Ghost (Paladin of Shadows, Book 1)

by John Ringo

Book Overview

Former SEAL Michael Harmon, Team Name Ghost, retired for service injuries, is not enjoying college life. But things are about to change, if not for the better. When he sees a kidnapping a series of,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416509054
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.4" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

I agree with everyone

I think all the reviews I read here have good points to them. I think this series is ment to be fiction plain and simple, and is not for everyone. Maybe not even for most. "Ghost" does things I wouldn't condone under the worst situations and neither does he. He says that's why he kills the people he does, is that he is the same as them but he makes the choice not to act on those desires and so could they if they wanted to. They know better but they don't want to stop, so he want's to stop them. I prefer Fantasy books normaly, this is the first modern military series I've ever enjoyed because it is so over the top. This feels like fantasy where the simple soldier is really the Chosen One and has near godlike powers that barely get him through each new battle, but with a modern theme, and he has a devil on his shoulder that he listens to more often than he should. The series has lots of action(a little more action and a little less sex in each new book) and I had a hard time putting any of the books down. I would gladly recommend this series for any openminded individual who is mature enough for the subject matter.

Fun As Hell

This book is fun as hell!!! People who write crappy reviews about this book as if they were expecting Tuesdays With Morrie, have missed the point of this book. This is 1980's Chuck Norris ( Delta Force, Missing in Action, Invasion U.S.A. ) with the personality of Andrew Dice Clay. I read Ted Bell, Vince Flynn, W.E.B., this is not these books. I think this is meant to be over the top, with a cartoonish protagonist that doesn't help people out from a sense of duty, but because he likes to kill and he likes to bang hot broads. ( Ringo not only tries to kill every bad guy in this book, he tries to kill liberalism also ). Do not go into this expecting character studies or moral journeys, you will be dissapointed. I plan on reading on in this series. I love what the author is doing here. I love "The Ghost", even if he would hate me for being a liberal.

Excellent start of a new series

Actually this is not a novel per se, but a collection of three succesive short stories. It is absolutely politically in-correct, which contributes to making it excellent both to enjoy as entertainment and as food for thought. We are presented a hero who is a responsible BDSM top ( sensational idea) as well as (unrealistically) great military fighter hwo does not really fit in a normal society today. The action is fairy-tale like in this aspect and of course the hero has a superhero-factor in his success, but this makes for great entertainment while the character aspects are well-written and grown-up fun. The book does what good fiction should do - open the mind of the reader - and belongs to the best fiction I've read in along time. It transcends any genre by far.

Very good, but could have used a little more sex :-)

This book is three novellas that serve as an introduction to Mike Harmon and several other characters that are more fully developed in subsequent books in the series. This book is not Science Fiction. There are two major plot arcs involving contemporary Special Ops against terrorists, with a large dollop of sex as well. The sex scenes are explicit and range from light dominance and submission to brutal rape. The rape of the Russian hooker was very nearly a deal-breaker for me and my ability to finish reading this book. Your mileage may vary. I may be reading them wrong, but some of the extremely negative reviews written here seem more concerned with agenda politics and sanctimonious self-congratulation than any real discussion of the merits of this book. In several cases, I doubt the reviewer actually read ANY of this book. John Ringo is an excellent writer. He is not, however, Mike Harmon. This is a work of fiction. No one was actually killed or raped in the writing of this book. If you'd prefer that the camera pan over to the fireplace when Our Hero gets the girl, then this probably isn't the book (or series, for that matter) for you. My wife and I enjoyed this book and the rest of the series.

Ringo changes genre...and does it very well indeed.

Author John Ringo has shown, as he did with his op ed pieces in the New York Daily News a few years ago, that he can do more things than write military SF. His fiction has ranged from hard SF to sci-fantasy, and now he branches out into contemporary thrillers. Ghost is NOT science fiction, or fantasy. Ghostis a contemporary action thriller, more in line with Michael Z. Williamson's Target of Opportunity and the early Dale Brown or Don Pendleton than anything Ringo has written before. And there is SEX...lots of it in this book...so be warned! Also, Ghost is not for juveniles. Ringo explores some of the darker sides of the human experience, and his hero, codenamed Ghost, has some serious dark issues. He also has a hypertrophied sense of duty and honor, and uses them to re-direct and stifle his violent and ugly urges. This isn't really deep and introspective fiction, though, and the action and the sex are designed to give the reader a whacking good time. The good guy(s) win (barely) and the bad guys lose badly. The good guy (if that is what he is) gets the girls, and a good time was had by all. Well, all except the bad guys. And that's okay by me. Walt Boyes The Bananaslug. at Baen's Bar