Review of "Threat Vector," by Tom Clancy with Mark Greaney

 Review of

Threat Vector, by Tom Clancy with Mark Greaney ISBN 9780399160455

Five out of five stars

Modern threats from China

 I have always found the Tom Clancy novels to be highly entertaining, but this one was a little better. As a long-time college professor of mathematics and computer science, the cyberwarfare elements of the plot were especially significant.

 The premise is that there is a political upheaval in the leadership of the People’s Republic of China. One side is the political leadership under president and economist Wei Zhen Lin. The Chinese economy is undergoing difficulties and although Lin knows the problems, the balance of the Politburo refuses to accept it. At the point where he will be gone in minutes, Lin is rescued by the forces under the command of Su Ke Qiang, the chair of the Central Military Commission. The two form a pact where Lin will stay in power as long as Qiang can engage in military adventurism in the offshore areas of China.

 One of the major assets that the Chinese have is Dr. Tong Kwok Kwan, a computer genius capable of managing the infiltration of the most hardened of computer networks. With the advantages of the data and computer glitches that Tong is capable of, the Chinese military forces engage in a low-level shooting war with the forces of Taiwan and other Asian countries. United States forces are also involved.

 Jack Ryan is President of the United States, and his son Jack Jr. is an operative of an organization called “The Campus,” where the operatives engage in clandestine actions that the U. S. government wants but cannot directly execute. Ding Chavez and John Clark are also Campus operatives.

 The action is energetic, carried out in Europe, Asia, and in the United States with the stakes being extremely high. Yet, what makes the book work is the multiple supporting characters. There is a CIA operative in Hong Kong, a known cybercriminal, a Russian spy out of Clark’s past, a girlfriend of Jack Ryan Jr., a compromised seller of computer equipment, a superb head of IT for the Campus, and other military and political people. Many of which were also in other books featuring Jack Ryan Sr.

 It is not a spoiler to say that the United States wins in the end. This is a story where you can know the end result on the first page, yet thoroughly enjoy the journey to the last page.

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