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Old 08-13-2014, 10:00 PM
OLDNAVYMCPO OLDNAVYMCPO is offline
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I know from many of the posts on this forum, many of you are military or history buffs, or are vets. How many of you have read W.E.B. Griffin. He has written a number of series, one on the Marines in WWII and Korea , one on the Army from the end of WWII until after Viet Nam, one on the OSS, a cop series and others. The one on the Marines has a main character, Ken Mc Coy, nicknamed Killer. I've read all Griffin's books, but the Marine series is my personal favorite, I bet I've read it five times in the last twenty years. If you are looking for a really good read, check him out.
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Old 08-13-2014, 10:25 PM
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I am a fan. I have read the Army series, the Philly Police series and several of the OSS series. I need to finish up the OSS series. I have yet to read the Marine series, but based on your recommendation I will get started. They are good reads.
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Old 08-13-2014, 11:24 PM
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I got real tired of W.E.B.G's writing style. No matter which series the plot always involves a rich, smart talking, good looking guy who excels in his pursuit of honor and justice when everyone else around him is dithering away their efforts. I found that there was a limit to how much smart a** dialog I could stand in any one book. I quit reading W.E.B sometime back. ............. Big Cholla
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Old 08-13-2014, 11:28 PM
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I've read most all of them, and my biggest complaint is that Griffin has continuity issues; something about which I am borderline OCD. Characters change initials, physical descriptions or speech patterns from one book to the next. There's a point about 8-9 books in to the Philly Police series where the entire time-frame of the saga is changed from the early seventies to the present day, as though it had been that way all along, with the characters being the same age as they were in the previous novel.

I will also say the the books that list his son as co-author are, in my opinion, of lesser quality writing.
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Old 08-14-2014, 12:02 AM
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I/ve been reading WEB Griffen's books for years. The Marine series is the best then they deteriorate from there on. His son is writing them now but not in the same league as his father.
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Old 08-14-2014, 07:29 AM
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I've read Griffins Army and Marine series. I was never really interested in the OSS/Cop ones for some reason.

I call them "Gothic Romances for men."
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Old 08-14-2014, 11:23 AM
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I think his best work was the original Brotherhood of War series. The continuity between the books was there, although the repetitions became too often. You could almost pick up any book and read it as a separate "historical" novel due to the flashbacks. Also, this series ended with an epilogue.
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Old 08-14-2014, 12:03 PM
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I'm an avid (i.e. obsessed) with audio books. I have Sirius and rarely listen. Most of the time I listen to a book

I've read (heard) all of Griffin's books so far and am struggling with his latest Philly book. I am considering simply dropping the MP3 in the trash next time I fill up with gas. It is just too hard to care about the characters.

I did enjoy the Army and Marine series (and don't see why he dropped the Marine one like he did) but the rest have not been nearly as good.

Bob
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Old 08-14-2014, 12:20 PM
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My favorites are the Honor Bound series and The Corps series. I also like the Brotherhood books.

The main attraction to me is the fact that Griffin usually writes about historical events that are a whole lot less well known to a casual history buff. For instance, the books in the Army series that deal with Che, and the Belgian Congo Crisis, or the Special Forces involvement during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wonder how much of the stuff he writes is actually true, and how much embellishment he added to some of the stories. Not a criticism, just wondering.

The story of the OSS involvement in Argentina is fascinating to me.

I think what happens is that Griffin and Son start trying to stretch a story out to get a few more books.

As you can tell, I am a great fan, or used to be. I always characterized his books as about 70% soap opera and about 30% action and at least semi-factual historical reconstruction.

That dependance on rich characters has stood many authors in good stead over the years. There was a guy who wrote some good novels in the 60s and 70s whose characters were always rich people. His name escapes me right now.
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Old 08-14-2014, 03:59 PM
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I kinda like All of his books! Consider them to be Entertainment and loosely based historical writings.
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Old 08-14-2014, 05:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kalei View Post
I kinda like All of his books! Consider them to be Entertainment and loosely based historical writings.
That's about the way I see it. I think he has a fairly good take on what the military is or was like, even if he gets a few technical things wrong. [His message format is ridiculous! Also, he put a Chief's Special in WWII, which is a few years off. Not as bad as the .41 Mag Model 29 in Philly, though.]
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