Power and Empire

November 6, 2017
In this superior franchise entry, Cameron (Field of Fire) delivers plenty of action along with the spycraft and weapons details that Tom Clancy fans have always loved. President Jack Ryan is dealing with confrontations with China over maritime claims in the South China Seas; his son, Jack Jr., is working with FBI special agent Kelsey Callahan to destroy a child sex slavery operation; and John Clark, Jack Jr.’s boss at the Campus, a covert antiterrorism organization, is searching for Magdalena Rojas, a 13-year-old girl who’s been trafficked. Cameron successfully juggles the three separate plot lines, each engrossing on its own, and seamlessly stitches them together by novel’s end. The original Clancy characters often get short shrift in these series continuations, but not here: both Ryans receive an impressive amount of page time, and the highly competent and often ruthless Clark gets to show why he is “a legend in the intelligence community.” All the writers who have contributed to this series since Clancy’s death have been good, but Cameron’s formidable performance puts him at the head of the pack. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, WME.