Simply awful

Would you try another book from W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth and/or Alexander Cendese?

I don't think so

What didn’t you like about Alexander Cendese’s performance?

Everything. Terrible narration.

Any additional comments?

I love WEB Griffin books. I hated this one. The story was poor and the narration was simply awful. It was hours and hours of listening to a story of what happened in prior books.

13 people found this helpful

cold war heros

This is book one of the Clandestine Operation Series. It appears Griffin is launching this series off the Argentine or Honor Bound Series. Griffin’s sketch of the immediate post-WWII bureaucratic territorial clashes has purpose; it’s an outline of how the demobilized OSS hot-war heroes become CIA cold warriors. The main Character is James D. Cronley Jr. In the book the lead characters have to fight the FBI, the Russians and other to get their job done. Cronley and his men are OSS waiting to be transferred to the newly created CIA. Captain Cronley is in charge of obtaining the German Spies that were in Russia away from being captured by the Russian KBG and turn them into working for the CIA.

General Reinhardt Gehian, Chief of Eastern Front intelligence was a Wehrmacht General, Gehian and his men started to work for the OSS near the end of the war. He later became Chief of West German Intelligence in the 1950s. This is what I like about W.E.B. Griffin books; he places his fictional people into the real history he is writing about.

Cronley has General Gehian and his men in an isolated Bavarian monastery while a new facility is being built for the CIA. The narrative’s ripe with meetings, confrontations, lies, subterfuge rather than fighting and gunplay, a change from the usual Griffin story. The dialogue is classic Griffin. The story is fast-paced, lots of interesting plot twists.

I did not particularly care for the narrator Alexander Cendese. He pronounced some of the Spanish words incorrectly. I am not as familiar with German to know how he did with those words. The majority of Griffins books have been narrated by three great narrators of action books, Scott Brick, Dick Hill and David Colacci. I hope the publisher will return to one of these narrators for future books in this series.

18 people found this helpful

Not up to the Hi STD set by the Honor Bound Series

What would have made Top Secret better?

More action would have made the Top Secret plot more interesting.

What could W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Repeating the the Honor Bound story line was boring, but typical of most of the W.E.B. Griffin books.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Disappointing compared to Dick Hill who performed the Honor Bound and Men at War series.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The book carries forward the Honor Bound story line, which I enjoyed.

Any additional comments?

The quality of Griffin's books have declined since W.E.B. IV began co-authoring the books. I suspect he writes most the recent W.E.B. Griffin books.

10 people found this helpful

Poor voice quality

What disappointed you about Top Secret?

Rating is for audio version only. Voice booms, voice characterization is weak, clarity is difficult to catch. Great story otherwise.

10 people found this helpful

Unable & or unwilling to listen

Any additional comments?

I have been an avid listener of most if not all of Griffin's series of books. Unfortunately, I am unwilling to listen past the 44 minute mark of this one due to the new narrator. I don't mean to be a hater, but the voices he does for various characters are really irritating. The voice for the young woman in the story is best described as "Valley Girl" speak.

Your mileage may vary.

13 people found this helpful

not up to its' predecessors

This is a sequel to the honor bound series. Unfortunately, there are too many inconsistencies to those who read / listened to the previous series. The narration is ok, but not up to the original. All in all, an ok listen, but a bit disappointing

3 people found this helpful

The narrator has obviously never been in the Army

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Nope. Pretty much saw everything coming down the pike...

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Anytime the characters interacted with one another it was like they were always yelling at each other. Normal everyday conversation doesn't have people speaking with constant intensity. Please...Go back to Scott Brick.

Any additional comments?

As with most Griffin books, the fact that he feels the need to recap what happened in every other book before in the series gets quite monotonous. I sear, it seems like a large part of it was dedicated to bringing evryone up to speed on what happened from the very beginning.

2 people found this helpful

Plot confusing and voices are distracting.

What disappointed you about Top Secret?

The story is hard to follow and the voices are too distracting.

What was most disappointing about W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth ’s story?

Can't follow the plot.

Would you be willing to try another one of Alexander Cendese’s performances?

No

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

Waste of money and time.

5 people found this helpful

Narrator Stinks !!!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. Should have just read the book !

If you’ve listened to books by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth before, how does this one compare?

okay

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator needs to find a different job !

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

The book is probably better than I gave it,I just can't get past the narrator !!!!! Need to go back with Dick Hill or Scott Brick !!!

7 people found this helpful

Rerun over a retread over a weak character

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A new story line, new characters, new writing.

What was most disappointing about W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth ’s story?

Some very large percentage of the book is re-hashing story lines and characters from previous books. Very little that could not have been read in < 50 pages. The amount of profanity is unnecessary and does not add "punch" to the dialog or toughen up the characters.

What aspect of Alexander Cendese’s performance would you have changed?

Given the material to work with, Cendese's performance was not to blame for the low rating.

Any additional comments?

After mailing in the last two books, I will be hard pressed to purchase any more WEB and son novels.

4 people found this helpful