemed to have been cut and pasted into the book several times.
Some of the story I liked; parts about the young officer in Germany. Others I didn't care for and especially found the Peron/Evita story dull and dragging. Overall it took entirely too long to get to the main point, and other than repeated meetings by the bad guys making the same plots over and over again, the bulk of the story is the heroes planning and talking about things, and historical events.
I don't really recommend the book for reading, but it does cover an interesting part of history.
This is a book in a long series of stories involving established fictional characters interweaving with real ones, and as such drops the reader in the middle of a saga, but not uncomfortably. There is, perhaps, too much recapping and explanation, including several sections that seemed to have been cut and pasted into the book several times.
Some of the story I liked; parts about the young officer in Germany. Others I didn't care for and especially found the Peron/Evita story dull and dragging. Overall it took entirely too long to get to the main point, and other than repeated meetings by the bad guys making the same plots over and over again, the bulk of the story is the heroes planning and talking about things, and historical events.
I don't really recommend the book for reading, but it does cover an interesting part of history.
August 7, 2014
Pure entertainment, fiction loosely based on history. Good research, but dialogue doesn't ring true and is sometimes anachronistic. Still good fun, light read and entertaining. And, the bad guys are really bad, the good guys are funny and heroic to the point that they stretch your imagination. All the good guys are incredible marksmen, pilots and speak three to four languages. Did I mention they are also appreciative of things liquid, especially scotch and wine. Women have chick books, men have guy books. This is a guy book with little redeeming value other than that it is a guy book.
May 3, 2013
This is really much better then the reviews. I suspect the others that rated this book poorly did not read the preliminary books in order. Otherwise I can see that you might be missing a lot and did not get the character development. Overall the story is pretty good and some nice dialogue.
January 18, 2013
Lt. Col. Frade has some interesting post WWII intel operations with his "little brother." Good stuff.
February 25, 2018
Too long. Overblown and drawn out. Trying too hard. This could have been a good story if it was rewritten to move twice as fast.
September 13, 2024
I suppose I must admit that Griffin has jumped into the category of a secret pleasure. I don’t rate the books very highly (3 stars) because of some of the very lame stuff. For example, main characters in this finale often give each other the finger and the interchange between boy and girl is sophomoric. That said, I keep reading them and are sad when they end and this one, the grand finale, ended quite abruptly. We start out with a new character who is a very slightly younger version of Cletus Frade, our hero and leader of the OSS detachment in Argentina. Jimmy Cronley, an army 2nd lieutenant is assigned to postwar counterintelligence in Germany. He’s given the shit job of observing German citizens wandering from the Soviet zone into the American one. He observes a woman who he knows is on a priority list. She is the sister in law of von Wachstein who was Frade’s mole inside the German embassy. Elsa is 32 while Jimmy is 22. She looks pretty old and bedraggled after walking across Germany but after a shower and new clothes she is amazingly hot and horny, being a long time widow and undernourished. They go at it for no good reason pertaining to the ensuing story. Griffin loves the coincidence. So, in addition to the fact that Elsa is related to one of the main series characters she plays no role in the story other than to bring Jimmy together with the Argentine contingent who arrives to pick up Elsa and some other good Germans. Lo and behold Jimmy turns out to be from Midland Texas. He was Cletus’s next door neighbor and protege. One wonders, given that Clete refers to Jimmy as his “little brother” that they didn’t have a clue as to where each of them were during wartime. For some reason Clete continually acts antagonisticly toward little brother. But little brother is the new improved Clete (without the medals). Jimmy keeps solving problems like figuring out where the Germans have hidden a submarine carrying atom bomb making raw materials that the OSS wants to keep out of Russian hands. When Cletus and Jimmy are ambushed Jimmy shoots half the bad guys and in the denoument agrees to fly to the southern tip of Argentina to look for that submarine. When they find it he shoots the SS officer in charge and the book ends abruptly. We can only deduce that a spin off series featuring Jimmy Cronley, Jr was on the drawing boards. Griffin has so many titles this series might, in fact, exist. I’ll have to check on that. At any rate we are sure that Jimmy will marry Margie who is Clete’s first cousin who grew up in the same household as Cletus and thus is to Jimmy—the girl next door. We know that Peron becomes dictator of Argentina for many years and his wife ends up as a Broadway musical. A lot of people gripe that Griffin just recycles stuff from previous books. There are lots of summaries and retellings but since I am now an old man I kind of enjoy hearing the old stories from books 1-6. I’m going to miss Argentina, the gauchos armed with Thompsons, Clete’s loyal bodyguard Enrico, the good Germans, the bad Germans, the brilliant General Martine, the cool airplanes, the mother superior who loves to drink wine and kick Clete’s ass, Dorotea (Mrs. Clete), who is more interesting than Evita, General Graham (Cletus’s boss), Howard Hughes and other historical dignitaries too numerous to name, the many large estancias, the private army guarding the estancias, the endless pampas, the terrific food and efficient servants. It’s a great setting for series. Argentina, don’t cry for me. I’m going to find more stuff to read about you.
April 19, 2023
The final volume of the Honor Bound series attempts to wrap up all the plotlines of the previous six books as the OSS is disbanded and our heroes attempt to stop a group of high-ranking Nazis from escaping into Argentina. Much of the plot focuses on the effort to find a supposed fleet of Nazi submarines that escaped the Allies at the end of the war. The submarines are thought to carry anything from Nazi officials (possibly including Hitler, himself, if he didn’t really commit suicide) to uranium and Nazi nuclear scientists.
While this is happening, our heroes continue to try and protect a small group of Nazis and their families that provided important intelligence on Soviet spy networks to the OSS. Their efforts are threatened by investigations by the State Department and other elements of the U.S. government. At the end of the last book, President Truman and General Eisenhower found out about the deal and gave their support so long as it never became public (which would have caused both men career destroying embarrassment). So much of the story follows efforts to protect these people in both Germany and Argentina.
As if that isn’t enough, Argentina is on the brink of civil war which our heroes are trying to prevent, even though that forces Clete to offer his support and protection to his despised godfather, Juan Peron. While Clete tries to keep Peron alive, Peron maneuvers to become president of Argentina. And there is always the suspicion that Peron, with his Nazi sympathies, continues to work to protect the submarines that are trying to escape the fall of the Third Reich.
Griffin does a good job of wrapping up his many storylines and ending the series with an exciting adventure.
While this is happening, our heroes continue to try and protect a small group of Nazis and their families that provided important intelligence on Soviet spy networks to the OSS. Their efforts are threatened by investigations by the State Department and other elements of the U.S. government. At the end of the last book, President Truman and General Eisenhower found out about the deal and gave their support so long as it never became public (which would have caused both men career destroying embarrassment). So much of the story follows efforts to protect these people in both Germany and Argentina.
As if that isn’t enough, Argentina is on the brink of civil war which our heroes are trying to prevent, even though that forces Clete to offer his support and protection to his despised godfather, Juan Peron. While Clete tries to keep Peron alive, Peron maneuvers to become president of Argentina. And there is always the suspicion that Peron, with his Nazi sympathies, continues to work to protect the submarines that are trying to escape the fall of the Third Reich.
Griffin does a good job of wrapping up his many storylines and ending the series with an exciting adventure.
June 27, 2024
The war is over but not the danger
Cletus is busy with keeping his OSS team together and out of the grasp of the various players that want to take them over. He is also frustrated that even though he’s been trying to avoid his Tio Juan Peron situations keep getting him involved with him anyway.
2Lt Cronley is discovering that he may be in a position to expand his role as an active member of the mission, which he hadn’t previously thought himself capable of doing. We have something of an intermission here, rather than an end to the series. The story continues in the novel Top Secret (Clandestine Operations #1)
Cletus is busy with keeping his OSS team together and out of the grasp of the various players that want to take them over. He is also frustrated that even though he’s been trying to avoid his Tio Juan Peron situations keep getting him involved with him anyway.
2Lt Cronley is discovering that he may be in a position to expand his role as an active member of the mission, which he hadn’t previously thought himself capable of doing. We have something of an intermission here, rather than an end to the series. The story continues in the novel Top Secret (Clandestine Operations #1)
January 10, 2025
finished 10t january 2025 goo read three stars i liked it kindle library loaner honor bound #7 and i believe the last of this series have not read all of them the last number one so i've not read them in order. entertaining read by now the war in europe is over truman has been persuaded to disband the oss to the happiness of others in power who also did their damnedest to place hurdles before the oss and we see the beginning of the c.i.a. location settings germany and argentina for the most same groups of characters german argentine american other. good read good series enjoyed each one.
March 3, 2023
You have seen a good story
The story of saving Peron, the escape in the airplane which was shot by machine gun and the wound in of Peron and subsequent medical treated by mother superior who transferred blood from Grad to Tio Peron changing their relationship. Then the placing young lot Consult in a position to find the German sub and obtaining the Ukrainian make a good ending
The story of saving Peron, the escape in the airplane which was shot by machine gun and the wound in of Peron and subsequent medical treated by mother superior who transferred blood from Grad to Tio Peron changing their relationship. Then the placing young lot Consult in a position to find the German sub and obtaining the Ukrainian make a good ending
May 23, 2017
I thought I'd give Griffin another try since this one had an interesting premise. Once again I was sadly disappointed. Not that he isn't good at writing, only that his stories seem to all be upper echelon officer drama. The parts that could make for some good action scenes he generally glosses over the action just to get back to the soap opera style interpersonal drama.
February 25, 2018
Only read the last book in the series but happy with that decision because it was pretty inclusive of previous facts. It covers the interesting period when the military wanted all the intelligence gathering back in their hands but Truman took the steps for the CIA. Ending was not entirely satisfying but will look for more of his books.
September 6, 2018
I loved the book. There were a lot of "I wonder how the author is going to treat this angle of the story". But...but...It stopped in mid stride... I read the entire series and I genuinely enjoyed the character development...but...but...it stopped in mid stride...
February 17, 2019
Thoroughly satisfying conclusion to probably his worst series (of those I've read, at least).
May 11, 2019
The war is over but there are still Germans who think it is still going on. U234 has nuclear materials on it and it is up to Clete and his men to find it and get the materials
Read
November 2, 2019Boring and couldn't finish it. Read only 145 pages
January 27, 2020
Another great tale from W.E.B. Griffin, continuing the Cletus Frade saga. I really enjoyed it.
April 22, 2020
Really enjoyed the book which I listened to on audio which was a little hard to follow given all of the German names used but still very enjoyable.
September 3, 2021
It was typical WEB Griffin at his best, until the ending. It was left open. Either needs another book or two or longer ending to finish the story. Very disappointing.
February 5, 2022
Did this book just end in the middle of a sentence?
Did this book just end in the middle of a sentence? So this how a 7 book series ends What happen to all the people
Did this book just end in the middle of a sentence? So this how a 7 book series ends What happen to all the people
April 8, 2022
I wanted to like this book, but was really disappointed. I reviewed it on my blog: https://wineandhistory.wordpress.com/...
September 24, 2022
Overall, I enjoyed the series but if this is the last book in the series, it left a few open stories that I would have liked to see closed.
November 10, 2022
Very captivating suspense thriller focused on honour and allegiance with lots of action!
April 11, 2025
I enjoyed it but it’s over 500 pages and didn’t always move very fast
December 30, 2020
Ugh. What a slog.
The "inside the characters heads" narrative was over done, and to steal from another reviewer, the relationships between characters bordered on soap operaesque.
The "inside the characters heads" narrative was over done, and to steal from another reviewer, the relationships between characters bordered on soap operaesque.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews