Rating: 
Summary: I've heard of literary license...
Review: ...but this was kind of off-putting. Full disclosure: I have read every single WEB Griffin book available (Brotherhood, Corps, BoH, etc.) and as a rule love each and every one of them. But the singular sensation of having a storyline that for all the previous books was so obviously early 1970's ripped into the present day wasn't a very satisfying one. Part of the thrill of reading the early BoH novels was seeing the characters deal with the 'limited technology' available in 1975. People actually could drop off of the face of the earth for a day if they weren't near a phone - now Griffin has to invent weak explainers as to why the persons cell phone didn't get answered. For someone who picks this up at the airport bookstore it's going to be a great read but for those of us who have followed the careers of Matt Payne and Peter Wohl through the series it's disconcerting at best. Cheers!
Rating:
Summary: I've heard of literary license...
Review: ...but this was kind of off-putting. Full disclosure: I have read every single WEB Griffin book available (Brotherhood, Corps, BoH, etc.) and as a rule love each and every one of them. But the singular sensation of having a storyline that for all the previous books was so obviously early 1970's ripped into the present day wasn't a very satisfying one. Part of the thrill of reading the early BoH novels was seeing the characters deal with the 'limited technology' available in 1975. People actually could drop off of the face of the earth for a day if they weren't near a phone - now Griffin has to invent weak explainers as to why the persons cell phone didn't get answered. For someone who picks this up at the airport bookstore it's going to be a great read but for those of us who have followed the careers of Matt Payne and Peter Wohl through the series it's disconcerting at best. Cheers!
Rating: 
Summary: Time-travelling cops
Review: As always, I enjoyed Mr. Griffin's work immensely, but he needs to get an editor who has read his other works (at least the ones in the same series) and will catch inconsistancies from one book to the next. In the Blood and Honor series for example the estancia Santa Catalina became Santo Catalina in the 3rd book- Saints' genders don't change in spanish. The most glaring anachronism orrurs in this novel, however. In the first book of the series the timeline is fixed by the heroine's 6yr old '67 Caddy - 1973, making Matt Payne about 2 years younger than me. In The Murderers, the timeline is again fixed by the interview of detective Milham occurring in 1975. With this novel, we are brought to the 21st century complete to laptops, cell phones and a Buick Rendezvous for Mickey, but amazingly Mickey is STILL in his late 30s and although I'm in my 50s, Matt is not, nor is Peter Wohl. I suppose it's hard to keep time lines straight when you're writing several series at the same time. A great read, but the time shift kept nagging as I read it making me wonder if my memory of the timeline in the rest of the series was off, so I went back and reread the others to be sure. An editor who was familiar with the rest of the series should've caught the wrinkle in the space-time continuum.
Rating:
Summary: Who took over the writing for Griffin?
Review: Consistency...Consistency...Consistency....thats one of the main things that makes the readers of a series keep coming back for more. The ability to "get to know" the characters and know they will be the same people, with the same frailties from book to book. And W.E.B. Griffin has always been wonderful at this aspect of series writing. Yet, he fails miserably in this, his latest book in the Badge of Honor Series. Everybody else has spoken of the timeline inconsistency and I have to ditto those thoughts. I found myself going crazy searching for such inconsistencies rather than truly enjoy the book and also wasn't quite fond of the sudden change in Mayor, D.A., and Police Commissioner with zero explanation. Furthermore, I found another inconsistency that disturbed me just as much, if not more. In all of the previous books, Matt Payne's denial from the Marines had been as a result of a "minor problem with his eye". Yet in describing it late in this book, he describes it as a problem with his ear. Very disturbing for a rabid fan. It was still a pleasure to read and likely would have been a 4 star book if I was not familiar with his previous works. But being an avid fan who has read all his works, I have to ask "Where have you gone Mr. Griffin and who is doing your writing now"?
Rating:
Summary: Who took over the writing for Griffin?
Review: Consistency...Consistency...Consistency....thats one of the main things that makes the readers of a series keep coming back for more. The ability to "get to know" the characters and know they will be the same people, with the same frailties from book to book. And W.E.B. Griffin has always been wonderful at this aspect of series writing. Yet, he fails miserably in this, his latest book in the Badge of Honor Series. Everybody else has spoken of the timeline inconsistency and I have to ditto those thoughts. I found myself going crazy searching for such inconsistencies rather than truly enjoy the book and also wasn't quite fond of the sudden change in Mayor, D.A., and Police Commissioner with zero explanation. Furthermore, I found another inconsistency that disturbed me just as much, if not more. In all of the previous books, Matt Payne's denial from the Marines had been as a result of a "minor problem with his eye". Yet in describing it late in this book, he describes it as a problem with his ear. Very disturbing for a rabid fan. It was still a pleasure to read and likely would have been a 4 star book if I was not familiar with his previous works. But being an avid fan who has read all his works, I have to ask "Where have you gone Mr. Griffin and who is doing your writing now"?
Rating:
Summary: Who took over the writing for Griffin?
Review: Consistency...Consistency...Consistency....thats one of the main things that makes the readers of a series keep coming back for more. The ability to "get to know" the characters and know they will be the same people, with the same frailties from book to book. And W.E.B. Griffin has always been wonderful at this aspect of series writing. Yet, he fails miserably in this, his latest book in the Badge of Honor Series. Everybody else has spoken of the timeline inconsistency and I have to ditto those thoughts. I found myself going crazy searching for such inconsistencies rather than truly enjoy the book and also wasn't quite fond of the sudden change in Mayor, D.A., and Police Commissioner with zero explanation. Furthermore, I found another inconsistency that disturbed me just as much, if not more. In all of the previous books, Matt Payne's denial from the Marines had been as a result of a "minor problem with his eye". Yet in describing it late in this book, he describes it as a problem with his ear. Very disturbing for a rabid fan. It was still a pleasure to read and likely would have been a 4 star book if I was not familiar with his previous works. But being an avid fan who has read all his works, I have to ask "Where have you gone Mr. Griffin and who is doing your writing now"?
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment plus (was it a ghost writer)
Review: I avidly await the publication of any new book in the Brotherhood, Corps and Badge series. But oh my, the let down. I feel as if Mr Griffin has treated me like a fool. The change in the time line of Final Justice was just too glaring, why was it done? My disappointment is overwhelming. In his Corp novels I could accept his misconceptions of Australia and our armed forces (we drink our beer cold unlike the English and our naval personnel do not salute with the palm outward but in a straight up and down style similar to your servicmen although our army salutes the way Mr Griffin describes) since they were by an American author
I digress. I felt as if a ghost writer had taken over for Mr Griffin as there were subtle changes to his style and language as well.
Please put the next book back into the original timeline and get rid of the technological wizardry.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment plus (was it a ghost writer)
Review: I expected a lot better here. The first novels in the series were set clearly in the early to mid 1970's. All of a sudden, Griffin shifts to the present, with the cell phones and laptops and the Buick whatever (???). With that glaring time shift, and nobody getting any older (i.e. Matt's still in his 20's), it made the plot and storyline fade into the background. I spent the whole time reading it looking for timeline inconsistencies. I'd really like to know who actually wrote this one, because it wasn't up there with the rest of Griffin's works and didn't read like his other novels.
Rating:
Summary: Let's have a little consistency here.....
Review: I expected a lot better here. The first novels in the series were set clearly in the early to mid 1970's. All of a sudden, Griffin shifts to the present, with the cell phones and laptops and the Buick whatever (???). With that glaring time shift, and nobody getting any older (i.e. Matt's still in his 20's), it made the plot and storyline fade into the background. I spent the whole time reading it looking for timeline inconsistencies. I'd really like to know who actually wrote this one, because it wasn't up there with the rest of Griffin's works and didn't read like his other novels.
Rating:
Summary: Needs better editing
Review: I love this genre, especially since I work in law enforcement. I am always looking for a new writer and series, because I read all the other ones so quickly that I am constantly out of books. But this one didn't cut it. If you're a fan of this series and this writer, you'll probably like it, because the story does have some exciting direction. But I couldn't even finish the damn thing because I got so angry at aspects of the writing. For example:
--- "Or to dinner with my Martha?" Captain Pekach said.
--- Martha was Mrs. Pekach. We do NOT need that explained to us. In the words of William Shakespeare: DUH! Of course Martha is his wife. That's whe he calls her MY Martha. It is irritating to have the author spell out for the reader something so incredibly obvious. And there are endless, tiresome explanations and descriptions of characters and events that have no real place in the story beyond the description. Finally - holy crap this is a long book for such a lean story. Write the same book in 2/3 of the space and it will be better. Guaranteed. I got bored. The story is cool, and the author's knowlege of police procedures, operations, etc., is very impressive. But the writing is just . . . unpolished. Third-grade readers need everything spelled out for them in great detail. Adults do not, and it bores and irritates us when the obvious is stated over and over. Griffin's editor needs to edit for style and give him some useful pointers on how to make the writing better and more concise.
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