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W. E. B. Griffin Direct Action
Library Binding
Published January 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 10, 2026
I'm about half through it and just put it down. Bored with it. The writing is formulaic and reads like the script of one of the mindless spray and pray action movies Hollywood insists upon producing. There's a lot of buzz words and mention of characters familiar to Griffin fans but the underlying base of knowledge and experience seems to be missing.
Griffin was deeply flawed at times producing reams of paper under multiple noms de plume that made him a lot of money and you could argue that he too was formulaic and even that he and his successor (Butterworth IV) had a tendency to pad their word count with endless trips down memory lane and even recycling plots through different characters.
But, underneath it all Griffin presented solid history of the old military culture and usually gave you a good read for your money. In places this offering struck me as juvenile. At best it reads like some editor analyzed the WEB Griffin books with AI, produced an outline and a check list and then assigned the project to one of his pet staff writers.
I think I've had it with the Griffin legacy franchise.
Griffin was deeply flawed at times producing reams of paper under multiple noms de plume that made him a lot of money and you could argue that he too was formulaic and even that he and his successor (Butterworth IV) had a tendency to pad their word count with endless trips down memory lane and even recycling plots through different characters.
But, underneath it all Griffin presented solid history of the old military culture and usually gave you a good read for your money. In places this offering struck me as juvenile. At best it reads like some editor analyzed the WEB Griffin books with AI, produced an outline and a check list and then assigned the project to one of his pet staff writers.
I think I've had it with the Griffin legacy franchise.
May 3, 2026
This is the 10th book in WEB Griffin's [RIP] Presidential Agent series. I've read them all and loved them, and most, if not all, of the rest of Griffin's books. This book is written by Jack Stewart, and I only rate it a fairly strong 3 or a very weak 4. Griffin's books, for me, were all solid 4s to 5s.
Griffin, especially in any of the Charlie Castillo books, has a certain charm in the hokey way he develops and presents the characters that is absolutely unique, in my experience, and that makes the Castillo books. That charming hokiness is almost completely missing in Direct Action. This is not a bad book, but it is so not Griffin! This book features a new presidential agent, Pik McCoy, and a retiring Charlie Castillo, so maybe the new author or Griffin's estate will figure out a way forward.
This can easily be read as a standalone, but would be more enjoyable if one has read the other 9.
Griffin, especially in any of the Charlie Castillo books, has a certain charm in the hokey way he develops and presents the characters that is absolutely unique, in my experience, and that makes the Castillo books. That charming hokiness is almost completely missing in Direct Action. This is not a bad book, but it is so not Griffin! This book features a new presidential agent, Pik McCoy, and a retiring Charlie Castillo, so maybe the new author or Griffin's estate will figure out a way forward.
This can easily be read as a standalone, but would be more enjoyable if one has read the other 9.
January 28, 2026
A good entry. Leaves us wanting to see more and to build on the new characters. Hope for a next one soon.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews