Plenty of excitement for Clancy fans.
Chinese president Li Jian Jun plans a sneak attack on Taiwan, and it’s up to the Jack Ryan administration to stop him without going to war.
President Li announces a naval exercise, but his real plan is Operation Sea Serpent, the lightning reunification of Taiwan. His minister of defense, Admiral Qin Hâiyû, thinks the idea is crazy because a great number of people would die, but he can’t say so. Li is not a man to be challenged, and he’s already had one of his ministers executed. But Qin wants to stop the war before it begins. Perhaps he can get word to the Americans so they can cut off the mad scheme, and he’s troubled by whether his actions will make him a traitor or a patriot. A Western asset nicknamed the Spider helps facilitate his dangerous disappearance as he attempts to leave China, and authorities in Beijing don’t know if he’s been kidnapped or has defected. Meanwhile, the Ryan administration wants to get him safely extracted from mainland China. President Ryan orders that an American naval vessel will transit through the Strait of Taiwan, which the People’s Republic has blockaded. Will there be a bloody showdown that triggers a major war? So much can go wrong, and there are series regulars like John Clark and Ding Chavez at the tip of the spear. And there’s also Katie Ryan, a lieutenant commander with the Office of Naval Intelligence who’s deployed to Taiwan because she’s “one hell of an intelligence analyst” who “thinks outside the box.” She’s a “rising star” who refuses to trade on her relationship with her father, President Ryan. There’s not much violence, although there’s enough to call it a military thriller. One brave American is fading fast from a round to his chest, but he has time to smile about that “hot” Katie Ryan. (Yes, yes, we all like the Ryans.) The novel’s big question is not which nation wins, but whether they fight. Bravery and clear thinking will have to come from both sides. By the way, Jack Junior isn’t in this one—it’s Katie’s time to shine.
Plenty of excitement for Clancy fans.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593717974
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.
Evildoers plan attacks from America to India, and Jack Ryan Jr. is a prime target.
In Washington state, a man and his family are murdered, and President Jack Ryan learns it is another Poseidon Spear incident. Three retired members of that counterterrorism group have been killed now, and the U.S. government suspects a mole in its midst. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Revolutionary Council believes it has a holy and wholly anti-American mission. Against this backdrop, Jack Ryan Jr., and his fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, visit Delhi, India, to attend the wedding of Srini Rai, the brilliant surgeon who attached Lisanne’s prosthetic left arm. Lisanne had lost her arm in Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon (2020). Jack and Lisanne are both operators working for the Campus, a covert group that executes secret presidential directives. A wedding is a happy occasion, and the engaged American couple intend the trip as a vacation. Jack and Lisanne will attend a sangeet, an elaborate pre-wedding party. But it isn’t long before they survive a suicide bomb attack. As with all Clancy novels, there’s plenty of action on a global scale. In simultaneous strikes, terrorists plan to contaminate America’s Western water supply with radioactive waste from Washington’s Hanford nuclear power plant, blow up a spectacular new bridge in Kashmir, and kill the evil Ryan—or Junior, at least. It will be At-Takwir, the end of days. There is an appealing mix of Indian culture, high-speed action, and the rich lode of details that characterizes the whole series. And in the background lingers the question on several characters’ minds: Have Jack and Lisanne set their own wedding date?
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718032
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
