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JOHN APPARITE

Apparite_John1 Apparite_John2
 
Full Name: John Apparite
Codename: Agent E
Nationality: American
Organization: Ultra-Secret Organization
Occupation Agent

Creator: I. Michael Koontz
Time Span: 2006 - 2008

ABOUT THE SERIES

John Apparite is an agent with American Intelligence.

The agency for whom Apparite works does not officially exist. It has no permanent headquarters and its name, if it actually had one, would never be found on any government record. Its existence is known to only three people in the government, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the CIA, and the Director of the NSA. Not even the President of the United States is aware of the department to provide deniability. The mission for this ultra-secret bureau is to perform those jobs that are far too sensitive or messy to be handled by any official department in case word leaked out. Assassinations of prominent foreign officials and agents, as well as the occasional murder of undesireables, was the primary reason for the secrecy.

Heading the small agency since its creation in 1950 is the man known to his agents only as the Director, an aging man who keeps an unemotional distance from his operatives as he knows 60% of them will die in the service to him.

Apparite is one of the best agents that the Director has. Known as Agent E, he has been with the department for a while as the series starts. He is likely 27 years old. He graduated from college at age 23 and joined the FBI. After a year of service, he was approached to join the fairly new CIA and decided the work sounded interesting. During his training, he repeatedly proved himself tenacious, determined, and resourceful. In addition to his athletic abilities, Apparite has a knack for languages. Though he earned a Bachelors in Biological Services, he was specializing in Romance languages. As of the first book, he was an expert in six languages including German and Russian.

Standing a relatively short 5'6", an inch shorter than the FBI requirements which he had to fool to get accepted, Apparite is in excellent shape and is a deadly weapon when fighting hand-to-hand, as an obnoxious CIA instructor learned the hard way once Apparite had graduated the training academy and was free to respond to the man's taunts without worry of expulsion. The instructor suffered several broken ribs and Apparite was noticed by Dulles, head of the CIA. Since Dulles was one of the men overseeing the ultra-secret agency while running the CIA, he recognized in Apparite a killer instinct that made him more suitable for the other agency than for the CIA. When Apparite was approached, he did not hesitate.

John Apparite is a new man. The man he once was, the man whose parents had died years before leaving him with no known relatives, died in a car crash shortly after graduating from CIA training. The man who accepted the Director's offer, was given the name Apparite by his new boss and told his service would last no less then 4 years and no more than 8. Should he survive that time, he would be given yet another identity and 5 million dollars with which to start a new life. Until then, Apparite works for a man who demands total obeyance and dedication.

BOOKS

Number of Books:2
First Appearance:2006
Last Appearance:2008

1 Under Cloak Of Darkness Under Cloak Of Darkness
Written by I. Michael Koontz
Copyright: 2006

In 1955, fresh in the organization, John Apparite is ordered to go to London and eliminate an atomic scientist who may be defecting to the Soviets before he has a chance to pass along nuclear submarine secrets.

2 A Matter Of Revenge A Matter Of Revenge
Written by I. Michael Koontz
Copyright: 2008

It is 1956 and John Apparite is sent on a simple mission to Berlin to let him recover from his previous assignment. He is to assist East German to defect but that puts him at odds with a Soviet assassin who wants otherwise.

MY COMMENTS

I started out on this series with a bias against it as I do not care for retro-writing, a term I made up for books penned today about eras in the past. Not to be confused with historical fiction, which is fun, and westerns, which I have always loved.

But Mr. Koontz made me shut my opinionated trap and just go with it. He certainly did with a couple of great adventures and, after a grouse or two which was not his fault, so did I. These are really fun books and I am sorry he did not do more. The books are very well written and the plots flow evenly and swiftly. The characters are a lot of fun to follow, especially the main character. It is not often I find a male lead who is shorter than I but John Apparite is and I loved it. Of course, if I got on Apparite's bad side, which I would be careful to never do, I would get my butt kicked and name taken down and made sorry later. And I would likely deserve it because Apparite can hold his temper for a very long time. When he lets go, though, do not be nearby.

GRADE

My Grade: B+

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