TOM CLANCY DEFENSE PROTOCOL

5 stars out of 5

After reading several of these books, the Jack Ryan family - Jack Sr., his wife Cathy, and children Jack Jr. and Katie - almost feel like family to me (and it doesn't hurt that I'm married to a guy of the same name). But I look forward to reading them because they never fail to disappoint - and this one's no exception. Actually, Jack Jr. doesn't enter the fray here except in the occasional mention of his name - he's got his own series going now - but rising Navy officer Katie sure does. It's fun to watch as she starts to sound and act more like her father - now the President of the United States - every single day. 

This time out, the story involves an attempt by the greedy and corrupt leader of China to attack and take over Taiwan - a headline ripper if there ever was one. But of course, it can't be seen as an outright act of war; the Chinese need to pass the blame on to someone else and have concocted an elaborate plan to accomplish that. But early on, Chinese defense minister Qin Haiyu realizes the damage such an act will cause to their own people - a fact the current leader is choosing to ignore - and surreptitiously passes a message to an American ambassador to sound the alert (silently, of course). It's an act of courage that easily could backfire if if the ambassador doesn't realize what's going on or believes it's some kind of scam - and heaven help him if he's caught. But the man has put his very life on the line, as well as those of his wife and two children, who are enjoying a vacation in the Maldives.

The message was received, but the intent wasn't very clear until Katie offers her insights - demonstrated to be spot-on in a previous book, the powers that be in the United States - including the President and his trusted director of national security, Mary Pat Foley - buy in. Collectively, they lock into the need to get Qin out of China and his family out of the Maldives - as quickly as possible. Given China's nearly impenetrable internal defense systems, accomplishing that is next to impossible; exfiltrating all four puts the U.S. teams in nearly unsurmountable danger. Without help from an internal spy - a woman known as the Night Spider - either or both missions likely will end in failure. But first, they have to get a message to her - and doing that alone could get everyone, including her, very dead.

The rest of the book centers on the details of  both exfiltrations, with chapters shifting from China to the President's office to Katie's latest assignments as well as the Chinese efforts to run up a false flag in the Taiwan takeover effort. As always, it's all very exciting - holding my attention from beginning to end. Also as always, the devil is in the details, but those you'll have to read for yourself. I'll just thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to get in on the action by way of a pre-release copy. Well done once again!

Tom Clancy Defense Protocol by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson (G.P. Putnam's Sons, December 2024); 512 pp.