TOM CLANCY LINE OF DEMARCATION

5 stars out of 5

The late play-by-play announcer at a local high school's football games was known for his occasional on-air promotion: " Buy a program - you can't tell the players without a program." Well, as is customary with the Clancy books, this one begins with a list of players. And I'm here to tell you that it really didn't matter much. Even with that list, it was almost impossible to tell the good guys and gals from the bad except for the "stars" of the show.

Another hallmark of the series, of course, is nonstop action. Here, you can't catch a break for a second - starting with an opening salvo fired - with dire consequences - at a U.S. Coast Guard cutter on patrol near oil rigs off the coast of Guyana. It is an act that, depending on politics, diplomacy, negotiations and who's willing to start a war, has the potential to rock world order. 

A perfect setting, then, for Jack Ryan Jr., son of U.S. President Jack Ryan, and his band of brothers and sisters who work both the "white" and "black" sides of their company, Hendley Associates. As the story unfolds, Jack is plying his "white" side activities (meaning legitimate business) in nearby Georgetown, looking to land an export license from the Guyana government - totally unaware of the Coast Guard cutter disaster - when he runs into a situation involving some really nasty characters that requires him to hang around and ply his considerable "black" side skills.

Chapters shift from one scenario to the other - the oil rig involving U.S. security forces at the highest level - and before too long (as most readers will suspect) it becomes clear that the two situations are connected. Still, the danger is real; Jack's life is in danger, as is that of one of The Campus's most accomplished undercover agents and Jack's fiance, Lisanne (also a top agent). As I mentioned at the beginning, it's pretty much nonstop action as usual, but that's a large part of what makes this series so good. As for me, I'll heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Well done once again!

Tom Clancy Line of Demarcation by M.P. Woodward (G.P. Putnam's Sons, May 2025); 396 pp.

TOM CLANCY SHADOW STATE

4 stars out of 5

Fighting the elements and some really nasty bad guys in the middle of a Vietnamese jungle isn't a particularly desirable topic for my reading enjoyment, I must admit. But if anyone could entice me to stick with it it's Jack Ryan Jr., the son of U.S. President Jack Ryan. He's a pretty cool dude, after all, and it's always an extra treat to re-meet his teammates at the mostly clandestine Hendley Associates - including his fiance.

The situation here is that the United States has developed a device that somehow masks airplanes so they can move in and out of other countries' air space without detection. Making more of them, though, requires hard-to-find rare earth minerals; one company, GeoTech, is a highly successful miner of these minerals. To that end, the "legitimate" business of Hendley is in serious negotiations to acquire the company for an astronomical sum. Wanting to avoid taking a financial bath, Jack Jr. is sent to Vietnam to do an up-close-and-personal audit to satisfy the lender and Hendley execs before the final handshake takes place.

But early on, it all goes sideways; Jack begins to smell a rat and demands to visit one of the company's facilities in that remote jungle location. On the way, the helicopter in which he's [reluctantly] traveling goes down, taking with it all but Jack and one other passenger. With no food, no water and no bars on their cell phones, the two must try to find their way to some semblance of safety before the jungle eats them alive (trust me, the mosquitos do more than their fair share). And that's before they meet up with some characters who seem bent on making sure they don't survive - or worse, are captured by a foreign enemy.

The whole thing is a race to the finish, accompanied by a few surprises as to what's really going on behind the scenes. The action heats up toward the end to the point that I stayed up late so as to not wait to finish the last half-dozen chapters till the next morning. Another series winner, for which I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read a pre-release copy (and lose a little sleep).

Tom Clancy Shadow State by M.P. Woodward (G.P. Putnam's Sons, August 2024); 374 pp.