As I read this book, I had the feeling that Clancy has fallen prey to his own legend. The book seemed to be two separate stories pressed into one volume--as though Clancy had the material for two distinct 500-page books, and then said to himself, "But I'm Tom Clancy! I can't write a book this short!" and shoehorned them into a single plotline. The effect is disjointed, and results in a book that doesn't quite hang together.
More troubling is the character of Jack Ryan. In this book, he expresses so much idealism and naivite as to sound unintelligent. It is absurd that a CIA analyst would be shocked at political machinations within the government. Indeed, I had the impression that Jack was a little surprised that his country _had_ a government. I can't imagine that Clancy meant to make his hero sound so ignorant, but that's the effect.
Between the rambling and the bumbling, I'm put off of future Jack Ryan novels. It's too bad, because most of them were great. But for my money, stick a fork in Clancy; he's done.
As I read this book, I had the feeling that Clancy has fallen prey to his own legend. The book seemed to be two separate stories pressed into one volume--as though Clancy had the material for two distinct 500-page books, and then said to himself, "But I'm Tom Clancy! I can't write a book this short! " and shoehorned them into a single plotline. The effect is disjointed, and results in a book that doesn't quite hang together. More troubling is the character of Jack Ryan. In this book, he expresses so much idealism and naivite as to sound unintelligent. It is absurd that a CIA analyst would be shocked at political machinations within the government. Indeed, I had the impression that Jack was a little surprised that his country _had_ a government. I can't imagine that Clancy meant to make his hero sound so ignorant, but that's the effect. Between the rambling and the bumbling, I'm put off of future Jack Ryan novels. It's too bad, because most of them were great. But for my money, stick a fork in Clancy; he's done.