Book review: An intriguing glimpse into potential world conflicts
Book Review: Command Authority. Author: Tom Clancy.
Tom Clancy has left the world with one final thriller of the highest quality.
Clancy, who died in 2013, is an American author and historian best-known for his technically detailed espionage and military science storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War.
He is the mind behind explosive thrillers such as Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger.
In his last offering, Command Authority, co-written with Mark Greaney, the reader is offered an intriguing view of what potentially can happen in a world of politics.
Clancy explores the chilling possibly of a resurgence of Russia as a world power-seeking to restore the Soviet Union and, thus, restore the Cold War.
The novel features Jack Ryan, who now as the President of America first featured as an CIA analyst who battled the Soviets in 1984’s in The Hunt for Red October.
In the tradition of Clancy, this is a novel full of suspense and drama that unfolds against a political background of intrigue and suspense that has been meticulously researched.
The main antoganists are the Russian President Valeri Volodin, an ex-KGB man, and his main enforcer, Roman Talanov, who as young men foresaw the collapse of the Soviet Union, and have since demonstrated their talent for survival.
Volodin is bent on re-establishing Russian dominance over its former satellite States, beginning with an ultimately NATO-thwarted military foray in Estonia followed by a bigger, nastier push in Ukraine.
This brings them onto a collision course with Ryan and his son, Jack Ryan Jr., who has followed his dad into the family business of protecting the homeland from its enemies abroad.
It’s the familiar Clancy dish of spy adventure, high-tech military action and the dangerous mindfield of politics.
What makes this intriguing read is that Russia and the Ukraine are very much in the news for its political upheavals, while a possible restored Soviet Union is not mere fantasy.
Command Authority has, therefore, more of a bite than anticipated as it explores a world embroiled in the muscle flexing of Russia and America, which will make many think back to the Cold War days.
