Jack Bauer makes for good read in 24 prequel novels

The frist three books don't have any non-professional relationship between Jack and Nina. There are hints of the possibility of the relationship, but no more than that.

I'm not sure that they will ever write the affair in. With everyone knowing how everything turns out and who/what Nina really is, it would be hard to write Jack as sympathetic while his is being played by Nina.

I think that Nina is a hard character to write, anyway. She has to be a good trustworthy agent on the surface, but yet we all know she is really isn't. You can't have her show any of her true colors because no one knew that until the end of the first season.

Do any of the books focus on Jack's affair with Nina (which happened before the pilot episode)? Since they are prequels, I assume the don't have spoilers about how their relationship turned out.

I've read the three books that are out and they're all good, but they are very different in tone. The first and third ones (Operation Hell Gate and Trojan Horse), written by Marc Cerasini, read like a James Bond novel, fast and focused on action. These two have a lot of the first season characters in them, especially focusing on Tony, Nina and Chappelle. Teri and Kim play a part in Trojan, too. They also closely related, with the events that happen in Hell Gate are mentioned in Trojan Horse.

The second novel (Veto Power), written by John Whitman, is more like a Clancy novel. Its tone is more serious and has more political intrigue in it. It has mostly new, original characters in it and focuses on Jack. This novel also takes a darker look at Jack and gives him a harder edge than the other two novels. Jack is also a bit behind the curve in this second novel or rather the bad guy always manages to stay one step ahead of him and Jack takes some hard hits before he gets to the bottom of it all.

None of the books completely follow the "real time" format. They do have a time limit and each chapter takes an hour, but they use flashbacks and prologue/epilogues to fill in the back story something that '24' can't do. I think Veto Power is the best written of the books, with some really nice looks into Jack's thoughts and attitudes, but it's a hard read because through out the whole thing Jack's decisions while right at the time end up playing into the bad guy's plans.

Is Nina in these books? I adore Nina.

I am so totally getting those books!! Thank you for bring them into light!

I saw one of these at the book store the other night and was going to buy it, but then thought I'd wait and try and find a review online someplace. Next time I'm there I'll pick one up.