Enemy Contact

When asked by a dying friend to scatter his ashes on a beloved Chilean hillside, Jack Ryan Jr. readily agrees. And he doesn't back down when he's warned by a former U.S. Army Ranger to desist and subsequently knocked about by thugs who break into his room. What's in those hills?

May 20, 2019
In bestseller Maden’s competent but ponderous third Jack Ryan Jr. novel in the Clancy franchise (after 2018’s Line of Sight), a hacker known as CHIBI, a name that references an 1,800-year-old Chinese battle, is offering actionable intelligence for free to Iran, China, Russia, and a secret agency called the Iron Syndicate as proof that he has the key to all Western intelligence, now stored in the Intelligence Community Cloud. After the value of the material is proven, CHIBI invites the three countries and the syndicate to bid on the master key. Meanwhile, Jack looks into the possibility that a U.S. senator is working with the Chinese. The case takes Jack to Poland, where he teams with Liliana Pilecki, a member of that country’s equivalent of the FBI. As usual, Jack’s professional partner becomes his love interest. During their travels around the countryside, Jack and Liliana sample Polish delicacies over Liliana’s mini lectures on Polish history. Eventually, Jack’s investigation connects with CHIBI, whose identity comes as a shock. Along the way, bad things happen to good people. For less formulaic continuations of the Clancy series, readers should check out the respective works of Mark Greaney and Marc Cameron. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, WME.

June 15, 2019
The latest in the action-filled series of thrillers based on characters created by the late Tom Clancy (Oath of Office, 2018, etc.) and continued here by Maden. Malign forces are trying to steal America's vital secrets, which it keeps in the highly secure IC Cloud. Naturally, a security breach would be catastrophic. China is the biggest cybersecurity threat by far, and it may have American allies. Sen. Deborah Dixon, who wants President Jack Ryan's job, says in a speech that "the future belongs to America and China," and a Ryan aide speculates that she may be in league with the Chinese. Meanwhile, Jack Ryan Jr. is a financial analyst at Hendley Associates who is sent to Poland to see if there is a connection between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Poland. In Warsaw, he is assigned a Polish assistant, Agent Liliana Pilecki. She's good-looking, of course, and exceptionally brave. There's an unrequited sexual tension between them that reflects especially well on Jack Jr. as a heck of a decent guy. Early on, his cancer-stricken friend, Cory, makes a deathbed request that Jack feels honor-bound to keep. "A man keeps his word," he thinks, and he goes to heroic lengths to do so. Jack Ryan Jr. is definitely someone you want on your side, and not because he's the president's son. He is the quintessential good guy--tough, smart, honorable, unafraid. Handcuffed with his hands behind his back atop a Peruvian mountain and saying he needs to pee, he asks a captor for help. "If you're nice, you can hold it for me," he wisecracks. "Of course, you'll have to use both hands." Now that's a red-blooded American. Author Maden's style meshes perfectly with the classic Clancy yarns, with global action, struggle, suffering, and formidable foes who get what they deserve. Another well-crafted and enjoyable escape from reality. The Ryans just keep on saving the world.

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