Tom Gibson

The authors of this series are allowed to use Tom Clancy’s characters and build on the overall story arc (the Ryan-verse, if you will), but this book could not be further from Clancy’s style or intricate plot designs. The biggest glaring error now make siblings Katie (Sandbox) and Kyle twins. They even refer to the attempted kidnapping of “Sandbox” from daycare which true Clancy fans know took place before Kyle was even born! I’m certain this is an attempt to branch off the overworked Jack Jr. story line and establish Katie as a “chippette off the old block” as the modern, woke, female, reluctant action hero, and it almost works. Problem is, Katie does not actually possess the key knowledge that makes her presence in “the thick of the action” absolutely mandatory nor do her actions directly contribute to the resolution of the main plot line. She does put pieces of the plot together quicker than others due to her “Ryan DNA,” but she doesn’t directly save the day, but is just on the scene (unnecessarily?) when others do the heavy lifting. Jack Jr. Is almost omitted from this story, as is Gerry Hendley and a few other key Campus operatives. I also find the actions of John Clark to be slightly out of character. His solo implementation of “the Ryan Doctrine” - at least in this reader’s opinion - borders on rogue action and not in keeping with the normal operating parameters of The Campus, or as a soldier in the trenches reporting back to DNI, Mary Pat. It is more reminiscent of John Kelly, the avenging angel, rather than the seasoned operative, John Clark. Overall, a derivative story with several huge flaws, and slow to ramp up. It fails to capture the essence of the Clancy style and stretches the Ryan-verse in directions I seriously doubt even Mr. Clancy would have gone. Frankly, just how many world ending crises can take place during the four years of the second Ryan administration? I fear the Clancy estate has allowed the sanctioned writers to overwork the Ryan-verse timeline and the series is fast approaching graphic novel and pulp fiction territory.