Line of Sight

Jack Ryan, Jr. #11

by Mike Maden

Jack Ryan Jr. finds that the scars of war can last a lifetime in this entry in Tom Clancy's #1 New York Times bestselling series.Twenty-six years ago, Dr. Cathy Ryan restored the eyesight of a young Bosnian girl who had been injured during an attack in the Bosnian War. Today, her son Jack Ryan, Jr. has agreed to track down the young woman and deliver a letter from his mother. What he finds shocks them both. The helpless child has grown into a remarkable woman. Aida Curic is a self-possessed beauty with a big heart and an even bigger secret who runs a controversial refugee agency near Sarajevo. Jack finds himself deeply drawn to both her and her country, but soon finds himself in the crosshairs of the seething ethnic tensions and ancient blood feuds of the Balkans, the region of Europe where empires go to die. If Jack can't navigate the world of secret service agencies, special operators and local mafias to save Aida, Sarajevo will prove the be the fuse that lights the next world war.

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

476 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2018

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]

Patience rewarded with better writing and action the second half. 8 of 10 stars

[Wayland Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know those movies or shows where some hot shot detective breaks all the rules and pisses off his boss but manages to somehow keep his job? This series is getting like that. Jack Ryan, Jr, son of the President of the United States, improbably manages to keep going on field missions, ignoring his boss' orders, but keeps not getting fired.

In this one, Jack is doing some of his actual work as his "cover," a financial analyst, in Bosnia (yes, the place has many names, I'm using that one as a shortcut). His mother also tasks him with what should be a simple request from her time as young surgeon overseas. Improbably, Jack stumlbes on to an international conspiracy to start World War III. At the same time, a powerful criminal organization has put a hit out on Jack because of one of his previous missions.

Jack gets a LOT of history about the Bosnia area from his tour guide/lover. For this kind of book, there's actually very little action, relatively speaking. And, of course, the bad guys are Muslims, a favorite theme in the Clancy-verse.

This world has been a bit uneven, and this book just wasn't that great a read.

[Nick Brett · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Hey, are you related to the President"?.......Is a question nobody asks. Ever. And that is just one of a bucket load of irritations in this dreadful book.
Part dull techno-thriller, part travel guide and part fashion guide, this is the latest in a series desperately missing Mark Greaney. “The inspiration behind the thrilling Amazon Prime series Jack Ryan” shouts the blurb, but the new TV series is a re-imagining of Ryan Senior in his early days, and this is about Junior sitting with the RyanVerse by which is Dad is President and he is an undercover operative for The Campus. So that’s irritating too.

Anyway, Junior is off to the area near Sarajevo delivering a letter from his Mum to someone she patched up during the war. At the same time there is a “hit” out on him and there is a failed attempt. Obviously at this point his Campus colleagues would send in back up? No, of course not. They send a team on the trail of the assassin on the basis “Jack can look after himself”. So Jack blunders on, fall in love at first sight and then gets mixed up in shady going ons in the area. Oh, and someone is trying to kick off another war in the area
Full of errors, full of unnecessary padding (in this “thriller” we are treated to not only Jack’s tourism of the area but also almost every item of clothing he is wearing is also detailed). Some lazy ill-informed views on Brexit, and the right wing in Europe add to the mess. And here we have the son of the President, with the SAME NAME as the President and nobody asks the obvious question. At one airport he is greeted with a sign with his name on it and nobody there thinks "ooh, that's the President's name". just implausable.
There is some action, but you will need to drag yourself out of your coma for it.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been sometime since I read any of the Clancy books that have come out after his death. This is book four in the Jack Ryan Jr. series written by Mike Maden. The setting for the book is Bosnia. Maden does a good job describing the countryside and its history. Jack Jr. is on vacation and his mother asks him to find a girl that she had performed eye surgery on during the war.

The writing is average. The plot twists and turns as the suspense builds throughout the story. I feel Maden is being held to the high standard of Clancy. Probably, the story would have been better if it was not compared. The story kept me engaged and I enjoyed the history lesson. If you are looking for an easy to read book, try this one out.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is just over twelve hours. Scott Brick does an excellent job narrating the book. Brick is an actor and voice-over artist. He is an award-winning narrator and is known for his “golden voice”.

[Ryan Steck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this review and more at www.TheRealBookSpy.com

Following the events of Tom Clancy Point of Contact, Jack Ryan Junior returns, this time to carry out another assignment for his employer, Hendley Associates, a front for a top-secret program known as the Campus, which answers only to the president of the United States of America, Jack Ryan Senior. . . Jack’s father.

Lunch around the Ryans’ table, located in the president and First Lady’s private quarters, becomes a tad awkward when Cathy Ryan asks her son why Hendley Associates, a financial firm that her son works for, is sending one of their top analysts over to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Senior, one of the greatest presidents the country has ever known, stops reading his newspaper long enough to watch Junior explain through spoonfuls of beef stew that a company based in the former Yugoslavia plans to offer an IP on the NASDAQ, and hired Hendley Associates to handle the preliminary financials.

It turns out that Dr. Cathy Ryan treated a young girl who was injured twenty-six years earlier in Sarajevo. During the Bosnian civil war, Aida Curic nearly lost one of her luminous blue eyes when she was hit by a piece of shrapnel. Cathy managed to save Aida’s eye and her vision, and since then has often thought about the girl, who clearly had a profound impact on the First Lady. Such an impact, in fact, that she asks her son to see if he can locate Aida while he’s there, in order to deliver a letter Cathy has written.

Jack agrees, thinking it’ll be fun to explore Sarajevo, but also assuming the mission will be harmless, which he couldn’t have been more wrong about. . .

Read the full review here: https://therealbookspy.com/2018/04/23...

[Jim Cerone The Perfect Host DJ MC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, dry and boring. Apologies to the author, but if I wanted a history lesson, I'd read non-fiction.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its very unusual that two authors take over the writing of a popular franchise like Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series. I've read a few by Mark Greaney and enjoyed them as Greaney stayed true to Clancy's vision, whereas Mike Maden has dulled down the action and added a namby pamby love story.My advise give this one a miss and wait for the next one by Mark Greaney.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Definitely not up to Tom Clancy standards. Relies on a weak out of character love story to fill out a weak plot. Very disappointing. Save your time and money.

[Tim Mercer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book from this universe that I have read for years after I got Jack Ryan burnout. Itis a good shoot em up action story that follows Jack Ryan Jr as he foils plots and gets shot at. Not a huge amount of depth in it but it good for some simple escapism that you can read when tired or travelling. An easy read. 3.5 stars

[Cynthia · Rating 1 out of 5]

***SPOILER ALERT***

1) This author has written a previous "Ryan" novel, and this novel was just as bad as his last.
2) There is HARDLY ANY ACTION until the last 90 pages, or so.
3) Ryan Jr. is looking for a girl named Aida Curic in Sarajevo, and has his pal at Hendley give him the names of all girls with that name. He came up with about 20! Just how common a name is that; and I don't care what part of the world one is looking! First, he went through all the "blonde" women with that name, and then all the brunette women with that name! Are you kidding me? And no one even thought to check the death certificates?????
4) Jack Ryan, Jr. is the son of Jack Ryan, President of the United States. Jack Ryan Jr. carries the same name as his VERY FAMOUS father, and yet no one he meets when searching for Aida knows that his father is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! He tells Aida that his father is a government employee! Oh, please! In this day and age, everyone knows the name of the President of the United States! How stupid!
5) And, last but not least...John Clark is 80!!! My favorite character (who had VERY little to do in this outing) is 80! It makes sense, based on his military career, but still I just don't want him to age!

Anyway...don't waste your time reading this story that Tom Clancy would have never approved!

[Christian D. D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another worthy successor to the Clancy legacy

Right along with Mark Greaney, Mike Maden has established himself as a worthy successor to Tom Clancy (God rest his soul) with this latest instalment in The Campus/Jack Ryan Jr. series, this time set in the Balkans (mainly Bosnia). Action-packed and nary a dull moment, with just a few technical nitpicks here and there (notated below). A timely reminder that while relative peace has held in the former Yugoslavia since the late 1990s, the powder keg potential for history to repeat itself is there lingering beneath the surface.

RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS (and noteworthy passages):

—pp. 5-6: “Walib stole a quick glance at Lieutenant Aslan Dzhabrailov sitting near the doorway. The young, broad-shouldered Chechen was the platoon leader of the commandos guarding his unit. There was a fierce intelligence in the man’s pale gray eyes and a well-used ten-millimeter Glock on his hip.” Say what, a Chechen serving *in* the Russian Armed Force as opposed to fighting *against* them? And carrying a Glock instead of a Makarov or a PSM??

—p. 6: “GLONASS receiver—the Russian version of GPS” hmmm, will have to fact-check this one on Wikipedia.

“But if he disobeyed Grechko’s order, the Russian would pull his **nine-millimeter Grach pistol** out of its holster and splatter his brains against the BMP’s steel hull,” [emphasis added] okay, that makes more sense than a Glock in Russian Army hands/holsters.

[M.T. Bennett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never write reviews on Goodreads, but this book was so bad I feel the need to warn people. Just a horribly written piece of garbage only published to make a quick cash grab on a tired old franchise. It would cycle violently from cheesy apple-pie Lifetime-movie dialogue, to gratuitous violence and racist stereotypes. Couldn't bring myself to finish it. Just terrible. If I could give it zero stars I would.

[Tom Tischler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the local library. I thought that it would be a continuation
of Tom Clancy. I was deeply disappointed by the story and barely managed to finish it.
This is not something that Tom Clancy would have written so I guess that I'll have
to pass on this one and I gave it a 2.

[Viktoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first encounter with Jack Ryan character: I needed an audio book to keep me awake on a long drive. I didn’t realize there was a character kept alive by a variety of writers, and many action movies. My action books novice impression: a make believe world inhabited by make believe characters, aimed at readers who like to talk and think about weapons, with a hard to believe romance thrown in. A long winded adult fairy tale. Tiresome descriptions putting me to sleep during the drive, so, opposite of desired effect.

Some notes on the actual book: this Jack Ryan is a naive Bond-like character. He doesn’t think things through as one would expect, acts on instincts rather than on his training. Great number of confusing unrealistic characters. I still hoped to find a better twist to Aida’s story, and was disappointed with sloppy writing and poor story telling.

On the positive side: putting the book (can’t call it a story as there isn’t much of a story) into conflict ridden Balkan countries got me interested in finding a non fiction book to study the region more. I’m familiar with most of the places and historical events the book touches upon, but eager to learn more.

I plan to find just one audio book by real Tom Clancy for my next drive, to compare writing, and keep me awake, hopefully.

P. S. Unfortunately, the other audio book I checked out in a hurry from the library, was even more boring than Line of Sight: that’s why I ended up listening to the whole book, and gave it two stars instead of one.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads too much like a James Bond film. Best parts of the original Clancy novels were that things happened for a reason, and the plot felt like something out of real life, rather than a Hollywood film. With every book in this series, the characters become more stereotypical, the action scenes have more cliches then ever, and you know the ending from the beginning.

Some examples:
Gavin, the tech-savvy member of the Campus is now nothing but a generic geek that can hack into anything the plot demands.

The action scenes, each one, plays out like this:
Main character is surprised
Main character is pinned
Main character finds something in the room or gets lucky somehow
Main character wins fight

Even the finale has the iconic countdown timer until the world ends or whatever, and the villians just happen to keep our protagonist alive for whatever reason until that countdown expires, giving him a chance to escape

And when all hope is seemingly lost for Jack Ryan, he escapes with the help of a helicopter that decends from the sky like the authors hand whisking him away from danger. The book was interesting, but much too predictable, nothing like the old Clancy books.

Technical issue:
You describe the tomahawk as an UGM-109, when it’s launched from a ship. Sub-launched tomahawks are UGM-109s while ship launched are RGM-109s

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book continues the Jack Ryan Jr. story line. I was not overly impressed with this book. For one thing, Jack Jr. doesn't fill the legacy his father established in his career as a CIA analyst. Secondly, Jr. seems to be always having flings when he is on assignment. I mean, do we really need to know the details of Jr.'s sex life?? Spoiler Alert- No major characters were killed in this novel.

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining book and one that I am sure you'd enjoy. A solid story and, when books are good...we always want more out of the ending.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I vaguely recall liking Mike Maden's previous Jack Ryan Jr. outing well enough, but Line of Sight is too much of a mixed bag for me. For starters, it feels like Maden is trying too hard to turn Jack Junior into a nutty Mitch Rapp figure by having him get really upset over free speech issues (i.e. liberals) that conflict with his beliefs, like the sudden vitriol over college kids protesting fascism. If Jack Jr. can't stand people protesting fascism, then he's not really on the right side of American democracy, in my opinion. And then he gets further angered when a protestor accuses his president father of being a fascist. Well, which is it, Jack? If you're against anti-fascist protests, then shouldn't you be proud of your father being accused of being a fascist? Maden tries too hard to "both sides" the issue and it feels too much like the author is deliberately throwing red meat to the Trump crowd, but it drags the character of Jack Junior down into the muck.

Beyond making him an illiberal hothead, Maden writes Jack like a total nincompoop here. If it weren't for plot armor, Jack probably would have been killed twenty times over. I also can't help but wonder how in the hell this guy is still employed by The Campus given how little regard he shows for his boss's orders. But, again, plot amor saves Jack and keeps him employed, despite constantly ignoring his employers very reasonable demands to do stuff like, you know, come into work once in a while. If ever there was an example of Jack Junior just being another privileged white boy and son of a rich and powerful man, it's the simple fact that he's not standing in the unemployed line. I can't help but feel like privilege and story conveniences are the only thing keeping him on-board at The Campus, because the dude is certainly no John Clark or Ding Chavez. At this point, I'm no long even entirely convinced Jack is Ryan Sr.'s biological child, and that he must have been adopted. Either that or he was dropped on his head too many times as an infant.

Oh, speaking of the story, there's a few too many layers at play here, and they never seem to come together in a satisfying way, nor do they gel naturally. There's a side-plot involving a terrorist network called The Iron Curtain that, as luck - and another one of Jack's screws-ups - would have it, is after Jack Junior and sending one assassin after another to take his head, literally. It mostly serves to beef up the page count and act as a detour from the A plot, which sees Jack carrying out a mission for his mother to track down a girl and survivor of a Bosnian conflict she met many years ago. Conveniently enough, this search drags him unwittingly and unknowingly into the middle of a dime a dozen Evil Muslim Terror Plot™ to spark World War III. Readers will constantly be at least five steps ahead of Jack in figuring out everything about this plot, impatiently waiting for him to catch up and stop mooning over the lovely Bosnian tour guide, Aida Curic, while ignoring phone calls and text messages from his boss. Again, how in the fuck is this guy still employed? I swear, he's been dodging his boss and ignoring orders for at least the last two or three books now.

On the bright side, Scott Brick's narration is crisp and smooth, and makes for an easy listen. Brick and some nice action set-pieces are about all that's going for this one.

[Mike Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The typical summer Jack Ryan Jr book. Jack goes off, this time to search for a girl who Kathy Ryan performed surgery on when she was a kid. Jack falls for the girl and runs into trouble. It is a simple formula, but works. I felt like Jack Ryan Sr had a little more involvement in this book, but it is still not a full fledge Jack Senior/Campus novel. That being said, it is an excellent thriller that kept me wanting to read one more chapter. There are even a couple of twists that keep you on your toes. If you are looking for a solid summer thriller you can’t go wrong here.

[Nancy Cook Lauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. I've offered mixed reviews on books by the various writers who've tried to fill the admittedly big shoes of the late Tom Clancy. But Mike Maden has hit the ball out of the park in this one. It features Jack Ryan, son of the president, delving into the complicated politics of the Balkan states, all in search of a girl his mother had operated on a few decades ago. No matter that a price has been put on his head. This is Clancy to the core -- solid writing, tight plot, lots of tech, well-developed characters and a thrilling adventure.

[Luke Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Jack Ryan Jr book and one of the first extended universe book of Tom Clancy’s I’ve read. The story moved quickly and I liked what Maden did with the story. If it has anything to do with Jack Ryan, I know I’ll like it. I recommend this book.

[Vinayak Malik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fast read. The plot could have been better though

[Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steengoed boek met een goed plot. Erg onderhoudend om te lezen een van de betere boeken van Tom Clancy

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

finished this in the tree stand yesterday the 25th of november 2019 good read four stars really liked it kindle library loaner

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent Jack Ryan jr adventure, but a tad too much American wanna be James Bond there. Also, “iwatch”? Learn the product names before sending a manuscript to print

[Eric Federico · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m usually one for action but this book had none. Also the storylines with JRJ are making me start to hate him more and more as a character.

[Raoul Jerome · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Not great, but OK. Jack continues to do his thing his way and that's what it's all about, right?

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same from the estate of Tom Clancy...still good stuff, but not quite the original...Young Jack & the Campus become involved in stopping an effort to reignite the 90s slaughter in the Balkans. while being targeted for assassination by a world-wide crime syndicate...We learn a little about the multiple sides in the Balkans' slaughter we euphemistically called "Ethnic Cleansing"...Jack loves & loses while saving the World again!

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed the latter part of the book. On the other hand, it did not "feel like" a "Tom Clancy novel". More like something written for another series - maybe a cheap "James Bond" ripoff? I haven't been reading the "Jack Ryan Universe" books consistently, so when I do read them I tend to read them out of order. The "best part" of this book for me was the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina as I was pretty ignorant about all that happened in this part of the world. I appreciated the enlightenment.

However, the story itself. The first chapter was quite the intro. It was a fairly fast read for me. While it was "exciting", on the one hand, Jack, Jr., just seemed exceptionally stupid to me. Not sure how else to put it. The plot, too, was kinda. . . I'm not sure how to put it, but . . . I expected more "technothriller" than a wannabe "love story," I guess.

What else I liked: I thought the section about the Russian's tech they were trying to sell to their allies was pretty interesting (109-117). If it works half as well as the Russian general claimed, it sounds like it could wreak some serious havoc on the battlefield (especially with America and her allies relying upon advanced technology like we do).

Dragan Kolak was cool. I liked that guy. I thought it was hilarious that he had a tracker placed on Jack's iWatch to keep tabs on him as Jack traveled around Kolak's city and country and Jack had no clue this had happened to him. I was laughing when I found that out (at the end). I am sure others thought of such a thing; I did not and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't if Kolak would be considered "stereotypical" by those more versed in such characters than me (I kinda feel like he mighta been, in some ways), but I felt he was a solid character, and I was not sure which way he was going to go until the end (i.e. - work with Jack, Jr., or against him. Or, more like, his intentions and responsibilities paralleled Jack's enough to be "allies" but maybe not enough to be fully trusted by Jack because of their different ultimate goals). It was funny to me how he literally flew into the scene at the end to rescue Jack and fly him back out. "God in the Machine", I guess, hahahah.

I also liked that it was Russian special forces that took out the "backup" suicide bomber (or was he just supposed to increase the amount of collateral damage and deaths? I could not decide). That was pretty cool to me, how the U.S. and Russia worked together to "save the day" and prevent tensions in the region from developing into a wider conflict.

Weaknesses: I was expecting to see more of the Russian tech used as the author seemed to be setting up some kind of conflict between its Serbian allies and the West if its vaunted EW system could cause the disruptions claimed by General Sevrov. As it was, this Russian tech wasn't used until the very end of the book. It would be interesting to see if it were used in later books.

It made zero sense to me that nobody ever asked Jack, Jr., "are you related to the President of the United States?" It just boggled my brain that nobody did this. I know I have asked people in the past, "Do you know so-and-so?" or "Are you related to so-and-so?" because of their name and other factors. Why wouldn't Jack, Jr., be asked about being related to the President of the United States? And yet, nobody thinks to ask him? Not even Aida after Jack tells her his father is a government employee? (I don't remember how he phrased it and don't care to look for it) I mean, how dumb does the head of Bosnia and Herzegovina's "intelligence and security agency" have to be to not ask Jack, Jr., "Are you related to the President of the United States, by chance?" when Jack is in his custody not once but twice? People can see elements of me and Debbie in our children, in their facial features. I would think that Jack, Jr., must bear some passing resemblance to his famous father?

It was really weird that this "Iron Syndicate" not only knew about "the Campus" but knew who John Clark was/is. I don't know why, but it just was. Even though I have not kept up on the books and read them in order, I do know "the Campus" is supposed to be some kind of "super-duper, beyond higher than top secret, nobody knows about them" kind of organization. And yet, this crime syndicate knows all about them? What happened that made this "Syndicate" suddenly aware of them? It probably happened in a prior book I haven't read, yet, but it seemed too convenient to me.

Too, there is the "issue" of how "omniscient" this criminal organization seemed to be in that it had eyes and ears everywhere and yet were still oblivious to things when they needed to be. I suppose the argument could be made that their focus determined ability to interpret the vast amount of information they received? I just know I felt like Jack, Jr., was being set up by the guy he went to meet as his "official cover" for his job and then the guy couldn't make it to act as Jack's tour guide. I felt like something more should have been done about that, that Jack should have gone back and found out if what this guy said was true and if his family was still even alive after the attempt on his life. Otherwise, why would the female assassin be waiting for him at Kozjak Waterfall? Otherwise, it was a weird "coincidence" that this woman happened to be waiting for him at that site. What if Jack had not stopped there? Then what? She'd be waiting there and kill somebody else by accident?

The dust jacket states that Jack, Jr., has "ruthless assassins hot on his heels", yet I never felt that was the case in this book. There were . . . two assassins? Maybe three? that attempted to kill him. And then there was the missile strike that destroyed the airliner he would have been on had he made his flight. Some other members of the Campus faced down some assassins, too, but I never felt like Jack, Jr., had anybody "hot on his heels." I was expecting assassins to be coming out of the woodwork, that this "Iron Syndicate" would have had layers of assassins coming after him and not the piecemeal fashion in which they did. On the one hand, the assassins did only have a few days, maybe a week, to plan their attack and act on their plan, so there is that.

I didn't really believe that the White House staff would let Kathy make a cup of coffee or fill a thermos for Jack. That whole scene seemed strange to me; it felt more like they were "at home" than in the White House. I "get it" that the author might have been trying to create an intimate scene between a couple who love each other and how well Kathy knows her husband, but it still felt "off."

I don't believe Jack, Jr., should still have a job after this book. He keeps blowing off his boss's texts and messages, and then his boss is, "Oh! You met a girl? No big deal - carry on." I don't know any boss who would go for that kind of behavior, the amount of disrespect and lack of responsibility that Jack, Jr., was demonstrating, and still keep an employee like that on the payroll. And he just comes across as being stupid, too, throughout the latter part of the book. I don't know - he goes from checking for tails and looking for hidden danger and assassins to not a care in the world and then back again.

The author sets up something with the Russians where they recognize Jack, Jr., and I had the feeling they were going to send their commandos after him because of something he did to upset plans of theirs. And nothing came of that. Didn't care for that dangling thread (unless it leads into the next Jack Ryan, Jr., story?).

This is more of a general gripe, and only because I read the "next book" in the JRU before reading this one: President Ryan calls the Russians and gets them to help prevent WWIII from breaking out by asking the Russians to use their Spetznatz teams to find the second bomber (granted, it is pretty impressive how fast they were able to cross the border and get to where they needed to be to "save the day" - more Dues ex Machina?). So why not use that good will in the next book (Oath of Office) with the Russian president when trying to get the Russian president to back down? I think if you are going to have multiple authors writing a series of books, they should communicate with each other to make their stories more cohesive and have them make sense.

General thoughts: I remember thinking, "I wonder if she is going to turn out to be one of the villains if not the villain" when Aida showed up. Not sure why, but there was something about her that said she was not who she claimed to be. So I was amused that I turned out to be right (this time).

I thought Dragan Kozak's attitude towards Jack was funny at the end of the novel. He was, "If I can use him to get to Aida, sweet! If this poor, dumb American gets himself killed in the process, ah, well! He is not one of my men!" Another reason why I liked him so much! (Well, other than his not realizing who Jack's father is)

I am not sure how I felt about how the author "wraps things up". The dude who tried to start WWIII is mugged and killed by Somali muggers in Sweden? It was so anticlimactic! Which, on the one hand, is okay, but it also felt "convenient", which is never okay. Still, though, ending the book with, "You can call me Adara." was pretty choice, and I did like that, too, so that was cool

On a really random note: There is something about these books that is missing when compared to Tom Clancy's actual novels before he started co-authoring them. I can remember elements of the plots of his books that I have not read in years, but these newer books I would be hard-pressed to tell you what each one was about, what their focus was. So the man definitely had a gift in writing stories that were impactful and memorable, in creating a cast of characters in each novel he wrote that made the story so memorable. And that he was able to create a series involving a cast of characters that people care about.

Also, I feel like the font and spacing was deliberately chosen to make the book "thicker" than it needed to be. Not sure how to put it, but it felt like there was a lot of "white space" on the pages that ensured the book would be a certain length (or minimum page count) when it could have been condensed and would have been "shorter" as as result. Really random though, there, hahahah!

I really enjoyed the author's entry into "the Oregon files" (Fire Strike). This book felt more like a "swing and a miss" for me in some respects. There are some moments that are well-written and grabbed my attention. It's like, despite my misgivings, I still enjoyed it while reading it and the ending was crazy and solid (well, the ending as it pertains to Jack. Jr.). But after thinking about it for a day or so, I would say, shutting my brain off, it was 3 stars "emotionally speaking". But after thinking about it, I would say 2.5 stars, maybe, rounded down to 2 stars. I will have to start checking these books out from the library going forward, I think, hahahah.

[MARK. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does Jack Ryan Jr. only have/ manage to keep his job because of who his father is? he disregards his boss when it suits him, ignores phone calls, omits pertinent details, does his own thing his way. (got him put on probation once already ) will he ever learn his lesson? fly's by the seat of his pants, and seems only to succeed on blind luck most times. doe not seem to grasp the "Teamwork" aspect of TEAM, unless it benefits him.the entire Campus OPS team is more interesting then what seems to be an inexperienced know it all amateur. how many more times can he survive by dumb luck, and the idiocy of his opponents? a little too "Bond-ish". have him tied up. CHECK. leave him alive. CHECK. tell him all the details of your evil, unstoppable, foolproof plan. CHECK. let him narrowly escape to save the day. CHECK.
I like the individual works of Mike Maden, Marc Cameron, and Mark Greaney , before they were Clancy, so I may be biased.( I wish Maden and Cameron would return to their own work, as Greaney has, but it is not everyone who gets to write a "Clancy" novel) I am in the minority who prefer the newer writers in the series. I read "Hunt for red October" when it first came out. [I still have a few older "Jack Ryan" books on my too read shelf. I find them unnecessarily complex.] However, this was a decent read, not one of the best, but certainly not the worst, in MY opinion. I know it is a "Jack Ryan jr." novel, but i like the whole "Campus" Team aspect. JRJ does not seem all that bright, Intelligence agent wise -"girl ties to kill me and cut off my head. call for backup? go home? nope, off to Sarajevo". and, oh, by the way, any educated country with internet access, CNN or any other news station.(if you care or not)BY NEWS INUNDATION YOU KNOW WHO THE PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA, NORTH KOREA, AND THE UNITED STATES ARE!
my big 'peeves" in this are :
why exactly does "Aida Curic" track jack jr. down for? that makes no sense. wasn't a better way to tie it in?
a senior Intelligence officer tells him the three "Police officers" he left alive with Aida's cousin were actually a branch of Russian Intelligence, and are now dead. does this set off any alarms? does he follow up and check his own sources? nope. believe the girl who came out of nowhere who tells you "he hates Muslims, he is a liar". wow.
of course, he stumbles across the plot. tell's Gavin, but tell's him"keep it to yourself for now.
manages to save the day, escaping by helicopter " 100 yards away".....
in the beginning of the book EIGHT city blocks ceased to exist when hit with 420 thermobaric rockets(huge shock wave, firestorm induced vacuum eliminating all oxygen). so how is it he escapes in a small helicopter 100 yards away from a concentrated blast of 20 x 220 mm warheads in a confined space? either by blast, firestorm, vacuum or shock wave, there would not be anything left to identify.
and PLEASE, stop with the "Jack and his tragic love life" arcs. IF (and I do on occasion) I wanted to read a romance novel, I will read a romance novel.#1 unknowingly dated a girl who's sole mission was to spy on him. #2 "dated" an Iranian dissident who's rich father warned him off. and now, #3 an evil soulless heartless Bosnian "Mafia princess" who led him around by the...er, nose. just me, but I have had enough of this particular portion of his "tunnel vision". at some point is the team going to be compromised because he's paying more attention to a pretty girl than the mission? I want to see the team in action,I could not care when, if ever JRJ meets a "nice girl"
and not to ruffle any feathers with "Clancy" purists, but let's be realistic. years ago "Tom Clancy" became an International BRAND. that is a moneymaker. which is mainly what selling books is about people who say "Clancy wouldn't approve/ Clancy wouldn't have written"try to remember 1989-2006 the EARLY "OP Center" (I like the SECOND continuation)and the (unrealistic/to sci fi-ish/idiotic{MO}) "NET Force" books, they had "TOM CLANCY" right on the cover, too. and most of those books were (again MO) awful. I know, because I slogged through them, for the simple fact I loved "Red October' and they had "Tom Clancy" on the cover. that was using the power of the Tom Clancy brand to sell books and make money. I am not against that by any means. I wish I were as blessed and creative as these authors.
I am in no way down on Tom Clancy. different times, different styles. and this has not put me off the series. I did not think this was bad, it is just that the authors have spoiled me, and when I don't get the usual standard I was expecting, I write things like this. I am waiting for the next installment, just hope it's JRJ drama free.