November 24, 2021 - Staff Reviews

 

Against All Enemies

By Tom Clancy & Peter Telep

Release Date: June 14, 2011

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/575187

3.5 Stars - Not exactly vintage action from Clancy but exciting anyway. This standalone has more villians than heroes but a few surprised me. Maxwell Moore was a very intriguing hero who is at the same is a veteran operator but also just getting started.

Peter Telep's influence seemed a little heavier than some of Clancy's other coauthors. There's not usually so much emphasis on weapons and procedures, though as always getting a look into the spy mind is interesting. But the crispness of the action sequences are spotlight as usual. Moore is a hero with touches of some other Clancy characters but still unique. His SEAL training is outlined for us but his personal life is a bit of a mess. Of course. It's hard to be a spy and have a life.

There were so many characters running around that no doubt some will have trouble keeping track. But that's nothing new in the Clancy-verse world. And this isn't a bad book to either start into the Jack Ryan world or just fill a weekend since it's all entirely new people. Moore goes through a handful of sidekicks depending on the time and place but they're all fun. The drug dealers and empire family members are very entertaining, even surprisingly likable. The terrorists on the other hand are clearly ruthless and their level of cleverness takes awhile to determine. This also felt like there was a touch of cringey-ness, a bit more gruesome violence, sex, and evil villians than usual. At times, the violence is enough to make even a tough reader squirm but it's easily forgotten in the breathless pace. Yes, there's a lot of wordy description and info dump sections. But once you get comfortable or maybe relax even, things pick back up again. Not exactly what an avid Clancy fan would expect but still very impressive compared against many newer action thrillers.

(NS)