Op-Center

June 1, 1995
YA-A terrorist bomb explodes at a celebration outside the Palace in Seoul, South Korea, with hundreds of casualties. Was it planted by angry North Koreans? Anti-reunification South Koreans? Or one group posing as the other to shift blame? Will the U.S. go in to help an ally? Speedy and efficient answers must be provided through a new U.S. intelligence agency under the direction of Paul Hood. Shorter than many other Clancy novels, Op-Center is action-packed and less violent than Without Remorse (Putnam, 1993). Brief chapters relate each event in the 41 hours during the international crisis and shift quickly to many locales. Readers must remember under what circumstances they last saw each person and must be able to keep the Korean names straight. The author is a master at providing a past and a personality for the main characters in a few words. The others come alive through their actions. The intricate climax shows that neither side is all good or all bad: cooperation is needed to keep peace. Sure to be popular, especially when the television movie airs.-Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

March 18, 2019
In Rovin’s exciting sixth entry in the thriller series created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik (after 2018’s For Honor), President Wyatt Midkiff disbands the Op-Center because its director, Chase Williams, and his staff failed to anticipate a major terrorist act, the bombing of Manhattan’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Williams gets a chance to redeem himself by heading the effort to track down the mastermind behind the attack, Ahmed Salehi, of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. Williams commands a new secret team—Black-ops Wartime Accelerated Strike Placement—consisting of Lt. Grace Lee of the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Command, a martial arts master who specializes in deadly knife-work; Marine Lance Corporal Jaz Rivette, a sharpshooter; and Maj. Hamilton Breem, a criminologist and member of the JAG Corps. Various terrorist organizations help Salehi as he goes on the run, but the members of the Black Wasp team catch up with him in Aden, Yemen, in a satisfying showdown. Military action fans will be rewarded. Agent: Mel Berger, WME.