Review of “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Checkmate”

Proving that Sam Fisher is truly a character that will be appreciated for a long time to come, the “Splinter Cell” series has moved beyond the world of video games, and has gone on to be a best selling novel series as well.

When Raymond Benson stepped aside as the first “David Michaels”, Sam found himself looking for a new author. Someone new has stepped in and believe me, the new guy is definitely worthy of writing the exploits of our beloved Third Echelon operative.

I had a chance to pick up some of the new authors previous works and I was happy to see that his style would serve Sam well. Also, the author stated in our initial interview that he spent time as a member of the US Navy and you can defiantly see it in his writing. For example, in Checkmate there is a lot of military language but he does go out of his way to explain it to the reader. You will see things like, “P.P.P.P.P.P.”, “E.W.O.” and “K.I.S.S.” all through the book, but rest assured, it will be explained. It helps the reader immerse herself in the book without getting lost in confusing jargon.

The first David Michaels, as we all know, had previously written the last six James Bond novels, giving the SC books a “spy” feel. The new author, a long time military man, gives the books more of a military feel. As to which is better is a matter of opinion, but the new novels’ military feel will open the series to a new audience.

Also, about three-fourths of the way through Sam finds himself on the Osprey and the ride will get a bit bumpy. The description of the events is done so well that you will find yourself airsick! That was easily one of my favorite parts of the book. Very high intensity. I like high intensity...

Unlike the first two books, this one is written in third person point of view. I was a bit concerned about that going into it because I’ve always felt the books are the medium that allowed Sam to be fleshed out as a person. I liked the first person as I felt I truly was getting into Sam’s head. The reason for the third person POV is understandable and in my case, appreciated. Michaels has stated he had to write the book in two and a half months, which believe me is incredible. That said, as much as I did enjoy the first person POV, I appreciate that the author did what he felt was best for the book, rather than risk the overall quality. It definitely paid off. The book is exciting, has interesting characters, and despite the 3rd person POV, takes frequent trips into Sam’s head.

Based on the two and a half month period the book had to be written in, I’m also deciding, and recommending to you, to give the books editor the benefit of the doubt that the little grammar/typos issues won’t happen again. For those who have not yet read the book, the editing left a little something to be desired. When visiting the TFS forums, David pointed out the fact that they only had two and a half months to write the book and the time was better spent developing the story. So at least for me, considering how happy I was with the story over all, I agree with that. But I can understand why it is distracting to other readers, so I hope the next editing job will be better.

This book is very well done and I’m very happy to recommend it to you. I have to admit, Raymond Benson will be greatly missed here at TFS. But, things change and I feel that David Michaels seems up to the task as well as very anxious to communicate with his readers; made obvious by his multiple trips to the TFS forums. I look forward to the future books as I can promise you, David will do right by us, his humble readers.