THE PRESIDENTIAL AGENT

W.E.B. Griffin introduces his first new series in more than a decade. Set in present-day, he takes readers behind the scenes of contemporary counterterrorism in the wake of 9/11, showcasing his unique style of storytelling—one layered richly with heart-stopping scenes and complicated characters who readers come to know intimately.

"Proving himself solidly in control of cutting-edge military material, Griffin bases his new series not on wars past but on today's murky exigencies of terrorism and international political intrigue ... It's the meticulous investigation that leaves readers standing on the tarmac waiting for Charley Castillo and his newly minted band of can-do compatriots to touch down and carry them away again on a new adventure." —Publishers Weekly

Book I, By Order of The President (Read an excerpt)
No one in 2005 wants to believe that an aged Boeing 727 missing in Africa is a threat to the United States, mostly because no one—not the FBI, not the CIA, not any intelligence agency—can find the plane or confirm the rumor that terrorists hijacked it with plans to crash it into an American landmark. The President, angry and anxious, wants answers, and personally assigns Charley Castillo, a U.S. Army Delta Force major on loan to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Matt Hall, to get them. Undercover and alone in Europe and Africa, Castillo goes in deep. He finds credible evidence that Somalia terrorists have readied the 727 for an attack—a threat that scrambles Delta Force's elite Gray Fox team on high-risk insertions in Africa and Central America to find and possibly—if not probably—destroy the elusive aircraft. Worse, Castillo's covert work reveals that the intel community is more concerned with protecting itself at any cost—while his sources pinpoint the 727 getting closer and closer to the U.S. Nothing Castillo learned at West Point prepared him for this...

"Plenty of action, high-level intrigue, interesting characters, flip dialog, romance, and a whole lot of drinking and other carrying on ... fans will enjoy it immensely." —Library Journal

"... The plot deals with a variety of aircraft, both military and civilian, and there is lots of jargon on navigation systems, landings and takeoffs, airspeeds, guns, satellite imagery, and radar—which, of course, Griffin's fans thrive on ... It is the getting there that is the fun." —Booklist

Published in paperback by Jove December 27, 2005. Get your copy at one of these booksellers!

 

Book II, The Hostage (Read an excerpt)
U.S. Army Special Forces Major Charley Castillo works with the Department of Homeland Security, but more and more he is the man to whom the President turns when he needs an investigation done discreetly. And no situation demands discretion more than the one before them now. An American diplomat's wife is kidnapped in Argentina, and her husband murdered before her eyes. Her children will be next, she is warned, if she doesn't tell them where her brother is—a brother, it turns out, who may know quite a bit about the burgeoning UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal. There is an awful lot of money flying around, and an awful lot of hands reaching out to grab it—and some of those hands don't mind shedding as much blood as it takes.

"Is Griffin our Homer or Tacitus? Those military experts wrote about real soldiers — and what the world needs now is a real-life Charley Castillo, Griffin's smart and efficient Department of Homeland Security agent, who works directly for the president on cases calling for more than routine skills. Castillo is an excellent alternative to the usual crew who make it to the headlines. Told in Griffin's trademark clean and compelling prose, studded with convincing insider details, Castillo's second outing starts with an American diplomat's murder in Argentina, the kidnapping of his wife, and threats to murder her children unless she reveals the whereabouts of her brother, a U.N. diplomat involved in the food-for-Iraqi-oil scandal. Castillo and his team of tough and shrewd experts are just the kind of believable people we want in these situations. And if it takes a novelist like Griffin, who has honed his skills and weapons in five previous series, to bring them to life, at least their real counterparts will have some fictional role models to live up to." — Publishers Weekly

"... fast pacing and relevant to today's events and headlines." — Booklist

Published in Premium paperback edition by Jove in December 2006. Also available in e-book and Compact Disc audio versions from Putnam, as well as digital downloads from Audible.com, iTunes, and others. Purchase your copy from one of these booksellers!

Book III, The Hunters (Read an excerpt)
The Hunters picks up right where The Hostage left off. Two brutal murders and millions of missing dollars in the growing United Nations/Iraq oil-for-food scandal have led Castillo and his team to a remote ranch—an estancia—in Uruguay, where to their shock the man they seek to bring back to America is murdered right before their eyes. Who is responsible? Most likely it’s the people higher up in the money chain, those willing to risk anything to keep their secrets from being revealed. They’ve left just enough of a trail, though, for Castillo to pick up the scent, and with carte blanche from the President to follow it wherever it takes him, he ends up…well, not exactly where he expected.

"Punchy prose that connects like a right hook" — Chicago Tribune

"Griffin just keeps on getting better" — Booklist

Published in Premium paperback edition by Jove on December 18, 2007. Also available in e-book and Compact Disc audio versions from Putnam, as well as digital downloads from Audible.com, iTunes, and others. Purchase your copy from one of these booksellers!

Book IV, The Shooters
As Presidential Agent C.G. Castillo ties up loose ends in Argentina from his investigation into the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, an Army lieutenant assigned to the United States embassy in Paraguay quietly reports to him that D.E.A. agents trying to interdict illicit drugs have been nabbed by drug lords—and for phony diplomatic reasons damn near nothing is being done about their rescue. The lieutenant says that he has heard of Castillo, knows what he’s done—and wants his help in getting the agents back. More than that, he’s got an innovative plan for dealing with the drug lords themselves. Intrigued, Castillo gets permission to try it, but the President has just one warning for him: Don’t get caught. Castillo couldn’t agree more—but it might turn out to be something far easier said than done….

"Charlie Castillo, the rough-and-ready Delta Force officer, returns with his troubleshooting team . . . heavy on action and tough-guy dialogue and light on subtlety – but that’s okay because it’s what fans expect. They also expect plot twists, and the author doesn’t disappoint here . . . This one delivers the expected goods" —Booklist

"...Griffin pulls it off, leaving satisfied thriller readers hankering for more." — Publishers Weekly

Published January 1, 2008 by Putnam in hardback, e-book, and Compact Disc audio versions. Get your copy at one of these booksellers!