Background Info
on novels

First Published	August 2003
ISBN	0 718 14502 X
Page Count	431 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

The Ryan Universe has moved on with the passing of the old guard to the new. Jack Ryan (Senior) has left the White House, but not before instigating a clandestine operation to deal with the ever increasing threat of terrorism.

The new unit known as the 'Campus' are hidden behind the face of a medium sized stockbroking house. The Campus is totally self financing so that it has no legal requirement to be regulated by an oversight committee, which would in its end block its efficiency.

The Campus remit? To wage war on the terrorists, playing by the terrorists own rules, but to do it in such a way that the terrorist group targeted does not necessarily know that it is being targeted.

We join the Campus at a turning point. Up until now it has been gathering information and building up its cover, however the unit is of no use without some teeth. These are recruited from the FBI and military, men who will kill terrorists without worrying about their deaths.

Into this comes Jack Ryan (Junior). He has been enquiring about the cover business of Hendley Associates, and talks himself into an analysts job. He however soon finds himself at the sharp end of the business.

Review

Unlike previous Clancy novels it does not contain the technical detail that made him such a prominent and respected author. Instead it seems to contain a lot of 'life according to Clancy'. There is a lot of long winded verbiage on his views on various matters. In the previous books there has always been a small element of this, however a good proportion of this book is wasted on this sort of rubbish. This first started to become noticeable in Executive Orders peaked in Bear and the Dragon. It abated somewhat in Red Rabbit, but has resurfaced with a vengeance in this book.

Whilst the introduction of a new character (Ryan junior) does require a bit of background, the amount of time wasted on various thoughts, such as coffee, how he hates getting up, is pointless, and after the third/fourth reiteration becomes distinctly boring. It is as if Clancy is writing for people with a very short attention span, and needs to remind the public who his characters are. This is a shame as I thought the Clancy readership on the whole were a literate group of people who would keep track of a plot over several days/weeks.

Other failings in this book, are partly to do with culture. His constant referral to the German/Austrian people as being very organized, is all very well but his constant referral to 'ordnung' is repetitive and does nothing to portray the differences found in those countries. This smacks of either laziness or smugness on Clancys part, as it seems to be saying 'hey I learnt a new German phrase aren't I clever'.

That aside there are other technical failings. The method of execution is Ok, rather boring but Ok. The way the missions are started are not. It is so boring as to make you weep. Basically the way to finding the terrorists, consists of someone picking up the email, finding where they are, sending the assassination team to the location, where they immediately find the target. Whilst efficient, it does not make for compelling reading. Rainbow Six fell into a similar trap, whereby everything went smoothly and without problem. A dose of reality would help, as life rarely goes smoothly even with superb training.

The only real action, the attack on the shopping centre is well handled, and is probably the best part of the book, however this probably only fills 10 pages of a 431 page novel.

The book is substantially shorter than his last few, unfortunately the quality has not risen, however the book does not suffer from past production problems such as poor proof reading, which is an improvement. I would guess that Clancy submitted this book on time which allowed for better editing.

The book is obviously the starting point for a new Ryan series. I do question whether the scenario has much left to offer the reader. The idea of a clandestine non government unit has its restrictions, and too many walk up to the target stab him with the pen walk away, will become very tiring. The scenario also does not give Ryan scope for advancement unless he is to become heavily involved in the operations. I can see perhaps one more book to bring the storyline to an end but hope that this will not be a prolonged series.

The book just about merits 3 bookies, and I may be being very generous with that marking. If your are looking to Clancy as a new reader then read any of his books prior to Rainbow Six. Although some are now dated, they are novels that can stand the test of time. As for the future, the message must be 'could do much better'.

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