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.

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: FALLOUT

4 stars out of 5

Embarrassing but true factoid: Although I'm somewhat of a Tom Clancy "regular," this is the first of the 21 previously written Op-Center books I've read. It won't, I assure, be the last unless for some reason they stop being written. That's despite not being a big fan of espionage, torture (especially torture) and all that gory military stuff.

Members of the uber-secret Black Wasp group affiliated with the (so far) government-sanctioned Op-Center pulled off a coup that made the Chinese look bad - or so they decided - and they retaliated with an almost unthinkable act. Trying to get to the bottom of it - and prevent escalation - Chase Williams, head of the Op-Center, agrees to meet with a man who's been trusted by Matt Berry, head of think tank Trigram Institute. That, alas, didn't turn out well; and now, the other Op-Center members are on high alert against real threats to their own lives while at the same time trying to figure out how to help their much-admired commander. Thrown in the mix is a Chinese defector and his family - a man the Chinese very much want back - and a wishy-washy President who doesn't seem to have a backbone.

It's all very fast-paced and, as might be expected, the outcome goes right down to the wire. There's even a cliffhanger that could change the direction of future books. None of this I can elaborate upon without spoiling things for other readers, but suffice it to say it's all very exciting and forced me to delay bedtime in order to find out how things turned out. And just for the record, two other things: first, there's really not a ton of the aforementioned gory military stuff; and second, the book really, really needs another serious editing pass. Way too many glaring errors to be overlooked at this stage of the game. That said, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Bring on the next one - I'm eager to see how that cliffhanger is resolved!

Tom Clancy's Op-Center: Fallout by Jeff Rovin (St. Martin's Griffin, May 2023); 336 pp.

THIEF OF SOULS

4 stars out of 5

This was a bit of a challenging read for me, but through no fault of the author. It takes place in China - a country about which I know very little - at least before I finished this book. It was hard to keep the characters straight (China, it appears, has several common names like Smith and Jones are in the United States). But the star of the show, Inspector Lu Fei (this is the first book in a series about him), was easy to remember and like as he grapples with life and work in a sort of backwoods town despite being a highly trained police officer. And the exposition - plus little snippets of wisdom from Chairman Nao Zedong - bolstered the story and helped me learn more about the country.

Most crimes in Lu's little town are minor, until a young woman is found with three major organs removed and sutures similar to an autopsy. Because those three organs - lungs, heart and liver - have been associated with spiritual or mental attributes, one theory is that the killer was trying to "steal the soul" of the victim. Other clues, though, such as a pair of expensive Loubutin high heels that appear to have gone missing, lead Fu in other directions, no matter where or to whom they lead. But while Fu would be happy to handle the case by himself and his department, higher-ups insist on getting involved because of "weiwen" - in today's China, stability always takes precedence over public safety.

Still, he remains intent on finding the killer - especially when he turns up links to previous unsolved murders. But going where needs to go puts himself squarely between Communist Party leaders for whom corruption is the order of the day, resistence from bosses whose only goal is to solve the crime quickly and sweep the whole thing under the rug. There's a fair amount of action - some of which puts Fu's life on the line - before the story ends.

An enjoyable read overall, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg (Minotaur Books, May 2021); 281 pp.

UNDERTOW OF LOYALTY

3 stars out of 5

All things considered, this is a good choice for those interested in espionage and high technology with a few twists added in. Getting the most enjoyment out of it, though, requires buying into the notion that jealousy has a place in a marriage and that otherwise reprehensible behavior performed while under the influence of that emotion can be rationalized as acceptable. For better or worse I do not, thus making it impossible for me to empathize (or sympathize) with either of the two main characters.

One of them is Neil Henberlin (a.k.a. Neo Henbrin, for no apparent reason); he's in the business of sales for a company called R.E.S., which manufactures some kind of super-secret processor/work station/software related to the oil and gas industry. Unbenownst to anyone except his handler, he's also a Canada Security Intellilgence Service spy, helping his country by pretending to have an affair with, and providing secret information to, the beautiful Chinese double agent Yanmei Albin during meetings in Neil's secret apartment. 

But early on, the second main character, Neil's wife Leyna - a woman who is unable to deal with no longer being the apple of her successful politician father's eye (and being a media darling) - discovers the existence of both Yanmei and the apartment. Immediately, she concludes that her husband and Yanmei are having an affair, thus adding another facet to her emotional misery.

Of course, Neil fiercely denies any romantic liaisons; but he is under orders to not reveal his spy status or the real reason for his meetings with Yanmei. Leyna takes no comfort from her husband's denial, and her imagination grows wilder by the minute. And then, something terrible happens in the secret apartment that puts Neil between a rock and a hard place - in trouble with his R.E.S. family, his CSIS handler, Yanmei's elderly but powerful father and yes, his wife. To whom does he owe the most loyalty? Can he keep the government's secrets safe, resolve all the issues and satisfy everyone concerned without someone getting killed or put in jail?

If you want to find out, you'll just have to read the book. As for me, I thank the author for providing a copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Undertow of Loyalty by M.D. Davies (Creativia, November 2017); 279 pp.