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Honor Bound #1
Honor Bound
It's 1942. A Marine aviator, an Army paratrooper and demolitions expert, and a non-com radio man are on an impossible mission for the OSS - sabotaging the resupply of German ships and submarines - by any means necessary!
First Lieutenant Cletus Frade is fresh from Guadalcanal. He teams up with Second Lieutenant Anthony Pelosi and Sergeant David Ettinger for the most critical OSS operation of the war. Under the direction of the mysterious Colonel Loman, they venture into a simmering stew of German and Allied agents, collaborators, and government security thugs, of men and women hiding their pasts and plotting their futures - all in supposedly neutral city of Buenos Aires.
First Lieutenant Cletus Frade is fresh from Guadalcanal. He teams up with Second Lieutenant Anthony Pelosi and Sergeant David Ettinger for the most critical OSS operation of the war. Under the direction of the mysterious Colonel Loman, they venture into a simmering stew of German and Allied agents, collaborators, and government security thugs, of men and women hiding their pasts and plotting their futures - all in supposedly neutral city of Buenos Aires.
474 pages, Hardcover
First published January 12, 1994
About the author
W.E.B. Griffin
374 books1,348 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 108 reviews
December 20, 2022
Argentina played a role during World War II that was similar to that of Berlin during the Cold War. As a neutral country favoring the Nazi regime, it was the focus of a great deal of clandestine activity during the war as it struggled to maintain its neutrality while both the Axis and the Allies maneuvered on its territory. This is the backdrop to W.E.B. Griffin’s Honor Bound series as he continues to explore the fascinating realm of intelligence work during World War II. The hero of this book is Cletus Frade, a marine aviator called home from Guadalcanal to take on a covert mission in Argentina to blow up a neutral vessel that is refueling Nazi submarines in Argentinian waters.
Clete is totally unqualified for this mission, as are the two men assigned to him. None have any training as spies and while one is an expert in demolitions, none of them really have a clue as to what they are doing. The one thing Clete might have going for him is that his father, Jorge Guillermo Frade, is one of the most important and influential men in Argentina. Unfortunately, Clete has never met him and everything he knows about the man (coming from his maternal grandfather) is that he is the SOB responsible for Clete’s mother’s death.
It's the slow development of the relationship between father and son that makes this such a powerful book. Griffin has never been particularly interested in “action” in the conventional sense. There are occasional spurts of it, but Griffin has always been much more concerned with the nuts and bolts about how missions are planned and information is gathered. In this novel, he gets to play with multiple cultures as well—Argentinian, German, Nazi (yes, I know those last two should be the same but Griffin paints them differently), and American. It all blends together into a fascinating look at Argentina through the eyes of an outsider at a critical moment in their history.
The mission to destroy that tanker is the heart of the story. To emphasize the danger, Griffin lets the reader know that the previous team sent on this mission has simply disappeared. Clete’s mission is opposed by both the Argentinians and the Nazis, but also by elements within the American Office of Strategic Services who believe that Clete would be of better use to them if he were dead by German hands. They figure that his father would be more likely to help the Allies if he had a personal reason to hate the Nazis.
This is a wonderful and exciting book. I read it the first time roughly twenty years ago and enjoyed it just as much on this latest reading. Yet, I want to stress that it is not a typical military novel filled with battles and fights to the death. That sort of action is the exception here, not the rule. Truth is, Honor Bound doesn’t need it.
Clete is totally unqualified for this mission, as are the two men assigned to him. None have any training as spies and while one is an expert in demolitions, none of them really have a clue as to what they are doing. The one thing Clete might have going for him is that his father, Jorge Guillermo Frade, is one of the most important and influential men in Argentina. Unfortunately, Clete has never met him and everything he knows about the man (coming from his maternal grandfather) is that he is the SOB responsible for Clete’s mother’s death.
It's the slow development of the relationship between father and son that makes this such a powerful book. Griffin has never been particularly interested in “action” in the conventional sense. There are occasional spurts of it, but Griffin has always been much more concerned with the nuts and bolts about how missions are planned and information is gathered. In this novel, he gets to play with multiple cultures as well—Argentinian, German, Nazi (yes, I know those last two should be the same but Griffin paints them differently), and American. It all blends together into a fascinating look at Argentina through the eyes of an outsider at a critical moment in their history.
The mission to destroy that tanker is the heart of the story. To emphasize the danger, Griffin lets the reader know that the previous team sent on this mission has simply disappeared. Clete’s mission is opposed by both the Argentinians and the Nazis, but also by elements within the American Office of Strategic Services who believe that Clete would be of better use to them if he were dead by German hands. They figure that his father would be more likely to help the Allies if he had a personal reason to hate the Nazis.
This is a wonderful and exciting book. I read it the first time roughly twenty years ago and enjoyed it just as much on this latest reading. Yet, I want to stress that it is not a typical military novel filled with battles and fights to the death. That sort of action is the exception here, not the rule. Truth is, Honor Bound doesn’t need it.
February 12, 2014
Again, this book has pretty good reviews, but I "JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Boring beyond all belief!
This is a soap opera for men. While it is billed as a WWII story, it has little to do with the actual War and is much more about people during WWII. Trying to find a plot was like trying to drill for water in Abu Dhabi. After 50% there was almost no story line. Just characters....characters...and more characters. Who they went to bed with, what they had for dinner, what restaurant they ate at, the maid, the butler, the chauffeur, how cute the girls were in their little tennis outfits, how deep the "valley" was between boobs, whether he could "keep it up" after multiple "attempts" ...you get my point? I know the guys were 20-year-old marines, but really? Is there nothing more to write about??
Upon reading reviews of other Griffin books, this is a typical story. Guess it will be my last of his.
This is a soap opera for men. While it is billed as a WWII story, it has little to do with the actual War and is much more about people during WWII. Trying to find a plot was like trying to drill for water in Abu Dhabi. After 50% there was almost no story line. Just characters....characters...and more characters. Who they went to bed with, what they had for dinner, what restaurant they ate at, the maid, the butler, the chauffeur, how cute the girls were in their little tennis outfits, how deep the "valley" was between boobs, whether he could "keep it up" after multiple "attempts" ...you get my point? I know the guys were 20-year-old marines, but really? Is there nothing more to write about??
Upon reading reviews of other Griffin books, this is a typical story. Guess it will be my last of his.
June 12, 2017
Bill Butterworth never lets you down. His characters are all thought out human beings. Even the heroes get it wrong some times and the villains aren't always the guys in swastikas. I've read this series before and am rereading it again because it feels like coming home to see old friends again.
This is the first in the Honor Bound series by W.E.B. Griffin, Butterworth's pen name, But not the only series. I first got hooked while he was writing The Brotherhood of War series. If you can find and read his novels which are filled with real people, names changed to protect someone.
This is the first in the Honor Bound series by W.E.B. Griffin, Butterworth's pen name, But not the only series. I first got hooked while he was writing The Brotherhood of War series. If you can find and read his novels which are filled with real people, names changed to protect someone.
January 5, 2017
Love me some Cletus Frada & his gorgeous Argentinian wife to be...great story, extreme intrigue to say the least.
March 27, 2011
I love this book and all the books in the series. Action-packed, well-defined story, typical of Griffin.
September 13, 2011
A reread. First read during the mid 90s.
June 26, 2015
Great start to this series by a thriller master
March 16, 2020
Overall, this was a really great book. Throughout the story, there's a ton of action, the reconciliation between a son and the father he never knew. Thought it was extremely adorable that these two strong military men couldn't hold back their tears as they made up. In addition, there were a lot of little love stories throughout. Then, he did the unthinkable by making me like the german character, especially since this is a WW2 novel. It showed that not everyone in Germany agreed with what was happening. There are plenty of bumps and complications, but it all gets resolved in the end and has a happy ending.
May 16, 2024
The start of an excellent series
We meet Cletus Frade nearly at the start of his career as an USMC fighter pilot. We actually skipped some of his most courageous missions flying the totally outdated and inadequate F2A Brewster Buffaloes against the far superior Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” naval fighter. The Japanese fighter pilot was also highly skilled & had actual combat experience in a world where the duel was decided in 1-5 minutes at most. The brave but inexperienced Buffalo pilots suffered from such a terrible loss rate against the Zero in their first engagement where 21 F2A & 2 F4F Wildcats were unable to defend against a wave of Zero escorted dive bombers that they lost 13 F2A & both Wildcats and only 2 F2F were flyable that one survivor claimed “Any commander who orders pilots out for combat in an F2A should consider them lost before leaving the ground!” The Buffaloes, like the Wildcat were the early transition planes as the US left biplanes to try to create high performance monoplanes. Unlike the Wildcat the Buffalo fell short of expectations & was denigrated by pilots. Additionally the F4F Wildcat was only able to win against the Zero after the development of pairs of pilots teaming up to fight the Zero. Not until the F4U Corsair did the US have equal, then superior aircraft.
This long explanation is just to demonstrate that while Clete is humble enough to discount his bravery and skills, he had achieved a very elite status by achieving 7 creditable kills. Quite often planes listed as damaged went down after the fight so they were not counted.
Not to give spoilers I’ll just say that similar courage is shown by Clete and Pelosi during the book. I just didn’t want the reader who didn’t know much about his beginnings to think that he was merely lucky. We were also shown multiple instances of the honor that motivated the various characters in how they lived their lives. Bravery isn’t the fearless attribute many people who haven’t served may believe. Bravery is knowing that you may be killed by your actions, being afraid but still doing what your honor determines you must do.
We meet Cletus Frade nearly at the start of his career as an USMC fighter pilot. We actually skipped some of his most courageous missions flying the totally outdated and inadequate F2A Brewster Buffaloes against the far superior Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” naval fighter. The Japanese fighter pilot was also highly skilled & had actual combat experience in a world where the duel was decided in 1-5 minutes at most. The brave but inexperienced Buffalo pilots suffered from such a terrible loss rate against the Zero in their first engagement where 21 F2A & 2 F4F Wildcats were unable to defend against a wave of Zero escorted dive bombers that they lost 13 F2A & both Wildcats and only 2 F2F were flyable that one survivor claimed “Any commander who orders pilots out for combat in an F2A should consider them lost before leaving the ground!” The Buffaloes, like the Wildcat were the early transition planes as the US left biplanes to try to create high performance monoplanes. Unlike the Wildcat the Buffalo fell short of expectations & was denigrated by pilots. Additionally the F4F Wildcat was only able to win against the Zero after the development of pairs of pilots teaming up to fight the Zero. Not until the F4U Corsair did the US have equal, then superior aircraft.
This long explanation is just to demonstrate that while Clete is humble enough to discount his bravery and skills, he had achieved a very elite status by achieving 7 creditable kills. Quite often planes listed as damaged went down after the fight so they were not counted.
Not to give spoilers I’ll just say that similar courage is shown by Clete and Pelosi during the book. I just didn’t want the reader who didn’t know much about his beginnings to think that he was merely lucky. We were also shown multiple instances of the honor that motivated the various characters in how they lived their lives. Bravery isn’t the fearless attribute many people who haven’t served may believe. Bravery is knowing that you may be killed by your actions, being afraid but still doing what your honor determines you must do.
June 24, 2025
I'm not a fan of W.E.B. Griffin, but a friend gave me the book and I felt a sense of duty to appreciate any gift. Perhaps you might say I was honor bound. But I did not enjoy this book. W.E.B. Griffin is just too dry of an author, and his works strike me as profoundly boring.
First, I want to point out how extraordinarily creepy the author is. The protagonist develops an attraction to a girl barely out of high school, and frequently refers to her as "the Virgin Princess". Ugh. The author hardly ever uses her real name, only referring to her by that creepy nickname. But once they get together, it doesn't get any better- instead, the author refers to her as, "the No-Longer-Virgin Princess". Nauseating. There is a sense that she is a thing to be consumed or owned, rather than a person. She as a character only encourages this view- she has absolutely no personality to speak of, falls in love with the protagonist at first sight, and offers herself up on a platter to him with not the slightest encouragement from the protagonist. Perhaps that might have been exciting for the author to write, but it makes for a very flaccid and one-sided love story. While I'm at it, none of the characters really seem to have a sense of self. They are all like bad actors who have read a summary of their motivations from the back of a napkin and are now simply following the script. Griffin is the man pulling the strings, but unfortunately they only make lifeless choices.
I do try to give an author the benefit of the doubt, and I believe that Griffin has a talent for highly complex thought. It seems that he was drawing off personal military experience and creates a highly detailed scene of the action. This is a fantastic contrast to the popular view of action movies and stories at the time, which were action-oriented and had little regard for verisimilitude. If you see the old movies with Steve McQueen and Audie Murphy they are exciting but not immersive. In that sense Griffin did a great job of making a highly immersive book that feels authentic. However, that trick has been mastered and exceeded by the progression of cinema and literature. All books are expected to be highly researched and immersive. So without a compelling story and lifelike characters, Mr. Griffin seems doomed to obscurity.
There is one parting shot I would like to take at the author- he is way too repetitive. I will never forget that the target ship in the book has two 40mm Bofors cannons, because Griffin mentions it ten times by ten character over ten pages. It was so frustrating because it seems that the author was just padding the story. In that vein, all his characters sound exactly the same with only occasional attempts to vary their grammar and speech patterns. To me that is the cardinal sin of bad writing. But that's about all I got. Do not recommend.
First, I want to point out how extraordinarily creepy the author is. The protagonist develops an attraction to a girl barely out of high school, and frequently refers to her as "the Virgin Princess". Ugh. The author hardly ever uses her real name, only referring to her by that creepy nickname. But once they get together, it doesn't get any better- instead, the author refers to her as, "the No-Longer-Virgin Princess". Nauseating. There is a sense that she is a thing to be consumed or owned, rather than a person. She as a character only encourages this view- she has absolutely no personality to speak of, falls in love with the protagonist at first sight, and offers herself up on a platter to him with not the slightest encouragement from the protagonist. Perhaps that might have been exciting for the author to write, but it makes for a very flaccid and one-sided love story. While I'm at it, none of the characters really seem to have a sense of self. They are all like bad actors who have read a summary of their motivations from the back of a napkin and are now simply following the script. Griffin is the man pulling the strings, but unfortunately they only make lifeless choices.
I do try to give an author the benefit of the doubt, and I believe that Griffin has a talent for highly complex thought. It seems that he was drawing off personal military experience and creates a highly detailed scene of the action. This is a fantastic contrast to the popular view of action movies and stories at the time, which were action-oriented and had little regard for verisimilitude. If you see the old movies with Steve McQueen and Audie Murphy they are exciting but not immersive. In that sense Griffin did a great job of making a highly immersive book that feels authentic. However, that trick has been mastered and exceeded by the progression of cinema and literature. All books are expected to be highly researched and immersive. So without a compelling story and lifelike characters, Mr. Griffin seems doomed to obscurity.
There is one parting shot I would like to take at the author- he is way too repetitive. I will never forget that the target ship in the book has two 40mm Bofors cannons, because Griffin mentions it ten times by ten character over ten pages. It was so frustrating because it seems that the author was just padding the story. In that vein, all his characters sound exactly the same with only occasional attempts to vary their grammar and speech patterns. To me that is the cardinal sin of bad writing. But that's about all I got. Do not recommend.
July 1, 2024
This is book one of the Honor series about the activities of the OSS in Argentina during WWII. Griffin lived in Argentina and it’s interesting as a setting. Unusual, as well. This is my third Griffin series and there are some patterns emerging. The main character in each is bi-lingual, familiar with or even a duel citizen of another country and is extremely wealthy. Castillo in the Presidential Agent series and Frade in the Honor series are conveniently duel citizens. Lowell in the Brotherhood of War series marries a German girl and his son is, of course, a duel citizen. The extreme wealth of all three characters is a handy device for an author as it allows him to solve lots of problems with money. The culture of upper class Argentinians is detailed with the wealthy men almost required to keep a mistress. Apparently all the women in Buenos Aires are drop dead gorgeous including the ones being cheated on. Peron is a minor character in book one. Book two I will skip because the reader (a change from Book 1 gets universally horrible reviews). I’m not worried about missing much as Griffin is a great recapper and is never in a hurry. There will be long conversations about how to get things done and by the time I’m midway through Book 3 (now read by Scott Brick) I’ll pretty much know what I missed in Book 2. Buenos Aires as a WWII setting is full of Nazis plotting, Neutral Argentina trying to figure out which way to jump and the OSS trying to subvert German plans. When the city gets boring we are off to a great estancia larger than some US states. Conveniently, our main character’s father is a leading figure in Argentina, a candidate for President. One of the motives for the OSS recruiting our main character Clete Frade, who has never met this father, is to lead Argentina into the US camp. In the meantime both good and bad German’s are laying plans to seek refuge in Argentina if Germany loses the war. There is occasionally some action but a lot more conversation and it’s to the author’s credit and talent that he can make these slowly developing stories interesting and compelling.
April 3, 2023
Griffin writes entertaining books, including this series, but like the Corps and Brotherhood of War series, it loses steam as it goes: each book has more pages and less plot. In this series, Griffin (and his son, who co-authored) also have a strange fixation against Evita Perón, portraying in a later book as a vulgar sex worker, and also (ahistorically) claiming that Juan Perón had never been married before.
But the biggest problem with this and his other series is that they don't portray anything like the actual conditions military personnel live under. Every series I've read so far has at least one fantastically rich and powerful officer who takes the other characters under his wing and puts them up in mansions or five-star hotels, or flies them around in his private airliners. Frequently, they also have political influence right up to the president. I doubt most veterans had military service like that.
So yes, entertaining adventure stories (at least early in this series), but turn your B.S. detector up to 11 and prepare for the occasion not-subtle NRA plug along the way.
But the biggest problem with this and his other series is that they don't portray anything like the actual conditions military personnel live under. Every series I've read so far has at least one fantastically rich and powerful officer who takes the other characters under his wing and puts them up in mansions or five-star hotels, or flies them around in his private airliners. Frequently, they also have political influence right up to the president. I doubt most veterans had military service like that.
So yes, entertaining adventure stories (at least early in this series), but turn your B.S. detector up to 11 and prepare for the occasion not-subtle NRA plug along the way.
February 22, 2023
I love historical fiction set in the first half of the 20th century, but this is the first book I've read set in South America.
Having now read all the series to date 2023, this is the best of them, book two is the worst by far, so if you get stuck it does gets better.
This is not really about WWII, its about the characters and their lives, so the action is minimal and dialogue and historical detail is high. With that the character I liked Dorotea the best of all the cast of characters very relatable, and I liked the main character Cletus the least, he's a lucky idiot...
But the secondary characters, Hans-Peter, Boltitz, Col. Frade, Col. Martin, and the loveable Enrico Rodríguez, they are wonderful and steal each scene they are in, and they make the book very entertaining.
Having now read all the series to date 2023, this is the best of them, book two is the worst by far, so if you get stuck it does gets better.
This is not really about WWII, its about the characters and their lives, so the action is minimal and dialogue and historical detail is high. With that the character I liked Dorotea the best of all the cast of characters very relatable, and I liked the main character Cletus the least, he's a lucky idiot...
But the secondary characters, Hans-Peter, Boltitz, Col. Frade, Col. Martin, and the loveable Enrico Rodríguez, they are wonderful and steal each scene they are in, and they make the book very entertaining.
March 27, 2023
Loved W.E.B. Griffin's "The Corps" series and where "The Corps" deals mostly with the Pacific Theater, The "Honor Bound " series deals with the OSS and its European and South American focus...Both series are meticulously researched and the historic accuracy is wonderful..."Honor Bound" is the first of the series...I've read a few of the later ones, so I wanted to get to the origination novel..."Honor Bound" focuses on Cletus Frade, a marine aviator called home from Guadalcanal to take on a covert mission in Argentina to blow up a neutral vessel that is refueling Nazi submarines in Argentinian waters...Frade also is the estranged son of one of the military personalities that dominates Argentinian politics...Fun stuff!
January 8, 2025
finished 8th januarry 2025 good read three stars i liked it kindle library loaner honor bound #1
have now read maybe eight from this series completely out of order enjoyed them all entertaining read about events in south america argentina though some scenes scattered elsewhere germans americans argentines planes ships subs curious vehicles both american-made and elsewhere...lotsof wining and dining and eating pricey meals at various restaurants and in palatial homes everyone dressed to the nines just what you'd expect from a world war story nessy pa? good read...will have to take a look at what's available...i think a few more might be available...but doesn't seem to any shortage of stories to go round.
have now read maybe eight from this series completely out of order enjoyed them all entertaining read about events in south america argentina though some scenes scattered elsewhere germans americans argentines planes ships subs curious vehicles both american-made and elsewhere...lotsof wining and dining and eating pricey meals at various restaurants and in palatial homes everyone dressed to the nines just what you'd expect from a world war story nessy pa? good read...will have to take a look at what's available...i think a few more might be available...but doesn't seem to any shortage of stories to go round.
November 2, 2017
I had no idea that this was the first book of a series. I had read that W.E.B.Griffin was a good writer so I thought I'd give it a try from our less than comprehensive library. I almost quit reading this one several times as I plodded through seemingly endless dialogue and action less character situations. It got better, barely and as I neared the end I realized that the reward for slogging through this was not to be. This was however a good writing lesson on how to expand a two hundred page story into 475 pages. All you have to do is describe every action, every situation, every conversation in excruciatingly boring detail. I won't read any more of the honor series by this author.
March 19, 2019
I picked this up off a shelf at the local senior center my mom runs because I left what I was reading at home and I was bored. Not usually something I was read, but it also wasn’t a western or a romance which is pretty much all that gets donated. It was slow going at first and a tad confusing, mainly to my inclination towards not being big of war books, but then really got into it. There’s some romance and a lot of repetition in regards to that, but it didn’t take away from anything like it sometimes tends to do. As can be seen from the 4 stars, I was not disappointed. It may not be a true 4-star book, but I rounded up due to being surprisingly good.
August 20, 2022
Excellent storyline, but dragged in many places. Honor Bound is historical fiction about WW II and how Argentina played a part during the war. Great history and location, with an excellent description of the places and the times.
But the story just got bogged down in different places where I just got bored. I finished the book, but the last 80 pages was a real struggle.
But the story just got bogged down in different places where I just got bored. I finished the book, but the last 80 pages was a real struggle.
April 27, 2018
It's a pretty interesting story, though there are quite a few implausibles - seemingly insurmountable roadblocks turn out to be easily overcome through fortuitous circumstances, and a key character who really should be an enemy turns out to be a friend. Griffin insists on giving his characters their full name and rank repetitively throughout the book, which is tedious. The infighting of Argentinian politics at this time (pre-Peron, though he appears here) is an enlightening preview of what will come later. There is a lot of detail about the culture of the wealthy citizens of Argentina.
April 20, 2021
This book starts the 4th series* and 27th book I've read by author WEB Griffin. All have been 5 stars, and extremely enjoyable. Until now.... The Honor Bound series and book # 1 Honor Bound, takes place largely in Argentina during WWII. It's about sabotage and undercover activity. I struggled to get into the characters, and ended up lost and frustrated. As a result I'm dumping this series (Honor Bound), I'll take a brake and return to a different series from WEB Griffin at a later date! He remains on of my favorite authors.
* The Corps
Brotherhood of War
Men at War
* The Corps
Brotherhood of War
Men at War
February 8, 2026
Honor Bound is a competently written but uneven Cold War military novel that never quite finds its focus. While WEB Griffin clearly knows the period and institutions, the book leans too heavily on slow slice-of-life scenes, meandering subplots, and social filler at the expense of tension and espionage momentum. There are interesting ideas and moments, but the pacing is glacial and the intrigue rarely tightens into anything truly gripping. A mixed bag overall — solid craftsmanship, but not nearly as sharp or suspense-driven as I’d hoped. 3 stars.
August 6, 2018
Read this one first if you are planning to read the series. This book introduces all of the major characters. Unfortunately, I read #5 in the series first. It was very hard to understand who were the good guys and who were the bad guys and who were kind of neutral.
The plot in this one is really very thin, but I was sure glad I read it. Now I can go on with the series. I bought #4 and #5 in the series at a book sale. This one and numbers two and three are from the library.
The plot in this one is really very thin, but I was sure glad I read it. Now I can go on with the series. I bought #4 and #5 in the series at a book sale. This one and numbers two and three are from the library.
December 13, 2019
I've procrastinated in reading this book for several years...not wanting to begin a 21+ hour book leading to a 130 hour series. But, here goes... We get to know most of the characters pretty well. Three OSSers attempt to disable a German submarine tender in neutral Argentine waters. But, that's only abou 1/10 of the book. The rest is a soap opera. It's also notable that the technology is of the WWII period. Fun read.
March 22, 2021
This was a very very very thorough novel that was pretty anticlimactic. So anticlimactic I didn't even realize I was reading the suspenseful part until I was bout half way through it. If you want to read a book where you get detail about how a character picks up the phone or walks across the street then this is the one for you. I found it pretty boring after about half way through because nothing really ever happened that kept your attention.
April 2, 2020
Okay, to be honest 1) I stopped reading this book fairly early to read two others, and 2) when I started back reading it, with several cues popping up, I realized I’ve read this. Embarrassing. Hey, sometimes you forget to mark a book off your list AND review it (shrug). Solid book, but moving on. :)
June 6, 2025
I read the second book before I read the first one. It was great to revisit the introduction of the characters, helped to make more sense of the second book. I don’t know a lot about the military, but the book kept my attention and this one had a better ending than I remember the second one having. If you like military and espionage, I think you will enjoy his series.
August 16, 2025
First in a series, this one also set in WWII Argentina. Enjoyable enough but bit of a potboiler. Our hero is a young pilot sent undercover to Argentina to blow up a German U-boat supply ship and also to sway his estranged father who just happens to be one of the richest and most influential men in the country and who might be swayed to steer Argentina‘a neutrality towards the Allies.
October 1, 2018
my favorite series
I have read all of the books he's published under WEB Griffin = and this is my favorite series... I love the characther development and their flaws. ALthough I would love to see Clete and Lowell meet up... that would be fun!
I have read all of the books he's published under WEB Griffin = and this is my favorite series... I love the characther development and their flaws. ALthough I would love to see Clete and Lowell meet up... that would be fun!
October 31, 2020
First book of another great series
The master has done it again! Combining historical facts with an absolute thrilling fictional story. The characters are as interesting and believable as only Griffin can create. Great reading!
The master has done it again! Combining historical facts with an absolute thrilling fictional story. The characters are as interesting and believable as only Griffin can create. Great reading!
April 5, 2026
WEB books on his characters immediately and you want to keep reading to see what each is going to do. The military mission becomes a second thought to the goings on of the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and want to read the follow on book.
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