Every time you see a “Tom Clancy” novel, you feel two emotions: One, excitement that the cool character of Jack Ryan is still going strong even though his creator has passed away. And, two, pride for writer Mark Greaney who continues the Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan tradition in a way that would make Clancy extremely happy.
Terrorists are plotting to bring the United States to its knees and start a war. U.S. President Jack Ryan will be facing a new challenge; one that seems far more difficult than anything he ever had to face in the past.
Classified information that includes long, in-depth profiles of the U.S.’s top-ranking military personnel and, more important, undercover operators, is being sold on the black market. ISIS is of course involved, but they are not looking to kill the “average soldier.” What they want to kill is a far more high-profile target in order to upset the people and force war to commence.
When bodies start to pile up, President Ryan decides to turn to “The Campus,” which happens to be an off-the-books government agency. Shorthanded, they are forced into working their operators at top speed; one of their operators just happens to be Jack Ryan, Jr., the President’s son.
Soon plot lines are popping up all over the place as Ryan, Jr. takes the place of Ryan, Sr. mirroring the first Clancy novels ever written. Son steps into dad’s shoes and fills them perfectly, as his investigation reveals something secretive that has worked its way into the inner parts of our nation and started a clock ticking that can only be stopped by the President, himself.
The regular cast of characters is on hand, and author Mark Greaney should continue to be applauded for writing yet another true, fresh, thrilling page-turner that, unbelievably, is nearly eight hundred pages long.

Reviewed by Mary Lignor, Professional Librarian and Co-Owner of The Write Companion for Suspense Magazine