W. E. B. Griffin The Devil's Weapons

Men at War #8

by Peter Kirsanow

"Dick Canidy and the agents of the OSS scour war torn Poland looking for a rocket scientist who holds the secrets to the Nazis most dangerous weapon in this new entry in W.E.B. Griffin's New York Times bestselling Men at War series"--

Genres: Thriller, Historical Fiction, Military Fiction, Suspense, Fiction, World War II, Mystery Thriller

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2022

About the author

Peter Kirsanow practices and teaches law and is an official of a federal agency. He is a former member of the National Labor Relations Board and has testified before Congress on a variety of matters, including the confirmations of five Supreme Court Justices. He contributes regularly to National Review, and his op-eds have appeared in newspapers ranging from The Wall Street Journal to The Washington Times. The author of Target Omega, he lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Reviews

[Jeremy Peers · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Devil's Weapons by Peter Kirsanow is a continuation of W.E.B. Griffin's Men at War series featuring members of the OSS during World War II. Dick Canidy and other agents of the OSS are charged with the impossible; getting a scientist out of occupied Poland. The rocket scientist is the brains behind a German weapon that has the ability to change the world. Only probably is the Russians want him also and Germany will do anything to prevent him from escaping. The fate of the world is literally in this scientist's head and its up to Dick Canidy and his team to save the world from the Nazi domination.

This was my first time in Griffin's Men at War series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I requested The Devil's Weapons solely based on Peter Kirsanow and his previous works. Not knowing anything of the characters or series, it didn't take long until I was pulled in and immersed into World War II. My only gripe deals with the timeline throughout the book. At certain points the timeline seemed out of whack like a chapter was out of place. Or I could just not be smart enough to follow along. Either way, it wasn't detrimental to the story and easily to get back on track.

Whether you are a fan of Griffin's Men at War series or a newb like me, there is plenty to love in The Devil's Weapons.

My sincere thanks to Peter Kirsanow, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Devil's Weapons.

Edit-- I've been told the characters are different than previous books so what do I know.

[Abibliofob · Rating 3 out of 5]

W.E.B. Griffin is one of my all time favorite authors and I was pleasantly surprised when the news came that his Men at War series should continue with Peter Kirsanow as author. The Devil's Weapon is that book. It will be the 8th in the series. Sadly apart from a few names it has nothing to do with the original and I am sad to say it would have been better left undone. Everything that Dick Canidy and Eric Fulmar, two of the main characters has done in the previous seven books is gone. I mean where is Whitby house? Where is his merry band of outlaws and his disregard for authority? I also miss the attention to detail and planning of missions. The book in itself is a good WW2 adventure and very well written but I'm sad to say it has nothing to do with the creations of Griffin. I know it's a new author but others who has been tasked with continuing a series has done a great job and this is not it. Still I would like to thank G.P. Putnam's Sons, Penguin Random House and Edelweiss for giving me this advance copy.

[Cynthia Catts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loved W.E.B. Griffin's old series. But once he started writing, first with his son, and then with Mr. Kirsanow, the quality went WAY down. This book included characters from prior Men At War books - Canaday & Fulmer - but clearly, the co-author needed to have read the earlier books featuring them, and didn't.

I struggled to read this - and finally gave up and skimmed through the majority of the book. Only to find...a cliff-hanger. I hate that and am not interested enough in the mystery to bother reading the sequel.

Stick with the old favorites by Griffin - especially The Brotherhood of War (the first and best series by him) and The Corps.

[Jonathan McKay · Rating 1 out of 5]

We waited a year for this?

Absolute tosh. Men at war was always the weakest of the WEB Griffin series, but this utterly unrealistic plot is more like a Hollywood mega shoot up extravaganza. Okay it is well written but I despair if this is the legacy of an author who wrote some of the best books I have enjoyed.

[Beryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

WEB Griffin's successors are not close his standards. The style, the history, and the prose is just not the same. I guess I'll keep reading but I miss the original. I always wished he had continued the Corps series another few books, although Presidential Agent now has McCoy's grandson as the featured character.

[Jeff Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor attempt at a reboot. Not Griffin!

I really wanted to like this book, but the further I got into it the further it diverged from Griffin standards. Nothing remotely authentic about it. This book is all talk and action. Zero character development. Might as well have created new a totally new series. The Dick Canidy and Eric Fulmar were as blatantly ripped off as is was putting WEB Griffin on the cover page. No background. No long drawn out plot lines. No sense of author’s historical insight or accuracy. This book is just poolside trash.

[Ron Baumer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced and action packed novel. A good story. However, you can tell that this is not the original author of the series. There are a few mistakes with the characters and matching of dates and relationships related to the rest of the series. The ending was abrupt and left the reader confused. Overall a good read, but not as good as the original series.

Thank you to #NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Jeff Guillory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Griffin's book. This is actually by a new author. Story was good, but characters not true to Griffin's, and the ending sucked. Left us hanging...

[Brentman99 · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Putnam book only had 468 pages.

This book was a bit of a disappointment. I know, it's Peter Kirsanow trying to keep the series alive. However, the timeline off from the first seven books, the voices are off for well-established characters, and many other things. The characters are from previous books in name only and nothing in their personalities and how they would likely act.

One thing that really through me off, which maybe it's on me for missing it was the Russian assassin killing someone who was after him. This person dips in and out of the story a few times, then there's nothing on how he was eliminated.

Finally, I found the SS Standartenfuhrer character very cookie cutter with terrible dialogue in the final section. It was almost like a James Bond movie where the smug bad guy walks through how much smarter he is, then gets killed. That was a bit much.

I loved the previous books, but this one missed the mark. The plot wasn't bad and the action was okay, but nowhere near as good as the previous books. The characters really let me know from what I had come to expect from previous Men At War novels. I would have given this 1.5 stars, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. It was an okay read.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, you expect, in today's world of "streaming entertainment," to have stories ended at critical points in the plot, but I didn't expect it to happen with W.E.B. Griffine legacy author. Peter Kirsanow...I hate it when that happens in a book series...In the 8th addition to Griffin's "Men at War" series, we have the OSS's Dick Canidy and Eric Fulmer behind enemy lines seeking to grab an important scientist/mathematician for the Allied cause...Decent, exiciting page-turner, except for the need for a sequel!

[Pc MacDonald · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing here is extraordinarily glib and the story poorly constructed.

People don't suffer severe limb wounds on one mission and get sent back in as a spy on another???? That stuff just did not happen. That was bad enough.

The very thought that an OSS/SAS crew would fail in one mission and be sent back for a more dangerous (and laughable) mission just begs credibility. Do you really think they would send non-German speakers into the heart of Berlin to steal Canaris' secrets?

Oh, and the author spells possessives such as "Canaris' " as "Canaris's " What the what is that construct??? Does not the dude have a Spell Czecker? Is his first language English? Does he have English language grammar references at hand? How did this nonsense get past his (so called) editor???? I mean, seriously? This grammar leaves me wanting. The dude is a so-called writer, and grammar is an important tool in his box of tools.

And a Polish mathematician who is both a genius in rocket science and nuclear fission at the same time? This is just so far out as to be laughable... this has never happened in the History of Man.

I will surely not be reading _anything_ by Kirsanow again.

I am half way thru this book and am about to put it down, as in, shoot the horse.

[John McNair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Time was - about 40 years ago - I really enjoyed WEB Griffin's "Brotherhood of War" series. Read it three times over the years. And from that I read every other book in every other series. The Marine Corps series was quite good, all the others less so. So, WEB Griffin - William E. Butterworth - has passed in 2019 and now others have taken up the cause, as it were, and use his name to pump out new books (shades of Clancy, no?). Well, if this is the result, it isn't working. First, the title. I suspect there are conventions around titling a novel, but i assure you this title does not fit this story at all.
Next, there were so many holes in this plot, and so many implausible circumstances, and so little attention to detail (except for the nomenclature of obscure weapons and vehicles and the descriptions of gory melée combat) that it was actually annoying to read this drivil, and recall the captivating stories that used to be. I couldn't wait to finish it! So, I'm done with these new Griffins. There are a couple of others in a few of the series but I suspect they, too, will suck as this book did. Not at all recommended.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast paced historical thriller with good guys and lots of bad guys all chasing a man whose brain is the prize. Dr. Sebastian Kapsky was spared by Beria when thousands of Polish patriots were slaughtered in the Katyn Forest because he's the one who has the ability to create an impossible to imagine weapon and rocketry to match. Now, he's on the run and OSS officer Dick Canidy is trying to find him before the Germans or the Russians. There's a considerable amount of derring do here as Canidy teams up with British Sargeant Conor McDermott and US Army Lt. Eric Fulmar as well as the Polish resistance (including a determined young woman). Know that there are a few gruesome deaths (as can be expected) and a twist or two. Who to trust? No spoilers from me. I'd not read Griffin before (not my usual genre) but Kiransow pulled me in and kept me turning the pages. Thanks to edelweiss for the ARC. Would make a good travel read.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

New writers keep stories alive

Since WEB Griffin passed away, the new writers are trying to keep many of his series and stories alive. While it may take longer for books to be released, the stories still follow his style and method of writing. Lots of details and basic backgrounds to get story started, lots of meat and action in the middle and a rush to finish the book. However, there is no going back and giving the life history of the two main characters, and repeating the story over and over in this book. This is an exciting book, talks about WW2, and the beginning of the OSS, a sample mission. I enjoyed the book. Looking forward to the next one. Very hard to put down.

[Richard Billings · Rating 1 out of 5]

Putting WEB Griffin’s name on this book is an insult to his memory. The story gets absurd when they decide to take only their side arms into occupied Poland and leave the rest of their weapons on the boat, then when they are ambushed one of the members gets wounded and falls down but managed to hang on to his enfield which was left in the boat (the enfield is a rifle not a sidearm). On their next mission they return to Poland and at one point a member of the polish underground is approached by a stranger seeking assistance to reach the coast. She ignores him but reports the contact to her superior who tells her the contact is inconsequential. The dialog gets more ridiculous with every turn of the page. It is quite obvious the author knows nothing about things he’s writing about

[Mike Harnish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved W.E.B.Griffin's books and I looked forward to a continuation of some of his works. At first I was a little disappointed, as I was expecting a continuation to where Griffin left off prior to his death. This work has his hero on a completely different mission at a different place in his timeline. While I appreciate that this author was writing of the same character, and he did not want to exactly copy the late author, I felt a little disappointed. But after reading some more, I came to enjoy the book. It wasn't Griffin, but it was Kirsanow and it was a good book, but I still looking forward to the end of the series where Griffin left off because he left some questions unanswered and that prevented me from enjoying this work as much I should have.

[Scott LeDuc · Rating 1 out of 5]

TERRIBLE!!! WEB Griffin book

I have read dozens of WEB Griffin books over the years and have liked them all…until now.

The attention to detail Griffin included in his books, the depth of the plots, the characters and small details made all of his books sooo readable.

This book contained NONE of those nuances. The dialogue was weak, and to make matters worse, repeated again, and ago, and again! The plot twists were laughable, even thought the overall plot was ok.

Don’t read this book! Go look for another of Griffin’s series and start there. I promise they are way better than this book.

[Jim Brosche · Rating 1 out of 5]

W.E.B Griffin was a great writer and storyteller. Those chosen to carry on his legacy in both the Men at War and Presidential Agent series are not up to the task and appear never to have read the previous books in the series.

In the Devil’s Weapons, the author makes no effort at continuity with the series that we’ve come to love. He can’t even get basic timelines correct. He seems to have understanding of WWII events and/or when they happened. While using three characters from the series - Canidy, Fulmar and Donovan - he changes virtually everything about them. Frankly, Griffin wrote books that I could re-read and enjoy…this one was trash that I couldn’t even finish.

[Bill Linton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of the Griffin series. Even when his son took over, the stories were really good even though Butterworth was prone to overusing trite expressions.

Kirsanow has a really good writing style, more akin to Griffin than Butterworth. This story was good although it left the reader hanging, waiting for the next book. The older works never did this. Also, and I know this is fiction, there are unbelievable and implausible plot twist that have not existed in the previous body of Griffin’s work.

Still, it’s a fun read. I listened to this on Audible and the narrator was so slow in real time that that I sped it up 30% so it didn’t drag.

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

terrible continuation-do not buy

Author has obviously never read the previous books. Timeline is completely wrong with characters established in different locations in previous books, meetings occurring way earlier than established. Characterizations are wrong, ie Fulmar said to speak bad German when he’s fluent, Canidy still a playboy when he’s in a relationship. Both characters depicted as idiots. Just a terribly written book with the author knowing absolutely nothing about the series. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

[Bill Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this volume of the “Men at War” series is well written and enjoyable, I am very sick of “new” authors taking over established series after the retirement and/or death of the original author. Peter Kirsanow tries hard to emulate W.E.B. Griffin, but he’s not the same. Why is the agent, publisher and estate all trying to milk the remains of someone who died FIVE years ago? And what exactly happened to W.E. Butterworth IV? He cooperated with his father on at least 20 different novels yet disappeared after his father’s death. Having Four continue the work might have been smarter!

[Christopher S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely disappointed. A poor attempt at Griffin's style of writing. The author is attempting to turn the main plot of the series from one of a member of an organization, with multiple assets to that of an American James Bond. There is nothing of the personal lives of the characters like in the other books. Where is Ann Chambers, Ed Bitter, Stanley Fine, etc. The time line didn't feel correct either. At times I can't tell if this was meant to be a "prequel" of sorts or not. Became repetitive and predictable.

[Steve Leitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of W.E.B. Griffin, but I frankly don’t think much of Peter Kiranow’s attempt to continue this storyline.

Among other things, Griffin never stuck his readers with a cliffhanger ending to a book, even though most of his series had overarching storylines which carried on over several books.

I am going to have to give some thought to whether or not I will purchase any next volume.

[Greer Andjanetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good adventure/espionage story set in WW II about an American team's attempt to rescue an important scientist out of Germany. This story could stand very well on it's own without the author having to steal another author's characters and use his name in promoting the book. A lower rating was given because of this practice, something that appears to be happening more and more often. Bad show!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read WEB Griffin was always my dirty little secret, like my wife's reading Harlequins. I really enjoyed the books, but they were not deeply intellectually stirring. When WEB died I was afraid that his stories and his characters were going to die with him, but Peter Kiasanow has taken over. The plots, the characters have not suffered, and while this may be heretical, I thought the writing was tighter and more interesting.

[Mark Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun book but poorly written. The search for an important mathematician and physicist was mostly unbelievable. As a physicist, I know that it's not possible for one person to have knowledge that others do not, and st the same time leave a notebook of equations that other physicists cannot understand.

There was lots of repetition that became tedious, but as I listened to it on CD in my car during my commute, it's not hard to keep listening.

[Diane Saul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set in Poland during WWII. Everyone is looking for a scientist with a possible world changing invention. Plenty of action and danger with a realistic portrayal of what people went thru during the war. The book is part of a series but could be read as a stand alone. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

[Patrick E Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

not good

Not a good result for a well liked series. If this book wasn’t affiliated with WEB Griffin it would of been a solid read worth a recommendation. Unfortunately the reader has 7 books of background with established relationships none of that was present. I am sure author understood the choice he made to tell an original story I applaud the effort but missed the mark in my humble opinion.

[Sean Phillips · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is really not worthy of the Griffin brand. It is poorly written with repetitious use of the same plays on words. The plot develops very slowly with no obvious direction, but then suddenly ends in a great climax that is barely even described. Basically the heroes suddenly won, the end. Not worth reading.

[Mark Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story but......

I really enjoy this series. This book kept you on edge at each turn. Then as you started to relax. Bam another twist. Please tell me the next in the series is coming out soon?????