The Assassination Option (Clandestine Operations Series #2)

by W. E. B. Griffin, William E. Butterworth IV

Overview

James Cronley’s first successful mission for the new Central Intelligence Directorate has drawn all kinds of attention, some welcome, some not, including from the Soviets, his own Pentagon, and a seething J. Edgar Hoover. Now complications have sprung  up all over, including a surprising alliance between the Germans and, of all things, the Mossad; and an unplanned meeting with an undercover agent against the Soviets known only as Seven K.. Cronley knows that if just one thing goes wrong, he’s likely to get thrown to the wolves. And he thinks he hears them howling now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780515155693
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/24/2015
Series:	Clandestine Operations Series , #2
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	259,368
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

W. E. B. Griffin was the author of seven bestselling series: The Corps, Brotherhood of War, Badge of Honor, Men at War, Honor Bound, Presidential Agent, and Clandestine Operations. He passed away in February 2019.
 
William E. Butterworth IV has been a writer and editor for major newspapers and magazines for over twenty-five years, and has worked closely with his father for several years on the editing of the Griffin books. He is the co-author of several novels in the Badge of Honor, Men at War, Honor Bound, and Presidential Agent series. He lives in St.Petersburg, Florida.

Hometown:

Coppell, Texas

Date of Birth:

November 10, 1929

Place of Birth:

Newark, New Jersey

Read an Excerpt

PROLOGUE
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Assassination Option"
by .
Copyright © 2015 W.E.B. Griffin.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for THE ASSASSINATION OPTION

“It's a testament to the authors' skill and wide experience that the pages seem to turn themselves.” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for TOP SECRET
 
“A thrilling new series entitled Clandestine Operations has begun, opening doors into special ops, investigating the path to the Cold War, and unveiling clandestine connections between Argentina and Germany during WWII. . . . This incredible mix of intrigue, diplomacy and, of course, a bit of romance, is fantastic. The reader will note the horror of the war, along with the massive role intelligence agents played in the eventual victory.  In other words, when this story from a literary team that ignites suspense lovers everywhere comes to a close, readers will be panting for the next novel.”—Suspense Magazine

“Lots of interesting period history, dry humor, and clever scheming.”—Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

A Griffin adventure to bring out the Walter Mitty in every red-white-and-blue-blooded American male.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Engaging…It’s a testament to the authors’ skill and wide experience that the pages seem to turn themselves.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“The makings of an excellent series. The period between WWII and the Cold War offers raw material for several books, and as fans of Griffin’s body of work are well aware, he really sinks his teeth into politics and history.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

12/01/2014
In 2014's Top Secret, the first in bestseller Griffin and Butterworth's Clandestine Operations series, Capt. James Cronley was given a military intelligence assignment in Germany: overseeing the relocation of German officers to Argentina after WWII. In this engaging sequel, Cronley's duties have expanded, and he's running the European division of the Directorate of Central Intelligence, now known as the CIA. As usual, a number of characters, some familiar, some new, sit around and figure out how to accomplish a mission. The fun is in watching the authors and characters meticulously plan the operation, all the while indulging in clever badinage. In Top Secret, a Russian intelligence agent, Col. Sergei Likharev of the NKGB, was turned and taken to Argentina. The mission in this book is to get his family out of Russia and reunited with Likharev. It's a testament to the authors' skill and wide experience that the pages seem to turn themselves. Agent: Robert Youdelman, Rember & Curtis. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

2014-10-20
In their second Clandestine Operations spy thriller, Griffin and his son and co-author, Butterworth (Top Secret, 2014, etc.), delve into the down-and-dirty work necessary to turn the OSS into the CIA.Griffin's regular cast of thousands—Cronley, young captain from a rich Texas ranching family; Dunwiddie, African-American Norwich graduate commissioned into the officer corps just in time to join the CIA; Gehlen, current POW, former chief of Abwehr Ost, a so-called "good German" with the scoop on the rotten Red Menace; and Adm. Souers, Truman's friend named Director of Central Intelligence—is charged with building a viable spy organization to succeed Wild Bill Donovan's OSS while keeping the new gang out of the clutches of the Pentagon and FBI. Young Cronley is "chief, Directorate of Central Intelligence, Europe" in case higher-ups need a fall guy if something goes wrong in unstable occupied Germany. There are new players: Maksymilian Ostrowski, Free Polish Air Force veteran now displaced person; and (next adventure, perhaps?) Cronley's cousin Luther Stauffer with suspected links to Odessa, a program to "help SS officers get out of Germany." Griffin employs big shots like Bedell Smith, Ike's right-hand man; covers internecine jealousies over bureaucratic fiefdoms; and suggests Israel's Mossad benefited from Russian triple-agent Seven-K, who spied for Abwehr Ost for quid pro quo release of Zionists from concentration camps. Griffin slips enough historical factoids—Katyn Forest massacre, Hoover's botched attempt at Manhattan Project's secrecy—to assure history buffs he's still got the right stuff but—whoops!—again has the USAF in action one year prior to its founding. Characters communicate in repartee, bend rules like Bavarian pretzels, and aren't above dropping a bad guy in an unmarked grave, no paperwork required, so that a turned NKVD colonel's family can escape Leningrad. Another Griffin adventure to bring out the Walter Mitty in every red-white-and-blue-blooded American male.

Kirkus Reviews