This review just doesn’t feel right without 24′s patented digital “tick tock tick tock” sound, so please replicate it to the best of your ability now.
Okay, with that out of the way, 24 DECLASSIFIED: OPERATION HELL GATE by Marc Cerasini is the first of a series of original novels based on Kiefer Sutherland’s hit (and kick-ass) TV series. As the “DECLASSIFIED” tag suggests, these cases are prequels to the series’ first season – all pre-9/11 – so the authors don’t have to worry about mucking up the continuity.
In keeping with 24′s real-time format, OPERATION HELL GATE takes place within the span of a day. Also in true 24 fashion, the plot is complex and ripe with numerous characters, none of whom you should get too attached to. Without giving away any of the twists or turns, balls-out Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer leads the charge against a terrorist threat targeting several aircraft across the country simultaneously. This plot involves moles, gang members, viruses, silver attaché cases (never a good sign), guns, knives and things that go boom in a big way.
One could argue that since the novel takes place before the TV show, you know things are going to end up happy for Bauer & Co. To an extent, that’s true, but the fun here is not the finish, but the race itself. With constant conflict on every page, Cerasini’s narrative does not let up. Nor does it break new ground (sample dialogue: “And they just might pull it off!”), but as a paperback thriller, it’s more than serviceable, with Cerasini (author of the well-received ALIEN VS. PREDATOR novelization) quite adept at shuffling the many characters around with the skill of a medium-level chess player.
Despite an epilogue that rings false, 24 fans will find much to enjoy in OPERATION HELL GATE. If the books to come are on the same level as this, the series should prove to be quite promising.
Related posts:
- TV’s 24 hits the books
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Star Wars: The New Jedi Order – Vector Prime
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