Tom Clancy's works are always a treat for readers, and this one is no exception. It's a great classic that offers an engaging story, full of plot twists and turns, with a dynamic and fast-paced narrative.

What makes it particularly interesting is the technique of telling the story from multiple perspectives, including that of the "good guy" and the "bad guy", as well as from the third and first person. This allows for a more comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the characters and their motives.

The ending is truly spectacular, painting a vivid mental image of a memorable scene that will stay with you long after you've finished reading.

Perhaps I would have liked to see a few more stealth scenes, considering the title of the book suggests that brute force isn't its forte. However, in reality, this choice actually makes the story more realistic. In the video game series, the work may seem too "perfect", not doing justice to the real world, but the book does an excellent job of capturing the essence of reality. Overall, it's a great read that I would highly recommend to any fan of the genre.

I simply couldn't bring myself to finish it.

I had really wanted to give this a proper shot as I'm a huge fan of the Splinter Cell game series.

The limited action scenes that I came across were decent enough. However, after reading 51% of this book, it just never seemed to gain any momentum.

DNF! That's right, I had to give up. Now, take this with a grain of salt, but the writing in this book was truly abysmal.

I never once felt as if I was reading about the same Sam Fisher from the beloved game series.

It gave the impression that the author was merely assigned this book, had a list of buzz words from the game, but had never actually played the game series themselves.

It's a real shame because the potential was there, but it just wasn't realized.

Maybe someone else might have a different experience, but for me, it was a major disappointment.

Sam Fisher is a highly skilled and dedicated member of a top-secret special US group.

Their sole mission is to hunt down and neutralize the most dangerous bad guys.

However, recently, the members of this elite group have been mysteriously killed one by one.

As a result, Sam Fisher is assigned the crucial task of uncovering the reason behind these killings.

With his extensive training and experience, Sam sets out on a dangerous and challenging investigation.

He must use all his skills and resources to track down the culprit and prevent any further casualties within the group.

The fate of the remaining members and the success of their mission now depend on Sam's ability to solve this mystery and bring the killer to justice.

Ok, I'm well aware that this is supposed to be a really easy read and has no pretensions to literature, but there are several aspects that really disappoint.

The prose is dreadful. It is simplistic and frankly worthy of an “action” book for 10 year-olds. There is a lack of depth and sophistication in the writing, making it feel rather juvenile.

Another issue is that you can see the plot twists coming from a mile away. There is no element of surprise or unpredictability, which takes away from the enjoyment of the story.

Furthermore, there is absolutely no sense that the protagonist, or anyone else for that matter, could be a real person. We have an arrogant, celibate loner who sounds more like the type of person who plays “Call of Duty” 18 hours a day in their childhood bedroom aged 30, rather than an elite special forces operative. This lack of believability makes it difficult to engage with the characters and become invested in their story.

Tom Clancy can generally tell a good tale and generate sufficient sympathy for characters that the action carries the reader over any limitations. However, this particular work fails to achieve this. It lacks the necessary elements to make it a truly engaging and enjoyable read.

This action-packed thriller is set in 2004 in the Middle East.

Third Echelon, a group of covert agents known as splinter cells, is determined to prevent The Shop from selling weapons into the wrong hands.

Meanwhile, The Shadows, an Iranian terrorist group, is on a mission to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

The summary of the book reveals that The Shadows are trying to turn the region and its people against the U.S. by any means possible.

The Shop is aware of the splinter cells and attempts to take advantage of any opportunity to eliminate one and simplify their business.

Sam Fisher is dispatched to investigate the murder of a splinter cell and infiltrate both The Shop and The Shadows.

This book is an excellent read, with a well-written plot that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

The characters are well-developed, and the action scenes are intense and exciting.

Overall, it is a must-read for fans of thrillers and espionage novels.

"The Video Game Made Me Do It"

Video games have become an integral part of our modern lives. They offer a world of entertainment and excitement, allowing players to immerse themselves in various virtual scenarios. However, there is a growing concern that video games may have a negative impact on our behavior and actions. Some people even claim that the video game made them do it.

It is true that certain video games can be quite engaging and addictive. The intense competition, vivid graphics, and immersive gameplay can sometimes blur the line between reality and fantasy. This may lead some individuals to act out in ways that they wouldn't normally do in real life. For example, a person who plays a violent video game may become more aggressive or prone to angry outbursts.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that video games are not the sole cause of such behavior. There are many other factors at play, such as a person's upbringing, mental health, and personal values. It is unfair to simply blame the video game for someone's actions. Instead, we should look at the bigger picture and consider all the possible factors that may contribute to a person's behavior.

I'm a huge fan of the games.

When I saw that Clancy (ghost wrote by Raymond Benson under a pen name) made it a full fledge novel, I just had to have it.

And I can say without a doubt that I wasn't disappointed.

The novel took the already exciting and immersive world of the games and expanded it in ways I never thought possible.

Benson's writing brought the characters to life, making me feel as if I was right there with them in their adventures.

The story was filled with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

It was a thrilling read that I would highly recommend to any fan of the games or anyone who enjoys a good action-packed novel.

I can't wait to see what else Benson has in store for us in the future.

It's an okay addition to the Clancyverse.

This particular installment offers a more first-person perspective, which gives the reader a different kind of immersion.

You can clearly tell that it's a game tie-in, as certain elements and storylines seem to be directly related to the game.

There is also some international politics involved, but unfortunately, it doesn't quite have the same level of intrigue and interest as some of the other works in the Clancy canon.

All in all, it's an okay read. If you're a die-hard Clancy fan or really interested in the game, you might want to give it a go. However, if you're not, it's probably okay to skip.

It won't necessarily offer anything groundbreaking or earth-shattering, but it can provide a bit of entertainment if you're in the mood for it.

It's good when it's being a book.

When it's being based on a video game, it becomes a bit more debatable.

I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed it right from the start, throughout the middle, and until the end.

There is some great characterisation not only through the eyes of our protagonist Sam Fisher but also of the plot's antagonists at times. This allows us to fully understand each situation that is going on.

Sure, the baddies can get a bit super villainous at times, and some of the tech can seem a bit extra. However, these only require a bit of a stretch to stay immersed and believe them. After all, real life has extremists, real life has people with lots of wealth, and real life has heating systems that can heat up and cool you down using sophisticated mechanisms. It's the merging of these things that requires the stretch. Some of the tech might be a little 'too' good but not enough to completely take you out of it.

But some of that tech is what hampered the book for me.

The book is great when it focuses on being a book on its own. It's a narrative based on the world of a video game where real life physics, personalities, and motivations can occur. All is grounded in reality with just a few stretches for the plot sometimes, but otherwise, there are some great characters and stories.

Then it remembers it's based on a video game and suddenly tries to justify why things that exist purely as a game mechanic have their place here.

It shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, but once it tried to do that each time something that only worked as a game mechanic cropped up, it kicked me out of the narrative. Unfortunately, this happens quite a bit at times.

One example I'll give here is the Air foil projectile. In the book, a hit to the body will'stun' while one to the head is a guaranteed K.O. (That's the explanation given in the book.)

This is a mechanic in the game, but in the book, it doesn't quite fit the narrative. For instance, when knocking two heads together only knocks out one person, or when people don't always stay knocked out for a precise time. The narrative should be more grounded in reality rather than what would add an extra level of skill for the player.

Like I said, it almost definitely bothered me more than it should have, but the break of immersion each time something like that came up just upset me because I felt the rest of the book was doing so very well.

Great

This is truly a great book. I have had the pleasure of reading it for the second time, and I can firmly say that it is just as good as the first time I laid my eyes on it. The story within its pages is captivating, filled with engaging characters and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Each time I read it, I discover new details and nuances that I may have missed before, adding even more depth to the overall experience. The author's writing style is masterful, making it easy to lose yourself in the world that has been created. Overall, this is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a great read. It is one that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

The Splinter Cell series by Ubisoft has about as much to do with Tom Clancy as I have to do with the proliferation of grimdark fiction. Which is to say, not much other than my name on a few works. Tom Clancy created the character of Sam Fisher as well as Third Echelon, but everything after that was the work of Ubisoft's writers.

Despite this, the Tom Clancy name has a good deal of clout in literary circles, and they wanted to see if there would be an audience for it. There was, albeit not as large as the video game audience.

While the series is officially written by David Michaels, this is a pseudonym for a variety of authors, with the first being Raymond Benson. I am a huge Raymond Benson fan from his time on the James Bond books as well as his Hitman novel. He's a great writer and the perfect guy for writing spy stories of a slightly exaggerated nature, which is what the Splinter Cell games are all about.

So, is it any good? I think so, albeit more of a satisfying hamburger than lobster bisque. Call it Tom Clancy-lite, if you will.

The premise for Splinter Cell is that Sam Fisher is a 47-year-old ex-CIA agent and Navy Seal who has been recruited in his middle-age to serve as a spy for a secret branch of the NSA. Sam is not an assassin but someone who is designed to use his covert ops skills to go behind enemy lines and undercover to gather information from hostile situations. You know, what actual spies are supposed to do.

A secret techno-savvy Arabic terrorist organization known as the Shadows (basically, ISIL before ISIL existed) is threatening Western-allied countries around the world. The Shadows are assisted by a Russian-backed crime syndicate known as the Shop. It's the sort of alliance which you'd find in a Splinter Cell game, and Sam swiftly finds himself in-between the two. Sadly, in a Kiefer Sutherland's 24-like twist, his daughter Sarah ends up becoming a pawn to use against him.

The biggest appeal of this novel is the fact it gets into the head of Sam Fisher, a character who is too often ignored in the games in order to focus on gameplay. Raymond Benson creates an image of a reserved taciturn man who has been isolated by his job but loves what little time he gets to spend with his family. Unlike James Bond, Sam is forced to be near-celibate because his job means he can never allow anyone to get too close without endangering them or the secrecy of his work.

While threatening Sam's daughter Sarah is a somewhat easy way to create drama, it works well here as we get to know her before it happens as well as suffer through her ordeal. It's her plot rather than something which is designed to give Sam motivation to rescue her. The fact Raymond Benson was able to craft so realistic a character is something which makes the scenes where she is imprisoned and tortured all the more moving.

The villains are nothing to write home about, with Arabic terrorists and renegade Russians being played out by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Even so, Benson adds his own twists to the formulaic foes by having the leader of the Shadows more interested in his vendetta against Iraq than fighting America. The Russians are also businessman first and foremost, uninterested in the specter of a fallen Soviet Union. I found the would-be honeypot Eli to be the most interesting of them as he finds himself less than happy with the fact he's led his fake girlfriend to her (apparent) doom.

In a very real way, this book reads like Tom Clancy-lite, with realism juxtaposed against dangerous spy adventures. It's a fun little popcorn thriller and one I recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy reading about a semi-realistic spy against only slightly exaggerated terrorists. Certainly, I'm going to read the rest of the series.

9/10

I was recommended this book by my grandfather. To be honest, I probably would not have read it otherwise. It is based on a videogame, which initially made me a bit skeptical. However, as I started reading, I was pleasantly surprised. The story is engaging and full of action. It takes the elements from the videogame and expands on them in a way that makes it come alive on the page. The characters are well-developed and their adventures are exciting. I found myself getting completely immersed in the world that the author has created. Even though I was not a huge fan of the videogame, this book has definitely changed my perspective. It shows that a good story can be told in any medium, and I am glad that my grandfather recommended it to me.