Reading this was entirely an exercise in reading something that lies way outside my comfort zone. Why is it outside my comfort zone? Well, it's not aimed at me for a start; I'm a woman, and I'm not American. I knew what I was taking on; it's a thriller, by a mega-bestselling author who specialises in a particular kind of macho, flag-waving, Budweiser-swilling, big-dick, patriotic, all-action Americana. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, if the writing's good and knowing that I had every opportunity to avoid reading it in full knowledge of what it was. And besides I don't always conform to type. I love the spy thrillers of John le Carr�� and while your standard Action Movie leaves me cold (Bond films in particular because actually I'm quite fond of Fleming's original Bond books) I do have a big soft spot for The Dirty Dozen for reasons I've never fully understood. So, I was determined to see this one through.Anyway, the premise of this 900-page doorstop is something like this. CIA spook and alleged family guy Jack Ryan becomes President by accident after a Japanese airline pilot flies a 747 into a packed Capitol (yes, really!) wiping out both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court and a goodly part of the Washington establishment. Yes, it's a Tea Party wet dream! Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, the demented leader of Iran takes advantage of the situation to take over Iraq and launch an invasion of Saudi Arabia with the wildly improbable cooperation of both India and China. And to complicate things, also attempts to kidnap the president's younger daughter and start an epidemic of haemorrhagic fever amongst America's car salesmen (you feel like shouting "Yay!" at that point)Ok, it's fantasy stuff (Le Carr�� always has the ring of authenticity, not least because he was a real spook while Clancy was an insurance salesman) and that's fine if it's well-written. The big problem is that it's appallingly badly written. To be fair, Clancy knows his stuff about military hardware and he's obviously done his homework about life in the White House; in fact those are the most interesting bits although still a poor substitute for The West Wing. The rest is just dismal. Violence? I wish there was some. For great stretches nothing happens at all except digressions on Clancyan hobby-horses like why the US tax system needs reform. There's no humanity; we keep being told how much President Ryan loves his family but we never see any evidence; he never takes time to read his youngest a story, or play with his son, or have conflicts with his teenage daughter. In fact by the end of the 900 pages we know hardly any more about the children than we did at the beginning. There's the endless pauses while the author stops to explain some trivial point to his braindead readership (hey, naval parlance still talks about a ship 'steaming' even though a modern ship's engines don't do it that way, isn't that amazing, tell Ripley's Believe It Or Not at once!) Foreigners, of course, are meekly compliant and admiring (Russians, would you believe?) or sinister, devious, comic-book villians (Gadzooks! My master plan has been foiled again by those pesky Americans!).Worst of all, though, is the sickly sentimentality of it all. The triumph of Mom's Apple Pie, beer and franks at the Ball Game and the Grand ol' Opry, with the mean streets of South Central LA and West Baltimore kept well out of the way in the Free Speech Zone. Hell, they love their President so much there's not a whisper of a protest even when the unelected President Ryan overrides the constitution to impose a ban on crossing state lines. I can think of one president who'd be glad of a tiny fraction of the cooperation from his truculent nation. And no, I'm not being unpatriotic: the US is a foreign country to me, I'm an alien there (I've been told as much in no uncertain terms) and owe no allegiange to Old Glory.Ok, it was an experiment, and I'm glad I read it. But I don't think I'll be going back that way any time soon.
In some ways, I hesitate to write about this book because it’s been out so long that everyone who will read this kind of thing already has. Master spook Jack Ryan has been sworn into the presidency minutes after a massive terrorist-sponsored explosion destroys the U.S. capitol building, killing nearly all of the members of Congress and the president. Ryan had been named vice president minutes earlier when a political scandal forced the resignation of the former vice president. This is an edge-of-the-chair tapestry—not merely a story, but a veritable tapestry of plots and subplots—all dealing with how Ryan restores the government against huge odds while international powers seek to destroy the nation from without.This is a book that includes numerous subplots, and you jump from one to another instantly and without warning. If you let your mind wander during this one, you will miss crucial bits of information on which hangs the rest of the book. It will require your full concentration, and you’ll have no problem proffering that, so well written is this book. Clancy crafts this so as not to offend his readers too much; they won’t agree with every decision Jack Ryan makes or every policy to which he ascribes, but it’s written such that regardless of which side of the aisle you’re comfortable being on, you’ll cheer for the beleaguered president and those who want him to succeed.There are horrifying graphic scenes in the book. You’ll learn with chilling tension how easy it is for a terrorist to introduce deadly viruses into the nation. The horrors of Ebola are described graphically here. I read this while battling a respiratory thing, and it only served to heighten my sense of terror at the ease by which Ebola was introduced into the nation and the description of the disease’s impact on various organs.These plotlines are intricately woven. The military scenes here are classic Clancy. The descriptions are riveting and concise, and you can easily picture the battles in your mind.As I wrote above, most of you who like this kind of fiction will have long, long ago read this. I feel sorry for people who perfunctorily write off Clancy’s books. These are studies in intricacy, character development, and thought-provoking scenarios that will keep you up with your mind churning. I have to admit that I’ve been a bit jumpy at work the last couple of days. Any time someone sneezed or coughed, I found myself instantly asking, only partly in jest, whether this was the beginning of the new plague that is really only an airplane ride away from any of us.If you’ve always intended to read this one-time bestseller turned military fiction classic, perhaps now is as good a time as any to do it. Clancy drops the F-bomb here several times, and the name of God is taken in vain rather frequently, as you might expect in a book whose characters are stressed-out military types. But it will remain with me for a long time to come.
What do You think about Executive Orders (1998)?
Jack Ryan becomes the president through a series of unlikely events, and in doing so he loses a lot of what makes him an interesting character to read about. Fundamentally, it's the same as what makes him good in past books: he gets thrust unwittingly into these situations. But when he's in the field it's different than when he's behind a desk.Also dragging down Executive Orders are the sheer number of plots that never seem to amount to a damn thing. Pages are spent on the scumbag ex-VP and the crazy militia guys, and the potential conflict they represent isn't so much resolved as it fizzles out.
—Mark
It was an effort to get past the last one, Debt of Honor, but I was hooked by the cliffhanger from the end of Debt of Honor. There did not seem to be an editor involved in writing this book. There were far to many instances of poor word choices, including several instances of just plain incorrect words; one specific example referencing an Apache helicopter, and referencing the same pilot in an airplane later in the paragraph. Can characters be less than one dimensional? Would that be what half-baked ideas are? To paraphrase (actual steal and change) from Spaceballs, "now you see that good will always triumph because evil is dumb." The succession obstacle that Ryan faces could have been so much better and created a real conflict, as opposed to the farcical disembarkation from a clown car that it was, as written. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This will be the last Tom Clancy book that I read.
—Peter
I’ve just finished the full Clancy meal of Middle-eastern bioterrorism, complete with raw Islamic take-over-the-world philosophies, global political conspiring, spicy special ops, presidential corruption, intrigue, and outright war. At a mere 1358 pages, how much terrorism can one author pack into one explosive novel? Executive Orders answers decisively in a prescient and potent way. Our hero, Jack Ryan, has become an unconventional leader of men forging a way for a hopeful American reality; the parallel to our own economic and international trials, profound (where is such a leader for our own time?). My personal favorite, Mr. Clark, is such a phenomenal asset (and person), one can only hope and pray that there are authentic “Mr. Clarks” out there operating on the planetary edge protecting American interests. With bio-weapons, the meatiest of several concurrent plots on the EO menu, it was inevitable that Jack’s wife (again) play a significant portion, stirring up my personal ire. A prominent physician at Johns Hopkins, character Cathy Ryan tells us directly that her job is who she is. Her career is more important than the safety of her husband, and children, more important than the needs of her family or of her country. She is very good at being a doctor. She likes what she does. She takes pride in helping patients, and in the recognition she receives for being the best, and this takes precedence over all else. Throughout the series, I’ve struggled with Dr/Mrs. Ryan’s decisions as the author force feeds a hard focus on life at the center of the 2 career power family. Tom Clancy’s gift for storytelling lies in his fantastically researched details. The mind tastes first the fine print while the soul ponders the ethical questions of war, terrorism, religion, politics, family, careers, skill, service, and sacrifice. Clancy’s medical accuracy, as a nurse, I can attest to. As a wife and mother, I’d like to see his women given opportunity to be more than professional players in a solely business-like world. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the WorldBlessings on the hand of women!Angels guard its strength and grace,In the palace, cottage, hovel,Oh, no matter where the place;Would that never storms assailed it,Rainbows ever gently curled;For the hand that rocks the cradleIs the hand that rules the world.Infancy's the tender fountain,Power may with beauty flow,Mother's first to guide the streamlets,From them souls unresting grow--Grow on for the good or evil,Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;For the hand that rocks the cradleIs the hand that rules the world.Woman, how divine your missionHere upon our natal sod!Keep, oh, keep the young heart openAlways to the breath of God!All true trophies of the agesAre from mother-love impearled;For the hand that rocks the cradleIs the hand that rules the world.Blessings on the hand of women!Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,And the sacred song is mingledWith the worship in the sky--Mingles where no tempest darkens,Rainbows evermore are hurled;For the hand that rocks the cradleIs the hand that rules the world.William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)
—Janet
