24 Declassified: Chaos Theory

by John Whitman

Book Overview

A brilliant madman dedicated to anarchy has dark plans for the U.S. In twenty-four hours, America will be plunged into chaos--the result of an unthinkable assassination to be carried out flawlessly--and the government has no inkling of the catastrophe that is about to occur. Only one man can prevent the nightmare: disgraced rogue CTU operative Jack Bauer. But Bauer's been cut loose, is wanted for murder, and is running from the police, who have orders...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060842296
• ISBN13: 9780060842291
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Jack Bauer: Wild Card

I'm a big fan of Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer character on the television show 24. I like the way Bauer is driven to get the job done no matter what, no matter who gets hurt. It sets him up as great flawed hero among his family and peers, but all of us who love the character know the price he's paying to stop the bad guys. I also have to admit that I can't stand waiting from week to week for episodes of the new season. I have to make a deal with myself. I don't watch the first-run showing of the seasons. After they're finished, I wait until the DVD sets come out and buy those. I watch those straight through, more or less. It's easier on me than having to wait every week. I know there are some people who enjoy getting together to watch the episodes and then rehashing the twists and turns of the plot as well as making predictions about what's going to happen. I tried that it first, and it drove me crazy. When I first found out Harper Collins paperbacks was going to be releasing new books set in the series, I was excited and dismayed at the same time. I was glad to get the extra Bauer adventures, but I didn't know how the books were going to pull off the immediacy of the television episodes. Nor did I want anyone to try to sandwich books between the ongoing series seasons. Bauer's life changes from season to season and I prefer that that be shown within the television world. Fortunately, with the tight driving plot lines of the series, publishers weren't willing to risk trying to elaborate on stories set between the seasons. They elected to go back to earlier in Jack's career and call the series 24 Declassified. This way we get to see the first season CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) team in action all over again. From time to time, though, a few mishaps with canon will occur, or the characterization will not quite seem right. One of the biggest problems in the book series is the fact that all of the television fans who read them know what Nina is really like. We know that she was not a good person, yet the authors of these books have to portray her as decent and professional. But no attempt can be made to evoke a lot of sympathy for character because we won't buy it. John Whitman and Marc Cerasini together have written six books in the 24 Declassified novel series so far. CHAOS THEORY is the latest in the successful run. The book opens with Bauer interrupting a poker game and shooting one of the man dead. This prologue is set a few weeks prior to the opening hour of the next 24-hour run. It sets the plot into motion and raises questions. Two pages later, we learn that Bauer is in prison awaiting trial for murder of a man he shot in the prologue. Questions arise immediately, but they take back seat to the action that begins with a bang. Within minutes, Bauer is attacked by an Hispanic street gang in the shower. He has no idea why he's been targeted, but he knows something has gone drastically wrong. It isn't long before the reader understan

By far the best 24 Declassified novel!

I have read all of the novels in the 24 Declassified series. Most of the time they are okay. Their not great but they are entertaining for a 24 fan. But Vanishing Point is more than just okay. It is a fantastic read. A combination of intense action and smart writing make this book stand out from the others in the series. I highly recommend this novel for ALL "24" fans!

24 Chaos Theory Book

I loved the book. It is almost as good as the show. My need for 24 is somewhat satisfied between the long season breaks!

The All-New Jack Bauer Power Hour

Don't let the cover to this book scare you. Not the front cover, not the back cover. This book is much better than the covers would suggest! The front photo shows an anguished-looking Kiefer Sutherland crouching on a dirt road, hand-brushing his hair against his reflection in a puddle of mud. What's up with that? You can imagine how the photo shoot must have gone. "Excuse me, Mr. Sutherland, but we need you to pout some more. Make sure you push the bangs into your eyes. Also, could you dangle the gun directly in front of your groin so it looks as if it were your, um, you-know? Thanks, darling." As for the back cover, it's a photo of the Season 5 cast. This novel is set before Season 1. There are nine cast members on the back cover and yet you're only going to read about Tony and Jack in this book. Who picked that photo. To be fair, Season 5 bad-guy Christopher Henderson features heavily in this book (set before he left CTU), but he's not in that cast photo. The book itself is a fun, fast read. The author has a nifty character in mind: a gangbanger turned computer whiz turned anarchist. In the best "24" tradition, our bad guy has about eleven different plots going on at once. Even if Jack corners him in the middle of one disaster, he can escape on a vehicle he's stored just for that exact contingency, and then pick up a rocket launcher he stored somewhere else for another contingency, all in ten minutes. The bad guy's very much in keeping with the "24" TV tradition. CTU is well used in the book as always, although it's alarming to realize that every staffer in this book, with the exception, has already been killed on the TV show. The author performs less psychoanalysis of Jack than he did in his earlier book I read ("Veto Power"), although he ends with a shockingly cold-blooded act that definitely warranted an epilogue. Finally, I know the book editors are probably very limited in terms of what they can do with TV characters -- these books are written for a flat fee and the author doesn't get copyright, so I can imagine how little room there is for embellishment -- but you can't keep writing Nina into your books as a good guy without explaining more about her past and just how she came to be the way she was in "24" Seasons 2 and 3. More, please.

Best 24 novel ever !!

still the best 24 novel ,, waiting for new comming novels :)