| Tom Clancy’s Full Force
And Effect by Mark Greaney keeps the Jack Ryan legacy
alive. The characters of the Campus organization are still
fighting evil, evoking the Clancy style. The classic trademarks
and cast include Jack Ryan Jr., his cousin Dom, John Clark,
and Adam Yao, who are alive and well within plot twists, a
great espionage story, and well-written action scenes. There
are some technical details but not quite so many as to overburden
the plot.
The author noted about continuing the series: “Clancy
died in October 2013. Within a couple of weeks I was told
by Putnam they wanted to contract with me to continue his
books. I am blown away and happy that the book is being so
well received by fans. His writing influenced me since I was
such a fan. Being a reader I knew what fans want from these
books. I tried to stay true to the characters, such as continuing
to write Jack Ryan as a normal American. From having written
with Tom, I certainly know the voices of the different characters.
Once I began this novel, I told myself not to do anything
differently from when we collaborated, except this time, I
would be solely taking the entire project all the way through.
Working with him gave me the confidence to take this project
on, and write an aggressive story. I did create some characters.
For example, the logistics coordinator Adara Sherman was someone
who I came up with and expanded her role.”
The storyline includes an attempted assassination of US President
Jack Ryan, North Korea attempting to buy ICBM missiles to
enhance their nuclear capabilities, rogue FBI agents working
with the Koreans, and the murder of a CIA officer in Vietnam.
Greaney intertwines these brilliantly and is able to mimic
many of the real life situations of this region. Especially
when President Ryan challenges North Korea’s effort
to extract trillions of dollars worth of rare minerals that
would allow them to buy nuclear weapons and influence. Readers
can connect the fictional Choi Ji-Hoon with the real-life
ruler, Kim Jong-Un, including the actions taken against his
uncle. The storyline is insightful and relevant considering
North Korea was in the headlines with the hacking of the Sony
Corporation. Putnam and Greaney might be wary or they too
might end up in the crosshairs.
Greaney commented, “When I was up in New York this summer
people said they would not be surprised if North Korea came
back into the headlines. I do not think anyone could imagine
the magnitude of what they did. There is a small coincidence.
Columbia Pictures, a part of Sony, is developing a film based
on my own first book, The Gray Man. Some of the hacked emails
were from the directors assigned to my film. The comic world
websites recognized that my directors are also the directors
of “Captain America” and “The Avengers”
movies. They briefly spoke about The Gray Man in their hacked
emails.”
Full Force And Effect shows that Greaney can carry
the torch of Clancy’s books. Readers should be happy
that he was contracted to continue writing this marvelous
series, especially since Jack Ryan Sr. and his supporting
cast are allowed to continue to battle the evil powers that
exist around the world.
He also gave a heads up about his next books. The Clancy book
will be out next Christmas and might continue the plot of
Command Authority, where Russia and Putin will be highlighted
as a major threat. He is also writing the fifth book of his
own The Gray Man series, about an operative burned by the
CIA.
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