content: I swore off Clancy after Patriot Games. Too many words, thinly-drawn characters, language out of the '50s movies he grew up on.(I grew up on them, too; does anyone actually use the word "pal" anymore?) But I made the mistake of buying this one. It's based on an interesting idea (with one interesting character -- the Russian), but Clancy has no sense of character, so he just writes and writes and pages pile up and nothing happens and you don't really care about anybody. It must be the Stephen King syndrome. The author has become so commercially successful, nobody can edit him.Be warned. This one ain't worth the effort. And if I ever buy another Clancy book, I hope my wife kicks me right in the butt.For much better writing, try LeCarre for espionage and Stephen Hunter for paramilitary.