Tom Clancy created Jack Ryan and Jack Ryan Jr. as well as other characters that many authors have included in novels based on them. Marc Cameron’s skill as bringing his characters to life is more powerful, credible and would definitely have Clancy smiling down as you learn more about this multi-complex novel that evolves around three major plotlines.
Jack Ryan Jr. and his team at the Campus are going after a child sex trafficking ring linked somehow to a Chinese spy ring. Hoping to get to the bottom of where these girls are they have competition from the FBI and Agent Kelsey Callahan whose goal it is to get all of these girls home safely but tragedy cannot be avoided.
Focusing on China and their newly installed President, Ryan Sr. is dealing with the serious confrontational issues with that leader thinking that there is something sinister going on. President Zhao has not revealed if he is even aware that there is a sinister plot to fatally dethrone him and install the Defense Minister Li as his replacement. Little does he know that his cabinet is corrupt and there are forces at work that he seems to be oblivious to and the President Ryan might have to do find a way to diffuse the animosity between the two countries that started with the Orion bombing.
Preparing for the G20 in Japan and meeting the new head, Montgomery of the Secret Service he also faces other issues in his own cabinet. A bomber on a freighter, one of our ships losing power in a storm near China and Jack and Ding, Clark, Chavez, Caruso and Midas a great team working for the Campus have to find a way to stop what the Defense Minister of China and a man named Vincent Chen whose one of the ringleaders of the drugs and sex trafficking ring before more girls are killed, dumped in a grave and things really spiral out of control.
The scene with John Clark taking town two of the main players in the trafficking ring and Lupe who thought she would convince him that she was just another victim, the ending of that scene sets the tone for more to come but readers will know not to count this older man ever down and out.
Roy Calderon is a trooper that works in Texas for the Department of Public safety and started the ball rolling by making the higher authorities aware of what happened during a routine traffic stop. Bianca was a young girl that slipped him the thumb drive belonging to Feng and the next minute she was saved and hoping that he would save her friend Magdalena too. Sickly and scared she is saved after being used as a slave in a child sex ring. Eddie Feng’s thumb drive is the key to what happens next but arresting him was one step to get information out of this Chinese journalist whose live was in danger and who seemed to be playing two sides of the fence. The drive connects this man to a payment made the exact day the Orion blew up and Jack and the team of the Campus have to find him although this made it more difficult while going after Vincent Chen and his group.
As the G2O is approaching and things are getting tense, the Chinese president wants to place restrictions on Ryan Sr. the Campus lurks in the shadows, following Chen and his minions, dark ops, streets, window shopping and doing their best to be hiding in plain sight but will they succeed? President Zaho does not trust Ryan Sr. thinking he’s responsible for the bomb on the Orion and other things happening in China and Ryan Sr. has to pray that his new FBI Secret Service man will be able to handle what you won’t believe they are about to become up against next. Gary Montgomery is sharp, astute and is about to learn his place or earn his place as the new lead of the Secret Service but will Jack Sr. be able to adapt to his ways?
Kelly Callahan is strong and determined to win the war by ending the sex slavery ring but coming up against Clark, Chavez and the team at times brings out her wrath and her desire to solve this using her team alone.
The ending is tense, surprising and the search for Magdalena will shock readers as the pool scene says it all and John Clark proves that age does not matter and the 13 year old girl’s life hangs in the balance when Chen and Zambrano hope to take him out but will they?
As Ryan Sr. has to figure out how to stop what someone on the security detail and team have set in place to take him out and President Zhao and others, Jack Jr. an analyst for the Campus, Operations chief John Clark, Ding Chavez and Midas Jankowski will stop at nothing until they stop Chen. Eddie Feng knows what is happening on the Chinese mainland and when he’s questioned they are not sure if he’s telling the truth.
The final scenes bring in a new character named Monzaki Yukiko or Yuki, a female Japanese covert agent who seems attracted to Jack Jr. From Texas, to Argentina where the sex ring action takes place to Tokyo for the G20. When its noticed that the Chinese security team from Argentina has several new additions how will Jack Sr. become aware that the danger is right at his front door?
While Montgomery is briefing three agents outside using their earpieces, Colonel Huang slips through the double doors nodding at someone else while Colonel Long stepped ahead to volunteer, but the female American agent let’s hope she stops him. What was Jack Ryan Sr’s plan? Why did Foreign Minister Li want to take out Zhao? What role did Mary Pat the DNI officer play to apprise Jack of different situations? An ending that lets you know that they are not done with China, that Zhao is smart and who knows whether he realized what was happening in front of him. With the girls saved and hopefully placed in foster homes that will keep them safe, will they ever be the same and will they ever live normal lives being used at such a young age?
The ending is wide opened, Jack and Yuki seem to have something going but will author Marc Cameron continue writing Tom Clancy plots using his great characters, creating a non-flawed plot that keeps readers wondering whether each character will survive the gunshots, the explosions, the terror attacks, the fights and the final scenes that you hope they will all survive.
Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ magazine
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