I ended up liking the book, but I can't bump it up to 4 stars because, in the beginning, Sam just felt a bit out of character. Also, some of the earlier info dumps were far more tedious than they could have been. It certainly picked up, though, and the book hit its stride at about the 1/3 mark. Once it did, any awkwardness receded and it just took off. ( )

This seemed like it would be a nice adventure book, but the long descriptions get a bit boring after a while. And I could see the plot about Sam Fisher's daughter and her boyfriend pretty much a mile away, as the old cliche goes. And once I figured that out, the rest of the book did not seem as interesting. Overall, kind of a "blah" book. And based on this one, I am not likely to seek out the rest of the series. ( )

I ended up liking the book, but I can't bump it up to 4 stars because, in the beginning, Sam just felt a bit out of character. Also, some of the earlier info dumps were far more tedious than they could have been. It certainly picked up, though, and the book hit its stride at about the 1/3 mark. Once it did, any awkwardness receded and it just took off. ( )

Yuck. One of my earmarks for a crappy book is when they spend a lot of time listing the exact model & characteristics of every weapon a person carries. If you like the 'Death Land' series by Axler or the 'Executioner', you may like this. Not my cup of tea. ( )

Freedom has a cost.
One man pays the price.
In response to the growing use of sophisticated digital encryption to conceal potential threats to the United States, the National Security Agency has ushered forth the new dawn of intelligence-gathering techniques. The top-secret initiative is dubbed Third Echelon.
Its existence denied by the U.S government, Third Echelon deploys a lone field operative. He is sharp, invisible, and deadly. And he has the right to spy, steal, destroy and assassinate to protect American freedoms.
His name is Sam Fisher.
He is a Splinter Cell.