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24 Declassifed: Chaos Theory Review

Storyline

In the sixth Declassified book, 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. The storyline for this book is incredible - the plot is constantly being twisted and turned in different directions, unveiling moles at CTU and brilliant baddies. The undercover misson, much like that in the third season of the TV show, has few people knowing that Jack has been put in jail on purpose for a mission. The connection with Jack and Ryan Chappelle in this sense is superb. Jack bonds with his cellmate to try and get close to Zapata, the novel's main antagonist. The introduction of characters such as Teri, that we already know, are incredibly well done, building up to why her and Jack seperate later on. Moreover, each character has storylines throughout: Jack, CTU, the antagonists, and many others, rather than some disapearing half way through, as has happened in other books.

Characters Lots of new characters are intertwined with characters that we know from the series, such as Christopher Henderson, Ryan Chappelle, Nina Myers and Jamey Farell. New characters include Peter Jiminez, a rookie CTU agent who turns out to be working against Jack with know baddie (as long as you've seen Season Five) Christopher Henderson. As mentioned above, Zapata is the main antagonist in the novel, a mastermind who can only be stopped by a man who follows no patterns: Jack Bauer. Other terrorists in the novel include Ramirez, Jack's cell mate in prison, and Vanowen, Zapata's henchman. A slighty comic role is introduced in the form of Dan Pascal, a policeman who is sent on a wild goose chase around the city looking for Jack Bauer. Unfortunately for the copper, as soon as he finds Jack, it is revealed that the latter is a CTU agent and Pascal can't arrest him.

Other characters in the book include wrestlers Mark Kendall, a retired champ trying to get back into the game, and Jake Webb, his younger and fitter opponent. Martin Webb, the latter's grandfather and Fed Chairman. Seth Ludonowski, a CTU analyst also makes an appearance.

One thing that immeditely strikes me as odd is the fact that a know mole, Nina Myers, is working well to help Jack, when another known mole, Christopher Henderson, is clearly trying to stop him. Are the two working together trying to bring down CTU or is it chance that two know spies happen to be working together at CTU at the same time?

24 Relevance Overall, the novel is writeen in great conjunction to the television show: the chapters remain faithful, sticking to a chapter per hour, divided up into sections showing actions of the characters within that hour. However, the book does have some gramatical errors. One of the worst is displayed to the right: rather than saying that "Jiminez parked and entered CTU", as it clearly should through reading the section before, the author mistakeably writes "Henderson". This creates great conflicts as Jiminez is going to Henderson's office, making the paragraph gibberish.

Out of the first six Declassified novels, I think this one is my favourite. The storyline is great, and the build up to finding out about the moles at CTU are excellently written. Despite some gramatical errors, this book is incredible!

24: Declassified
Operation Hell Gate | Veto Power | Trojan Horse | Cat's Claw | Vanishing Point
Chaos Theory | Storm Force | Collateral Damage | Trinity

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