Present Day Crimea: Russians invade on a pretext, saying the area is unstable and they must protect Russian nationals in the Ukraine. Russian President, with ties to the KGB and a nostalgia for the good old days of the former Soviet Union, refuses to negotiate or withdraw and seems bent on taking back territory lost after the fall of the Soviet Union.

This is the situation facing Jack Ryan Sr. who is in his second term as President of the United States in Command Authority. With Clancy and Greaney seemingly ripping their premise right from the front page of the Washington Post, this book becomes not only a action thriller but a cautionary tale about the limits of power in the face of  aggression and and a leader with a distorted sense of history and reality.

All of our favorite characters are here including Clark, Chavez and the gang along with Jack Jr. who under takes a bigger role as both an analyst in tracking down the role that money plays in this conflict and in helping to unmask the true identity of the man behind the scenes pulling the strings and causing the world to tip towards war.

I have been a fan of Clancy since his first book, The Hunt For Red October, which I loved for all it’s geeky descriptions of military hardware (who knew submarines could be so interesting!) as well as the analysis of the balance of power between the Soviet Union and the United states which appealed to the political science major in me.  However after Executive Orders I stopped reading this series and it was only because of the news of Clancy’s death that I decided to read this new release.  It did not disappoint.  The prescient choice of subject matter, the descriptions of new advanced military hardware, the analysis of political power and its limits and how to support those who need help without compromising those political realities are all hallmarks of Clancy and now Greaney’s writing.  I must say that Greaney has improved on character development and the dialogue is much smoother and more realistic as well.  This was a fun read and at 753 pages, an excellent beach book!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Stars out of 5)

Recommend this Book to: Ken, Sharon and Marian

Read in ebook format.