The UK Sci-Fi TV Book Guide: 24

24
60 Minute Drama
Action / Thriller

ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION
2001 — 2010

BROADCASTER
Fox

SEASONS / EPISODES
8 Seasons / 192 Episodes
1 TV Movie

24 is probably one of the most popular shows of the past decade, and set new standards for television action series, as Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his colleagues at the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) battled to defend the US against various terrorist threats.

The major departure from other series of a similar ilk is that each episode supposedly took place in real time, with the entire plot for each season taking place over a nerve-shredding twenty-four hour period. Equally nerve-shredding was the way in which major characters were unexpectedly written out (Teri Bauer / George Mason / Ryan Chappelle) or suddenly exposed as enemy spies (Nina Myers).

Typical threats included the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, the detonation of a nuclear device on US soil, the release of a deadly biological agent, the intentional meltdown of a nuclear power station, lots and lots of nerve gas and multiple Cold War suitcase nukes being smuggled into the US for a campaign of terror.

Although transmission of Season 7 was delayed until 2009 due to the 2007 writers' strike halting production after just eight episodes, a two-hour TV movie broadcast in late 2008 helped to bridge the gap for fans of the series.

The series finally came to an end in 2010 after eight seasons.

Original Novels

24 Declassified: Operation Hell Gate

by Marc Cerasini

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2005

Back Cover Blurb
Within twenty-four hours a nightmare will be unleashed that could cause the death of untold millions and devastate a great nation. It's a plot being carried out by the unlikeliest of allies. A powerful mole within the deepest reaches of U.S. Intelligence has secretly conscripted the very criminals he's been charged with investigating — former IRA terrorists, Latino and Asian gang members, Middle Eastern assassins and others — creating one of the most insidious terrorist networks law enforcement has yet to take down.

One man stands between the destroyers and the death tide: Jack Bauer, lone wolf operative for America's brand-new elite Counter Terrorist Unit. But he's three thousand miles from the CTU command center without backup in a strange city, New York. He's been artfully set up and is being hunted by the FBI for the murder of two of its agents. And time's almost up...

24 Declassified: Veto Power

by John Whitman

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2005

Back Cover Blurb
The next twenty-four hours will be crucial to America's survival. A determined band of terrorists holds the key to bringing down the government by plunging the country into darkness, fear, and chaos — a nightmare born not in a distant enemy land...but rather in the heart of America itself.

After a mission gone bad, Counter Terrorist Unit operative Jack Bauer is relegated to infiltrating a dangerous homegrown militia group — and stumbles upon information about an activated sleeper cell of Middle Eastern terrorists on American soil. But the roots of the insidious threat may go deeper than he suspects, firmly planted in the lies and treacheries of powerful government agencies. And without the trust and support of his CTU superiors, Jack may have to rely on the very fanatics he's sworn to destroy...or face an earth-shattering catastrophe at the end of the day.

24 Declassified: Trojan Horse

by Marc Cerasini

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2006

Back Cover Blurb
The eyes of the world are watching.

A powerful world leader is expected to join the Hollywood elite at a star-studded ceremony to be broadcast around the globe. But security has been severely compromised — and a plot is already in motion to turn the Los Angeles Chamberlain Auditorium into a gruesome slaughterhouse.

When an on-line "Trojan Horse" detected by the CTU cyber unit sends up red flags, rogue operative Jack Bauer is called into action. He has less than twenty-four hours to prevent an unthinkable act of death and destruction from occurring — a televised massacre intended to topple a foreign government and bring terror into millions of American households.

The countdown is on.

24 Declassified: Cat's Claw

by John Whitman

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2007

Back Cover Blurb
The world's most powerful leaders are gathering in Los Angeles for the G-8 summit, unaware that they have been targeted by two separate terrorist groups, each with its own lethal agenda. Uncovering and disarming one bomb would be difficult enough; eliminating both will be nearly impossible.

On the trail of a rabid Islamic assassin, rogue CTU agent Jack Bauer doesn't know that another conspiracy is brewing around him — a poisonous plot to violently dictate the future of the free world. If Bauer does nothing, in twenty-four hours the entire planet may be plunged into chaos, its primary heads of state ruthlessly destroyed. But if he acts, his daughter Kim will die instead.

24 Declassified: Vanishing Point

by Marc Cerasini

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2007

Back Cover Blurb
Area 51: America's top-secret advanced military testing ground, hidden away in the Nevada desert, where the awesome weapons of tomorrow are being developed. But a mole inside the impregnable facility has been leaking highly advanced killing technology to America's worst enemies...who intend to turn its destructive power on an unsuspecting nation before the day is out.

Agent Jack Bauer has a mere twenty-four hours to derail a horrific plot, as a deadly endgame takes shape in the neon glare of nearby Las Vegas. But to do so, the rogue CTU operative will have to lead an impossible assault on Area 51 itself — and expose a lethal string of betrayal and corruption that leads from the terrorists to the underworld and all the way into the heart of the U.S. government.

24 Declassified: Chaos Theory

by John Whitman

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2007

Back Cover Blurb
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.

Only one man can prevent the nightmare: disgraced rogue CTU operative Jack Bauer. But Bauer's been cut loose, is wanted for murder, and is running from the police, who have orders to shoot to kill. And there's no one he can turn to for help — because a high-level traitor in CTU wants Jack Bauer dead.

24 Declassified: Storm Force

by David Jacobs

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2008

Back Cover Blurb
Still reeling but rebuilding after Katrina's fury, New Orleans braces for another major hurricane heading her way. But a far greater threat is looming on the horizon — a manmade terror storm that will dwarf the destructive force of anything Mother Nature could have devised.

Following a tip, agent Jack Bauer has come to the Big Easy — and watches helplessly as two prime players representing America's most dangerous Latin American adversaries fall in a surprising hail of gunfire. With winds rapidly approaching gale force, the rogue CTU operative must now follow the blood trail to a completely unexpected source. Because in less than 24 hours, a ruthless enemy hiding among "friends" plans to take out the already damaged Crescent City — and deliver a staggering blow from which the U.S. "Satan" may never recover.

24 Declassified: Collateral Damage

by Marc Cerasini

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2008

Back Cover Blurb
In a remote corner of New Jersey is a nation within a nation — a refuge for fanatical converts and fervent believers. But within the confines of the secluded Islamic community of Kurmastan, plans are underway to spread fear, death, and untold destruction across America...and to deliver one fatal blow to the country's exposed and vulnerable heart.

On the East coast to supervise the activation of CTU's New York office, rogue agent Jack Bauer finds himself in the center of an unleashed hurricane perhaps already too powerful to stop. But if it isn't, in twenty-four hours the U.S. will be brought to its knees by a secret army grown on its own earth. And there is no one Jack Bauer can trust — because the roots of the terror go very deep...and frighteningly high.

24 Declassified: Trinity

by John Whitman

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2008

Back Cover Blurb
Operating out of a nearly empty space in Los Angeles, the newly created CTU faces its first major crisis. A large amount of plastique explosive has vanished and could be anywhere — with criminals, crazies, outlaw bikers...or in the bloodstained hands of Islamic radicals. As powerful representatives of the world's major religions gather for a conference on faith, peace, and coexistence, agents of the newborn, elite counter-terrorism unit must chase elusive shadows through the underbelly of L.A. A nightmare of assassination and terror is looming, tied to the darkest secrets of the church — an explosive threat that must be exposed and defused within twenty-four hours, or violent repercussions will be felt around the world.

And only one man possesses the necessary passion, ruthless skill, and willingness to operate outside his jurisdiction and beyond the limits of the law: a dangerous rogue CIA operative...named Jack Bauer.

24 Declassified: Head Shot

by David Jacobs

United States
Paperback
HarperEntertainment
2009

Back Cover Blurb
In less than twenty-four hours, in a palatial hideaway in the mountains of Colorado, a group of America's most powerful industrialists will be gathering for their annual summit. The bizarre disappearance of all the members of a local crackpot cult — and of two ATF agents assigned to keep an eye on them — may have no connection whatsoever to the impending high-powered conference. But with so many corporate titans grouped together in one location, CTU can't afford to take chances.

Sent to investigate, Jack Bauer is immediately plunged into a maelstrom of treachery, terror, and slaughter as he uncovers clues to a devastating conspiracy that could leave America's most essential institutions in ruins. And now the rogue CTU operative has only hours to prevent the unthinkable — before the relentlessly approaching storm of blood and fire rocks his nation to its foundations.

24 Declassified: Death Angel

by David Jacobs

United States
Paperback / Kindle eBook
HarperEntertainment
2010

Back Cover Blurb
Firestorm!

A mole has infiltrated Ironwood National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a top-secret research center for the development of high-tech and nuclear weaponry. Someone is about to commit the foulest, most catastrophic brand of treason — and one man must prevent it: CTU agent Jack Bauer.

Caught in the crossfire between two rival criminal operations, each intent on controlling the terrifying machinery of Apocalypse, the rogue anti-terrorism operative has twenty-four hours to forestall America's worst nightmare. As a devastating wildfire ravages the countryside, each ticking second brings Jack closer to the explosive confrontation that will ultimately seal his nation's fate: a lethal battle with the world's most efficient killer, Annihilax, the Death Angel.