A review by iamdwg
24: Deadline by James Swallow

4.0

Its no secret that I'm a fan of 24. I've seen the entire series at least twice – some seasons I've seen more of. I've played the video game and board game, read the 24: Declassified series, even the unauthorized guide to the first season. I've written recaps upon recaps, featured on one of the biggest 24 Fan Sites that existed. I've written my own fan fiction, and acted in a parody of the show with my brothers. Finally, as 24: Live Another Day aired, my brothers and I broadcasted a podcast covering the episodes and questions that prodded us as we watched. This is clearly one of our favorite shows that has ever aired, so of course I had to read the new book, 24: Deadline.

It's 5:00 P.M., and the United States and Russia are after Jack Bauer after the events of Day Eight. He plans on disappearing, but he can't do that until he fulfills his promise to his daughter, Kim. He can't just fake his own death like before, leaving her in the dark. He has to give her one final goodbye, which proves to be difficult when he runs into an old ally by the name of Chase Edmunds. The two of them run into a human-trafficking and drug ring in a town called Deadline.

If you are familiar with the show at all, then you know it had eight seasons before coming back for Live Another Day. For a long time, seasons 1-8 were considered The Complete Series, and Deadline actually takes place one hour after the “series” finale. Also, if you're familiar with the show, you understand how the whole thing works. The format of the show is – 24 episodes, each contains one hour in a full 24-hour day. The idea is that – a lot can happen in a day. Well, the idea of “real time” is hard to do in a book, but the 24: Declassified books did just that – but the Deadline book does not. It does take place, give or take, in the time span of 24 hours, but it does not contain real time. It starts at 5:00 P.M., and that's the last mention of time it really has. Instead, it focuses instead on just telling a story without the distraction of what time it is.

Real time isn't a distraction, though. It's the most unique and compelling part of the series, and I was glad the Declassified books had them as well. It was always done a little differently, but it still felt like 24, and I still felt Bauer's presence as if Kiefer himself was in the character...I didn't feel that so much here. I'm not sure if it's the changed format or something about how his character was written, but I didn't feel his “essence”...I couldn't hear his voice in my head when the character spoke, and for a novel about a movie or a TV show – I find incredibly important.

The plot itself, when you really look at it, is pretty well-written. It follows the same structure of the show, even if the format is off. What I mean by that is that it has story arcs, 2-3 obvious ones in this book, which matches some of the best seasons of 24. It's also pretty unique, as none of the seasons of the show centered on human-trafficking – which is really cool. I also like that they answered some questions left in the open at the end of the series – regarding important characters that disappeared and obviously other things I can't mention because of spoilers. It also had Jack eating and sleeping...but still no bathroom breaks.

Harumph...