October 28, 2022 - Staff Reviews

Dead or Alive

By Tom Clancy & Grant Blackwood

Release Date: December 7, 2010 

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/611981

3.5 Stars - A worthy if wordy entry into the Ryan series that moves so many of Clancy's best characters more into the modern world of terrorism. Plus, we get to see some new guys in action too. This may not be the series top work, but it's certainly entertaining. I personally found it a breath of fresh air in comparison to the latest ones.   It's a transition novel of sorts, but surely worth the effort for anyone into the Ryan universe.

This one has much more going than the previous entry (Teeth of the Tiger). It manages to maintain an exciting pace. It was fun to revisit one of my favorite series and hit some stories I missed. Blackwood isn't my favorite author of the series but this one still has enough trademark Clancy style to feel authentic (which sadly hasn't been the case since Greaney left the team in like 2016). Jack Jr. is falling nicely into his super spook role now, taking on more fieldwork than his father did, but still learning as an analyst too. Jack Sr. is considering another run for the presidency but he's pretty content returning to his life as a non fiction writer and scholar.

Unlike the prior novel that started with a bang and quickly fizzled, this one manages to do better. The Campus is still getting established. We're getting juicy back stories on all the characters that will soon make up the team. From rehashing some of Clark's war stories to meeting Army Ranger in trouble Sam Driscoll, it's all a lot more exciting. I'll say it's still a lot of info but it's Clancy's way of painting very dynamic characters. Also the hunt for The Emir is really livening up. We've got more action, even in the first half of the book. Of course, everyone likes to complain this second series isn't vintage Clancy. It doesn't bother me. This is still like 85% Clancy. A few things bugged me. Why did they make a point of Ryan discussing his election campaign with his staff but not his family? Did Sr and Jr really not get into Jack's new job position or they did they? There's still a bit of dragging around the two-thirds mark. But overall, this is a great entry in the Ryan cannon of books and made me disappointed in the newest novels all over again. This isn't an easy weekend read, but that just means there's plenty to sink your teeth into here. Lots of action and intriguing characters all over the place.

(NS)

August 26, 2022 - Staff Reviews

Chain of Command

By Tom Clancy/Marc Cameron

Release Date: November 16, 2021

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/6070352

3 Stars - A fine book, but not a good Jack Ryan book. Cameron handles the thriller portion of it and brings his own sharp style as usual. President Jack Ryan faces one of the hardest days of his life when the First Lady is kidnapped, and it takes the help of old friends to unravel who was behind it. It took a long time for the action to really get rolling but it was entertaining anyway.

Cameron is suitable choice for the long-running series. His law enforcement background makes him adept to take over the action scenes, and he has a similar sense of humor to Clancy that we see briefly. However, this is a real disappointment again to most of us traditional fans. Jack Sr. and Jack Jr. do nothing in this book except step aside. And then it's almost as if Cameron got 3/4 finished and went "yeah, they can't do anything. Just end it." The Campus of course steals the show doing all the legwork and just stumbling into the case as usual.  This has credible action sequences, fairly good dialouge, and a lot of honest and straightforward political fair. But it's hard not to be slightly disappointed. 

The appearances of Dom, Adara, Clark, Ding, etc. are all perfunctory. Clark daughter/Ding's wife's name is Patsy not Patty, a detail no one cared to catch on edit. Along with a couple typos. Background previous book details are wrong. (Mary Pat did not help Jack take on the IRA.) The action is mainly at Adara's helm. But Cameron is not great with female leads. Adara is running black ops missions unaware or ignoring the fact she's pregnant? I don't think so. She's the medic. Jack Sr. steps aside to let his new and very smart VP do the heavy work. And Jack Jr. is sidelined as well. The father and son duo hug it out in an awkward scene where Cameron calls the President through Jr.'s eyes "The Old Man" three times on a half page instead of "Dad", "his father", or "Senior". Someone should have turned this into a great standalone First Lady kidnapping thriller. None of the characters lived up to their potential good or evil, though they were fairly likable or at least memorable. This book was good, but it could have been great. 

(NS)