Product details: - Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
- Author: Marc Cerasini
- Publisher: HarperEntertainment
- Publication Date: 2005-10-01
- Release Date: 2005-09-27
- Studio: HarperEntertainment
- Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
- Package Dimensions: 6.7 x 47 x 75 inches
Features: - ISBN13: 9780060842246
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Within twenty-four hours a nightmare will be unleashed that could cause the death of untold millions and devastate a great nation. It's a plot being carried out by the unlikeliest of allies. A powerful mole within the deepest reaches of U.S. Intelligence has secretly conscripted the very criminals he's been charged with investigating -- former IRA terrorists, Latino and Asian gang members, Middle Eastern assassins and others -- creating one of the most insidious terrorist networks law enforcement has yet to take down. One man stands between the destroyers and the death tide: Jack Bauer, lone wolf operative for America's brand-new elite Counter Terrorist Unit. But he's three thousand miles from the CTU command center without backup in a strange city, New York. He's been artfully set up and is being hunted by the FBI for the murder of two of its agents. And time's almost up . . . Customer reviews:  Just Not Very Interesting, 2009-05-13
I'm not exactly sure what I was hoping to get out of this book, but as an impluse click for the Kindle, it goes down as one of my poorest choices. That all being said, I did give it the second star merely because I finished it. There was at least something about it that kept me going through the rather thin novel.
The set up is fairly standard 24 fare. The book is a prequel to the series, taking place sometime between 1996 and 2001. We know it is prior to 2001 as Cerasini's clunky prose gives us the inner thoughts of each character repeatedly, all noting how tall the Twin Towers are and how they are symbols of the country being strong. God almighty, we get it.
The book starts with an interrupted terrorist attack on a 727 cargo plane by CTU. As Jack Bauer is escorting the prisoner back to New York with the FBI, one fo the agents goes crazy and kills everyone on board except for Jack and the Prisoner. To add to the mayham, the plane is shot down by a missile on its way to landing.
Jack sets out in a search for the missing prisoner and runs across numerous stereotyped characters which instead of names could have got designations such as "Northern Irish guy #2" or "Afghan who fought against the Russians #7"
There is also the bizarre crutch of the world "wispy" as an adjective throughout the book. It is a word so rarely used in day to day talk that it stands out when it is used repeatedly in the book. Very odd.
The plot is unbelievable and silly, which is saying something in the world of 24. Sadly the action seems sparse and what is there is not terribly exciting. Several heads explode from gunshots in the book.
I like the show 24. It is not great art (with the exception of the fantastic 5th season), but it is good escapist fun. This novel on the other hand is fairly overwraught and downright boring in places.
The characters are strong enough to make an interesting read from this show, but Operation Hell Gate isn't that book.
 Way better than I was expecting!, 2008-01-31
I'm pretty big on 24, I wouldn't say I'm an ultra die-hard fan that needs a 24 fix between seasons. Hell I don't even watch the show on a regular basis, I wait till the DVD's come out and watch it all at once. My mom actually picked this up for me as a joke because my friends and I talk about Jack Bauer being so extreme.
So, needless to say, I didn't go into this book having high expectations. This book definitely met, then blew away my expectations. I couldn't put this thing down! The book is about a situation that happened well before Season 1, so I was sort of glad that it wasn't playing into the shows story-line specifically. The smartest thing this author did was have it take place outside of L.A, instead it was in New York City. By the time I was reading this, it was around Season 3 or so, so I was pretty tired of adventures in L.A. and it was great to see Jack outside of his realm.
It is written in pure 24 fashion with the the clock ticking away, exept for the "prologue" part, which was really cool to see used because that definitely helped set up the action in the book. The story was fairly well developed and had all the random encounters that Jack always seems to get into, such as the case with the Bar Fight scenario. The book didn't let up it's intensity in the least, and I even found it more intense than some of the later seasons! This would have made an incredible season and it would've been great to see this. I don't want to discuss the story too much because, like 24, giving away too much ruins it for people.
If you want a very exciting read then I would definitely recommend this. The only problem Cerasini has at this point as an author is topping this novel in the next installments! Though I will always hold out hopes for a movie or a book series involving Jack's work with the CIA. I will say they brought Operation Nightfall into reality in comic book form, which was alright, but I want something bigger! However, at this point, I do look forward to reading the next novel!
Customers who bought this item also bought:
Similar items from ebay.com:
|
![24 : Complete Season 1 [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513J7TA8X1L._SL160_.jpg)
