Book Review: Tom Clancy’s Code of Honor, Jack Ryan Book 28, Marc Cameron
Thriller: Tom Clancy’s Code of Honor, Jack Ryan Book 28, Marc Cameron
President Jack Ryan and Father Pat West have been friends since high school. Before becoming a priest, Father West spent some time in the CIA, his time overlapping with Ryan’s. So when Father West discovers a plot by the Chinese to steal a very high tech computer program, his first response is to text his old friend.
Elements in the Chinese military are engaged in an elaborate plot, not only to steal this software, but to use it to cripple the US. President Ryan is confronted on multiple fronts: politically one of his rivals is being manipulated by the Chinese to bring him down. Militarily, this software has new capabilities that can affect multiple systems simultaneously, leaving no trace of itself behind. And personally, his old friend is in grave danger, and acting to save him could destabilize an entire region.
Fans of Tom Clancy and the Jack Ryan series will recognize many of the main characters. President Jack Ryan. Mary Pat Foley. John Clark. Ding Chavez. Jack Ryan, Jr. They will also recognize the main themes: a serious enemy presenting multiple threats and requiring all of the resources that the president can bring to bear.
Admittedly, this book does not plow a lot of new ground. The characters are well established. The stakes are traditionally high. The action is global and deadly. These are not criticisms. I read Tom Clancy books for the familiarity. They evoke an America I want to believe in but don’t always see in real life, an America that stands for high ideals, that supports the downtrodden and oppressed, that refuses to concede the moral high ground, that puts principles ahead of politics. I may look at the newspaper and despair. I read Tom Clancy novels to be inspired and hopeful and dream of an America that is great because it is good.
Marc Cameron does a solid job carrying on the Clancy legacy. His heroes are both good people and talented operatives, and if they are a little too good to be true, I can live with that in my fun reading. Jack Ryan is larger than life, just as he has been since the 1980s. If the problems faced by President Ryan are also larger than life, we can appreciate the need for such a character to confront them.
Book Review: Tom Clancy’s Code of Honor, Jack Ryan Book 28, Marc Cameron