Debt of Honor
Every novel by Tom Clancy has been "a jaw-tightener and a nail-biter of the first order," as the San Diego Union described Without Remorse. But Debt of Honor surpasses them all, with Jack Ryan facing his greatest challenge - against a peril that may become all too real. In retrospect, it would seem an odd way to start a war. . . . The end of history. The new world order. Fine phrases, but as Jack Ryan is about to discover, history isn't dead yet - and only the nature of the threat is new. On the Pacific island of Saipan, a wealthy Japanese businessman regards his new-bought land with satisfaction. In the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka, a foreign navy begins a series of highly unusual exercises. At the headquarters of America's major stock-clearing corporation, an engineer brings a customized computer program on-line for the first time, and smiles at his own private joke. Three seemingly unrelated incidents, but all just the first links in a chain of events that will stun the world. Called out of retirement to serve as the new President's National Security Advisor, Jack Ryan quickly realizes that the problems of peace are fully as complex as those of war. Enemies have become friends, friends enemies, and even the form of conflict has changed. What he cannot realize, however, is just how close the next conflict is. And when one of those new enemies readies a strike not only at America's territory, but at the heart of her economy, it is Ryan, with the help of CIA officers John Clark and Domingo Chavez, who must prepare an untested President to meet the challenge, if Ryan can only figure out how. For there is a debt of honor to be paid - and the price will be terrifyingly high. . . . Publisher's Weekly Jack Ryan, now the President's National Security Adviser, finds himself embroiled in the buildup to a new world war-one in which the stock market and national economic policy are as critical as advanced weaponry. A power-hungry Japanese financier, still blaming America for his parents' deaths in WWII, plans to use his immense wealth to purchase his revenge. A fatal auto accident in the U.S., caused by faulty gas tanks in two Japanese cars, leads to the breakdown of U.S.-Japanese trade agreements. Spies track each other; nuclear weapons are built and hidden; Ryan and an assortment of his old colleagues maneuver ships, planes and spies into harm's way. As always, the author of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger spins out story threads in a rich but bewildering tangle of plot and setting, then vigorously weaves them together. Here, the heart-stopping climax is unexpected, but oddly appropriate. As always, Clancy instructs (sometimes didactically) as he entertains, teaching us about currency trading, Asian business etiquette and the daily life of an American politician. Without taking up Japan-bashing, as Michael Crichton did in Rising Sun, or partisan politics, Clancy warns that recent downsizing in the defense establishment has so depleted our military resources that the country is vulnerable to aggression that can arise anywhere, anytime. 2 million first printing; BOMC selection. (Aug.) Library Journal As top gun of a genre with drooping sales figures, Clancy seems poised to give the technothriller a much-needed shot in the arm with this story featuring his most popular creation, Jack Ryan. A BOMC main selection. School Library Journal YA-Teens patient enough to allow the multiple plot strands to develop will be treated to nonstop action in this novel of political intrigue. The fiery deaths of five Americans, caused by faulty gas tanks in two new, wildly popular Japanese cars, result in the breakdown of trade relations between the two countries. Jack Ryan, National Security Advisor, is a key player in this and the concurrent complications-the collapse of the stock market and the Japanese military takeover of the Marianas. The details that make the story seem real also provide insight into the Japanese and American business/political cultures and bring into sharp focus the danger of a downsized military. Clancy gives gove
