Point of Contact

Jack Ryan, Jr. #10

by Mike Maden, Scott Brick (Reader)

13 hours and 30 minutes

In the latest electrifying adventure in Tom Clancy's #1 New York Times bestselling series, Jack Ryan, Jr., learns that sometimes the deadliest secret may be standing right next to you.

Former U.S. Senator Weston Rhodes is a defense contractor with an urgent problem. His company needs someone to look over the books of Dalfan Technologies, a Singapore company—quickly. He turns to his old friend Gerry Hendley for help. Hendley Associates is one of the best financial analysis firms in the country and the cover for The Campus, a top-secret American intelligence agency. Rhodes asks for two specific analysts, Jack Ryan Jr., and Paul Brown, a mild-mannered forensic accountant.

Both Ryan and Brown initially resist, for different reasons. On the long flight over, Ryan worries he’s being sidelined from the next Campus operation in America’s war on terror. Brown—who was never very good with people—only worries about the numbers, and finding a good cup of tea.

Brown has no idea Jack works for The Campus but the awkward accountant is hiding secrets of his own. Rhodes has tasked him with uploading a cyberwarfare program into the highly secure Dalfan Technologies mainframe on behalf of the CIA.

On the verge of mission success, Brown discovers a game within the game, and the people who now want to kill him are as deadly as the cyclone bearing down on the island nation. Together Ryan and Brown race to escape both the murderous storm and a team of trained assassins in order to prevent a global catastrophe, even at the cost of their own lives.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Action, Mystery Thriller, Espionage, Suspense

14 pages, Audio CD

First published June 13, 2017

About the author

I grew up working in the canneries, feed mills and slaughterhouses of California’s San Joaquin Valley. A lifelong fascination with history and warfare ultimately lead to a Ph.D. in political science focused on conflict and technology in international relations. Like millions of others, I first became a Tom Clancy fan after reading The Hunt for Red October, and began my published fiction career in the same techno-thriller genre, starting with DRONE and the sequels, BLUE WARRIOR, DRONE COMMAND and DRONE THREAT. I’m honored to be joining “The Campus” as a writer in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Jr., series.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great way to carry on Tom Clancy's tradition. In contrast with many previous stories and authors, this one mostly keeps its excitement throughout. However, it does go a bit sideways near the end and that cost it its 5th star. Still a solid, well done story! 8 of 10 stars!

[Brad Schoenfeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. Tom Clancy is rolling in his grave.

I have nothing against Mike Maden, actually I had never even heard of him before seeing his name on this title. If you are expecting Clancy style writing, skip this book. This is the second filler book in a row from the Jack Ryan / Jr. Series. This is by far the worse of the two. The last one was about only Dom, this one is about only Jack Jr. That on its face would be fine, but the entire book is about surveillance technology and describing the company in Singapore that creates it. At the beginning of the book the stakes are set EXTREMELY high, and there is a bad guy introduced as the bad guy, given his own chapter, and then is never heard from again. To say the plot was bad would imply that there was a coherent plot, there wasn't.

This was a HORRIBLE waste of time. Nothing happened and the geo-political aspects are never really discussed, which is what combined with the thriller aspects makes the Clancy style so great. I got really excited the first 100 pages or so that this was going to be an awesome book with a lot of moving pieces and interesting plot lines. Well those plot lines are COMPLETELY disregarded which makes me question why they were even brought up in the first place. The entire first hour (I listened) was about North Korea and was really interesting. The rest of the book had absolutely nothing to do with North Korea. It honestly doesn't even make sense. I can't believe the Clancy family let his name be put on this.

All of the above being said, the book is mildly entertaining, but only because of the source material the author has to work with. Unless this book is a complete set up for a direct sequel, which would really be a sequel to the first hour of the book not the rest, so I doubt it would happen, this isn't a worthy entry to the series. I don't know if it was horrible editing, rushed, or what, but there literally isn't a coherent plot and the main bad guy is introduced in the first hour and then NEVER heard from again. There really is no "bad" guy after that, besides the OBVIOUS. If you are a fan of the series I would read it, just because it may effect follow up titles, but expect to be extremely disappointed.

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was exciting. It quickly feel into a mundane description of minutia and about things that did not give meaning to the story nor relevant to a point.
Anyone who remembers John Clark in Without Remorse, knows how interesting and involved we were with his life.
Since this book seemed to center on Jack Jr, I was hoping that there would be glimpses of his evolution and training that were not presented in other books. All of a sudden he is a master of many types of martial arts and has been in training for years...
My only hope is that Mike Maden either does not get invited back to continue writing for the series, or he learns to write the way, the story way, that Tom Clancy wrote and would want it to continue-not to fill up pages for the sake of dollars per word.
What am I talking about? Does/did Tom Clancy write like this "Chapter 48...The spattering raindrops sparkled in the lamplight against the spiderweb of the cracked windshield". REALLY???

[Clay Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some exciting parts but a lot of it read like an I.R.S. tax form.

[T.J. Jansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why the new Clancy authors feel the need to make Jack Jr. as dumb as a box of rocks, but it's getting very frustrating. In 3 books, Junior went from a young operator getting better over time to an impulsive moron making bad decision after bad decision.

[Terry Cornell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Jack Ryan Jr. book I've read. I brought it back from my Sister-in-laws fully furnished house she bought a couple of years ago. (Yes, even furnished with full book cases!) An entertaining read--some people may find parts boring as in forensic accounting, and cyber attacks. I'll take a little break and probably read the first in the series to see if the series maintains my interest. I understand the first book was actually written by Tom Clancy. I wonder if I'll notice the difference.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

After two subpar installments in the Jack Ryan Jr. series from Grant Blackwood, Mike Maden steps in and capably takes the reins. The improvement is immediately noticeable, and Maden puts Junior into some compelling and tough situations along the way.

Maybe it's the Singapore setting, the tension between Ryan and his partner, Paul, as they conduct a financial audit for a tech firm looking to be purchased by an American company, as well as the thin line Ryan skates conducting a white-hat operation for the financial side of the Campus via Hendley Associates and nonetheless finding himself embroiled in illegalities and global politics. Maden's writing isn't exactly exciting, but it is swift and pacey, and I had a hard time setting Point of Contact aside.

Politically, Maden tries to play fair-and-balanced for both conservative and liberal readers. Reflecting on his parents, Junior views his surgeon mother and President of the United States father as a couple who "demonstrated the value of disciplined lives devoted to the service of others." As President, Jack Ryan Sr., "was working hard to restore America's trust in government by being honest with the American people and always trying to do what was best for the country..." Published in 2017, one can't help but read this as the author throwing some much-deserved shade at Trump and his nepotistic, cronyistic administration. Lest he alienate those few literate MAGAts, Maden does throw some red meat their way, having Junior bemoan a weather forecaster's comments about climate change as a tropical storm bears down upon Singapore with a wry "WhY DoEs EvErYtHiNg HaVe To Be So PoLiTiCaL?!" aside and some brief fawning over former president Regan by Senior at the end.

One of the previous complaints I had about the Ryan Jr. series under Blackwood's thankfully-brief tenure was that the titular character himself was dull and failed to convince me that Junior deserved his own series alongside Senior. Maden doesn't completely overhaul my view in this regard, but does demonstrate enough versatility and excitement in terms of story that I'm more than willing to stick around. Junior is still pretty cardboard, but the author gives him a bit more depth than Blackwood was willing to commit to, better balancing the character's brains and brawn. Plus, I'm a total sucker for big, tropical storm-laden action set-pieces.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewer's aside: this was the second time I'd read this Clancy novel, and it didn't affect my review in the least!! Anyway, being a Jack Jr. novel, I was expecting more details of his romantic life. Thankfully, this author left that out of his writing. Jack Jr. travels to Singapore in this novel, although those looking for the Campus operatives will be disappointed mostly. The Campus is involved, just not the main story line. If you are reading the series, pick up this book. It's worthy of your consideration.

[Sheldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Madden is not Clancy. Jack Jr is not Jack Ryan, but the book is still a fun read or in my case listen. Unfortunately as absurd as some of the premise seems, the underlying concept might be all to real. And ok, I'm a sucker: At this stage of life there are some series, no matter how good or how bad, I'll keep up with. I'm happy the Ryan boys keep saving the world.

[thewanderingjew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tom Clancy Point of Contact, Mike Maden, author; Scott Brick, narrator
I stayed with this book until the end due to the exceptional talent of the narrator. He was the reason that I gave it two stars rather than one. Scott Brick is the saving grace of this novel because he does a fantastic job as a reader, using just the right amount of expression and tone for each character. The book itself leaves a lot to be desired. Characters pop up serendipitously and seem poorly developed. Then they often disappeared without any credible explanation, while others reappeared so much later on, it was hard to relate them back to the proper moment in time.
Every possible theme was included by the author. There were spies, corrupt government officials, criminals and thugs, violence, alcohol abuse, intimation of inappropriate sexual comments and behavior, loss and grief, and there were outlandish suspicions of each other coupled with ridiculous accusations and incredible assumptions.
When the book opens, Jack Ryan is on assignment to rescue hostages on a ship in the North Sea. From there, he returns home, disappointed because he believes that he screwed up in the liberation effort. He thinks he needs to have more training from The Campus. Then, when he is suddenly sent to Singapore to do some forensic accounting and fraud investigation for a Senator, Wes Rhodes, on a potential investment there, he believes this white-side op assignment is in retribution for his failure to react properly on the ship. However, when the mission turns into a black-side op adventure, it is wrapped up in a convoluted story about an effort to destroy the stock markets of the world and bring about economic disaster.
Ryan travels to Singapore with Paul Brown, initially described as a nerdy kind of guy, known for his ability to detect fraud. Secretly, he has been tasked by Senator Rhodes to do clandestine work involving planting some software on the mainframe of the company being investigated. When that software is launched, unknown to Paul and the Senator, the worldwide markets will collapse like dominos.
It took almost the entire book to figure out the story line, and then, even at the end, there were so many holes in the narrative I was left with a barely plausible conclusion. Just when it seemed like something might be making some sense, leading in a logical direction, the author brought up some other thread that made the plot veer off on another path requiring the total suspension of disbelief.
As an example, when chasing down a lead about an unknown factory location, Jack was intentionally involved in a serious vehicle accident in which he suffered injuries leaving him unconscious. Yet, when he awoke, he was miraculously not injured seriously enough to prevent him from continuing on with his secret mission. Oddly, although the accident was an attempt to prevent him from continuing his investigation, he was not captured or killed and was allowed to go on with his work. Even when he was apparently caught red-handed doing something highly illegal in a country that has some barbaric methods of punishment for infractions, the authorities were never informed.
Even more inconceivably, Paul Brown suspected the President’s son of doing something improper and then held him at gunpoint, eventually attacking him and knocking him out. Jack Ryan is the President’s son, and yet Brown’s behavior is treated as if this was to be expected and was not highly unusual. Then Gavin, a member of The Campus, like Jack, believes Paul’s ridiculous story about Jack’s love affair with Lian Fairchild whose father owns the company being investigated. Why did Paul and Jack keep secrets from each other even though they were all engaged in highly technical work with a situation that was becoming very suspect? They placed each other in danger because they displayed a remarkable lack of common sense.
When Paul Brown gets caught using the company computer in an unauthorized way, he somehow gets away with it, only to be captured a bit later on. Then, while all of the interested parties are attempting to stop the world markets from going into an intentional tailspin causing economic disaster, an impossible cyclone opportunely bears down on Singapore. With severe injuries, the characters bounce back up each time, and like superheroes, continue onward. All the themes began to seem contrived.
The book is disjointed and tedious at times with extraneous, unnecessary details that are very confusing and are often dropped in seemingly to simply add volume to the book. Themes remained undeveloped without ever being brought to a satisfying climax. Different threads of the story were opened and left hanging or weren’t developed until so much later in the narrative, there was no way to reconnect them. Who were the Koreans? Who were the Bulgarians? What part did the Singaporeans play in this debacle? How did they all connect? Why was there a secret warehouse? Who was managing it? What happened to Yong Fairchild? What was his purpose? The premise that Paul or Jack could clandestinely get into the computers of a company that was very technologically advanced was astounding. The fact that both of them could escape detection, at various times, defied reality.
There was simply no way to knit this story together in a cohesive, convincing way.
There was little action until very near the end and then it was action that was overdone, unrealistic and inconclusive.

[Remo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otra más de la saga Ryan. Reconozcámoslo, somos adictos a pesar de que Clancy ya no está. En esta ocasión Jack viaja a Singapur a hacer una auditoría en el lado público de su agencia, pero encontrará que no todo es lo que parece. Por el camino aparecen los norcoreanos y unos cuantos malos más. Entretenida.

[Jim McCulloch · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this one. The initial scenes on the oil platform are factually incorrect and the characters struck me as juvenile and unbelievable. I wish it wasn't so. In fairness, I only lasted about 50 pages before I gave up.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another walk the dog audiobooks- but this time without the dog. While on vacation I listened to this. A quirky, action novel that starts out as a white op for the campus but devolves into a black op in a Singapore typhoon. Fun and interesting. Spoiler: Paul Brown= Superman.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

We lost the amazing Tom Clancy a few years ago, but his much loved characters lived on thanks to a few authors, some better than others. The Jack Ryan series is his most successful, and now, with the awesome Mark Greaney passing the main series to Marc Cameron and with Mike Maden picking up the Jack Ryan Jr. aka The Campus Series from Grant Blackwood, some really interesting things are bound to happen in this riveting universe.

This week saw the release of Tom Clancy Point of Contact, the first book written by Mr. Mike Maden and after I listened to it all I can say without a doubt that the spin-off Campus series is in better hands than it ever was before.

Tom Clancy Point of Contact opens with a great first chapter, full of action and tense moments, in which we see a part of the campus special operators as they try to defuse a hostage situation. After that the story focuses mainly on Jack Jr. and a fellow coworker from Hendley Associates who are sent to Singapore in order to look into some Business opportunities in a favor for an important senator of the United States.

But, as we all know, things can go wrong in a blink of an eye and people aren’t always what they seem to be. I won’t spoil the story for you, so all that I’ll add is that Tom Clancy Point of Contact is very well written, with remarkable characters, some scary villains and a great plot! Author Mike Maden emulates part of Clancy‘s writing style with passion and love, while he delivers some heartpownding action sequences that seem to be his trademark, from what I heard about previous thrillers. Rest assured, I’ll give those a try as well, in the near future. I fell in love with Singapore from the way Mr. Maden painted this impressive city, I could see it in my mind’s eye… Also, there was some amazing tech described, from VR to high end drones which sound very interesting and scary at the same time.

In Tom Clancy Point of Contact we see how good people do bad things for the wrong reasons, we see how they can be manipulated, lied to, threatened and bullied. In this unputdownable thriller we have gun fights, fist fights, knife fights and other fights! There is espionage, betrayal, politics and senators, gangsters and special operators, Beautiful women and dangerous bad guys, all wrapped up into a very well thought up story, which touches on current events and crises.

The amazing Scott Brick returns once more to the Jack Ryan universe and brings to life old friends. He reads, he acts, he uses his accents in order to help the listener differentiate between the vast variety of characters of different nationalities. At the same time it’s clear that he enjoys the story and has a good time delivering another Stellar performance.

Scott Brick is one of the best narrators out there, in an industry full of talented artists and his contribution to this series makes it even more immersive and highly enjoyable!

This is a very promising first step into the Jack Ryan universe by a new, talented, author who is clearly treating Tom Clancy‘s characters and work with the love and respect they deserve! If you like Tom Clancy, Brad Thor, Vince Flynn or Robert Ludlum, you’ll be very happy with what Mike Maden delivers in in this page-turner!

If you found this review helpful please vote yes below and find more of them on theAudiobookBlog dot com.

Thank you you,
Victor

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first Jack Ryan book I've read as there was one in my condo's shared library, it was so bad. I literally signed up with Goodreads to leave this review. Apologies to anyone involved really, but I don't know how this was published.

It started off well with a good oil rig action scene that was quite engaging, and then some knife training as Jack junior is stabbed in his armour. He receives just one master class in training but then nothing else, and confronts a knife wielder later but there is no follow up from this apparent foreshadowing.

There were totally nonsensical interactions between characters and the plot became so dull and incoherent. Why was Yong, described as a total bad ass early on, even in the book? There was no showdown between him and Jack. Zvedev (sp) the Bulgarian confronts Rhodes early on and Rhodes is the apologetic one, as he apparently left the Bulgarian for dead. It seems then that Rhodes is in his debt and has to do as he says, risking his life, fortune and career. Later on we find out that Zvedev attempted to betray, setup and kill Rhodes who was saved by Paul. So the earlier dynamics that set up the main plot made zero sense.

The political leanings of the author Mike Madden and his corny, cringy style is so off-putting. The bad guys being shot up by the righteous patriotic American forces are eco terrorists. Ha! He even makes a reference to a Doctor, a frickin Doctor, being irritatingly political to the main character because he mentioned climate change causing more severe storms in Asia. Well, they do mate.

I could forgive the climate change denying republican patriot if the writing was good, but it is so cheesy, corny, cliche and the language seems so out of touch with the characters. I rolled my eyes more times than any other book I've read.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#23 in the Jack Ryan universe (#1 written by author Maden). I'm a faithful fan of the Jack Ryan universe and enjoy all the series entries to one extent or another. This entry has a few drawbacks. First if the prologue which seems only to provide an excuse for Jack Ryan Jr. to make a mistake in a hostage situation (a bit of déjà vu there) that leads to a self defense seminar on knife fighting with a foray into the karambit - 46 pages at the beginning of the book to provide context for page 351. But this is quibbling because Tom Clancy is known for explaining how to make a watch when you've only asked for the time. Fast moving and enjoyable overall.

The Campus - Jack Ryan Jr., partnered with forensic accountant Paul Brown, is working for Hendley Associates, a top financial analysis firm, on a study of Dalfan Technologies, a Singaporean company that defense contractor giant Marin Aerospace Systems intends to acquire. Former U.S. senator Weston Rhodes if on the board of directors and he has a clandestine secondary mission for Paul: installing a CIA diagnostic program to sniff Dalfan's files for potential cyber-espionage. Tight security delays Paul's infiltration, and as the deadline nears and Rhodes becomes more agitated, Paul suspects his mission is far more sinister. The not-merely-accountants must outrace international assassins and a massive typhoon to thwart a global financial disaster.

[Steve Gilreath · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to get lost in this book. It has the detail I love from a Clancy adventure and a couple of bombastic twists with technology and bad-guy-deviousness that I always hope are there but can't anticipate. Some parts feel a bit off-pace but it serves to tee up the action that pops up- over and over. I hope this author (Mike Maden) gets to carry Jack Jr forward. He will likely beat the crap out of him, while aging him gracefully! Can't wait for his next one!!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful, fast paced spy thriller. Actually has some rather insightful info on how advances in cyber, quantum, and digital technologies are impacting our countries (and the worlds) security concerns. This author has done a fair amount of research to keep up with a rapidly changing field.

[Opa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I got a little spun up with time machines and cryptography machinations, but there was a good balance between action and mental moments. Mike Maden finds enough international intrigue to bend your mind.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure action and entertainment from start to finish. You'd think they couldn't keep making these as good as they are, especially after the death of Tom Clancy, but they keep delivering.

[Steve Foley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too technical, 350 pages of boring 75 pages you can't put down.

[Mike Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You could just cut and paste my review from Duty and Honor by Grant Blackwood (#21 in the Jack Ryan Universe). It is an excellent thriller, but is lacking as a true Clancy novel because there is not The amount of characters or depth in the story that a true Clancy novel has. This seems to be the way the publisher is trending. Have a standalone Jack Ryan Junior novel or someone from the campus in the summer. Then have a longer more Clancy like novel around Christmas. I was hesitant starting this novel because it was not written by Grant Blackwood or Mark Greaney, who both did an excellent job picking up the series from the late Tom Clancy. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Mike Maden's writing. I thought it was excellent and he kept the story moving throughout. Jack is off on an assignment for Hendley and associates on the white side of their operations. They are asked by a former senator, now defense contractor, Weston Rhodes to do an audit of a company they are looking to buy. I really enjoyed the Paul Brown character who accompanied Jack Ryan in there digging into Dalfan Technologies. Little does Jack know that Paul has a separate task from the former senator. I really enjoyed the way Maden balanced the story and played Jack and Paul off each other. This is more of a subdued thriller through the first 3/4 of the book. There was very little physical action, but more of a cat and mouse game. But don't worry if you're into a lot of action, the last hundred pages has it for you. I thought the natural event was a little over-the-top, but overall the action was solid. If you are in the thrillers I believe you'll enjoy this book, but don't go in expecting a full fledged Tom Clancy book.

[Ezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Point of Contact. I liked the plot and the characters (for the most part). Jack Ryan Jr. is sent to Singapore on a "white side" mission with a forensic accountant, Paul Brown. Nonetheless, Jack ends up in way more than his share of...scrapes.

Jack is an engaging and likeable character, although he doesn't seem all that bright. He never solves anything and much more happens to him because he's there, or nosy, or determined--not because he's great at figuring things out. Paul is likeable, but I found it hard to believe that he'd down that many drinks at lunch knowing he had the rest of the workday ahead to pore through numbers.

My favorite parts of the book are when Dalfan's technologies are explored. These sections really captured my interest. Although many parts of the book are implausible (Jack has more lives than 100 cats put together), the pace was good and there was plenty of action.

Like a lot of modern books I read, the ending felt rushed. I wanted to read how Lian and Jack explained themselves to the Malaysian authorities. I wanted more interaction between Junior and Senior at the end. I wanted to read that Yong got exposed to Lian and their father. I also wanted the characters to be a bit smarter. Jack, Lian, Paul, Weston, and even Gerry and Gavin (to an extent) are all a bit dim in this book. Still, Point of Contact has a nice mixture of likable characters, plot, action, and technology.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleased to see that this mid-year Ryanverse novel was by a different author. These haven't been great in the past. And I do think that Mike Maden did a better job than Grant Blackwood.
However, I've never particularly liked the character of Jack Ryan, Jr and this book didn't help me to do so. For most of the book, his character was largely irrelevant and could have been removed with little effect on the story.
Despite being a generally a fun read, with some quite intense moments, some of the plot points didn't really make sense and there were loose ends that would have been nice if they had been explained.

It wasn't awful, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I'm hoping that Marc Cameron makes a good job of it when he takes over from Mark Greaney for the year-end book.

[Nancy Cook Lauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about the new author in the Tom Clancy series, Mike Maden, when I started this book. A simplistic -- sometimes trite-- writing style reminiscent of Clive Cussler, whose books I simply can't tolerate. But once the plot picked up, I got into this international thriller centered around computer viruses and accounting audits. If you like the old Clancy, you'll probably like this new guy.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another story involving the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan junior, however it is written by Mike Maden. Great beginning for a fast paced thriller, (so up to date) involving spies, international business, plots to create financial havoc and cybersecurity. It lost a little pace about a third way through, but worth continuing. Some very cool cyber ideas and the adventures of the indestructible, lethal Jack Ryan junior make for a good read.

[Yasen Zhekov · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best stories after the originals. I'm always puzzled by Scott Brick's narration - it is love/hate relationship, but the story is great. This was my second re-read and still enjoyable. Good read!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Clancy with Jack Ryan Jr. make one hell of a team!!! Jack just can’t get enough troubles for his likes!!! He always runs half way and then turns around for better ammo for the problem to solve!!!

For not being a spy per say, he can keep you hanging around to the end!!!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok and mostly a fun read but not as engaging as I'd wish. The author spent way too much time on a part of the plot that didn't progress the story. Don't think I'll pursue other works by the same author.

[Tracy Yates]

Classic Clancy characters in the political thriller genre.