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24: The Counter Terrorist Unit Handbook |
Author: Denise Kiernan
Published: 2007-11-01 |
List price: $24.95
Our price: $24.95
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As of: December 04th, 2008 03:26:17 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 85% of the way there
This is the book you want, if you are looking for a faux CTU handbook. For a glossy coffee table book, get 24: The Ultimate Guide. Also, this book would be a good source book if you are a gamer of the GURPS Basic Set: Characters, Fourth Edition or Hero System 5th Edition (revised).
There are some things I would have liked to have had added to the book. First, a complete copy of the CTU Charter. We only get a small crumb with 1.12, about removing an incompetent director from office. Then an organizational flow-chart would have been helpful--how the Tac Teams relate to the Chief Armorer, etc., would have been superb. And maps of the old and new CTU: LA buildings would have been a treat. There has to be a series bible out there--somewhere!--with this information.
In fact, that was what I was expecting--the series bible rewritten as a faux handbook. This book gets about 85% of the way there. Hence the lacking star with the review. But it has nice images inside.
When the series finally gets axed, I hope that FOX does a 2nd edition of this book, and includes these suggestions. Use Star Trek: Star Fleet Technical Manual, Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (Star Trek Next Generation (Unnumbered)), and Star Trek Mr. Scotts Guide to the Enterprise as guides.
 Happy
HI!...I bought this for my older Nephew... He loved it. My opinion...It was really nicely put together and made very well.
 Outrageous!
This is by far the worst 24 product I've ever seen. And I'm hard to disappoint! I read the review and was looking forward to get a cool, officially looking CTU manual with charts, sketches and diagrams and was ready to be drawn into the 24 atmosphere. I opened the nicely made slipcase and found ... a photo book, with stills from the show.
Can you believe this?? Oh the manual text is there, every second page a bit. (This is no joke: At least every second page is a full page picture)
This is by no means a manual of any kind. And it is not even close to "official". The pictures in the book are so ridiculous ... they do not illustrate anything, they weren't even shot exclusively for this book but directly taken from the show. If it were only pictures CTU might have had access to, one might have said: Ok they're using archive footage to illustrate their manual. But no, they often show angles and situations only the viewer of the show would have seen.
The atmosphere is completely ruined. There is no way I will read this book through. In fact I'm going to return it.
If you want something which tastes "official" I recommend
"24": The Official Investigation by Marc Cerasini
Great for 24 fans
I have to admit, I felt a little dorky buying this book. I'm not really the kind of person who buys companion books to TV shows or movies. And, I felt $16.47 plus shipping was a bit too much for what I would get. I love the show 24, though, and I heard positive things about this book, so I decided to buy it. Now, I feel it was well-worth the money and wish I ordered it sooner.
This handbook is literally a handbook. It was designed to seem as if it is actually used to train new CTU employees, and it looks like something you might see sitting on a desk somewhere at CTU.
The book begins with an introduction by none other than Jack Bauer. The introduction is so well-written I could easily envision Keifer Sutherland as Jack, reading it to me. The book covers a very broad range of topics such as what to expect if you work at CTU, what gear Field Agents should always have, surveillance techniques, how to go undercover, combat, interrogation, and how to handle a variety of disasters. While there is very little groundbreaking information (the phrase, "consult your director for more information" pops up too often), the handbook explains a myriad of interesting ideas I had never thought about before (such as what facilities are included in CTU: a firing range, a gym, medical, but definitely not child care and exactly what to do if someone is following you).
Also included is a summary of the six seasons of 24 (filed under most significant days in CTU history), a glossary of commonly-used terms (such as abbreviations of branches such as DOD and CDC, and what drugs are commonly used in interrogations), a list of intelligence agencies worldwide (the United Kingdom uses MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, Argentina uses SecretarÃa de Inteligencia de Estada (Secretariat of State Intelligence)), along with hundreds of stunning photos from the show.
This is a great book for anyone who is a big fan of 24. I would not recommend reading this, though, until you have watched all six seasons of 24, as there are numerous references to events on the show (aka spoilers).
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