audiobook Fundiccedil;atilde;o Artiacute;stica (Portuguese Edition) by SENAI-SP in Arts-Photography

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The kidnapping of a diplomats wife leads Castillo to the Oil For Food scandalBy Dan BergerIrsquo;ve read various books in Griffinrsquo;s ldquo;Presidential Agentrdquo; series; but Irsquo;ve read them out of order. I wish Irsquo;d read this one in its proper place; number two; because it explains how Charley Castillo goes from his first-book exploit recovering a stolen 727 from terrorists; to becoming head of a secret team; how he assembles it; and the back stories of many of the characters. A lot of that wasnrsquo;t apparent to me earlier.It also has tremendous background on the Oil-For-Food scandal. With Iraqi oil embargoed in the 1990s; Saddam Hussein was allowed to use some oil to barter for food and medicine in a UN program. The program instead became massively corrupt; as Hussein used oil to buy friends at the UN by making them rich; with UN officials themselves heavily implicated in it. They took bribes to look the other way as huge amounts of oil were smuggled illegally out of the country.Back to this book: When the wife of the number two American diplomat in Buenos Aires is kidnapped; there are no leads. Fearing slow movement and ass-covering by the bureaucracies involves; the president asks Castillo; still a Special Forces major but now also a deputy to the secretary of Homeland Security; to go there and take charge of the investigation. Castillo; with little background in this type of investigation; is sent into the situation over the heads of nearly everyone ndash; the US ambassador; the Argentine security forces; the FBI and CIA ndash; and where they are now potential enemies who may block his work. He must make them his allies; while trying to make sense of a baffling situation and forestalling ndash; unsuccessfully ndash; subsequent attacks. His charm; savvy and ability to think on his feet ndash; plus his independent wealth; multiple identities and languages; and the many organizational hats he wears (hersquo;s quickly sworn in as a Secret Service agent) ndash; allow him to make his way.The situation worsens when the diplomat himself is killed trying to ransom his wife.Is it terrorism? Kidnapping for ransom? Or neither? The wifersquo;s brother; though; is a UN official who has just gone missing. Uruguay is a world capital of money laundering. And the South American cone is a great place to hide.Castillo starts to assemble his team of colorful; talented operators who need a place to land.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. WEB Griffin gets it done!By R. B. EmersonWEB Griffin is justifiably the best writer of military novels. Unlike Clancy; he doesnt rely on reciting the details of various weapons systems; what matters most are the personalities. His characters are human; not perfect warriors or totally evil bureaucrats. What I think is the most unexpected facet of Griffins work is the humor in his writing. My only significant complaint is his use of German. Although Griffin studied in Marburg; Germany; his understanding of German customs and; occasionally; language is ...um... lacking. Im fluent in German and spend time there annually; the errors are distracting; to be kind. Its a relatively point issue; however; which wont bother non-German speakers. All of that said; I can readily recommend this book and Griffins Presidential Agent series; and Griffins writing in general.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. this is an exciting book with a well crafted plot and great characters. Neither the author nor his protagonists "suffer ...By CustomerGriffen indulges in an overly detailed narrative that makes you suspect hes padding to boost the book cost. Once you wade through that; this is an exciting book with a well crafted plot and great characters. Neither the author nor his protagonists "suffer fools gladly" and his put downs of self important players are wonderful; are the dialogues.