Tom Clancy Chain of Command: A Jack Ryan Novel, Book 21

“Chain Of Command” is about throwing a stone at us who are suffering the pandemic. Concerned about the quality and stable supply of generic drugs, the US government is considering revising the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. On the other hand, the unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies, which have made huge fortunes so far, are launching all sorts of attacks to thwart the bill. The kidnapping of FLOTUS is positioned at the top of various attacks. Regardless of movements within the United States, the Campus members are initially pursuing a war criminal in Argentina. The Campus members, who were keenly aware of the shortage of personnel through their work in Argentina, began to consider increasing the number of actual combat units by two or three. And as things progress, the existence of a private military organization called “The Camarilla” becomes apparent. Everyone would expect a fierce battle between the Campus and the Camarilla, but this time it is a general public woman and a brave police officer who will lead them to collapse. Mark Cameron depicts the Camarilla making elaborate plans and repeated training in carrying out operation “Nightingale.” Ironically, it was the lack of exit strategies that led them to collapse.Mark Cameron keeps track of the situation like a sudden pass away of the Vice President, or mishap falling upon the family of the President. He gives detailed explanation how the administration will react or be forced to act in order to bring out fair decision from the President, which is very interesting and informative for non-American readers. The case was settled and all the intrigues were sanctioned. However, Gil, who is considered to be one of the members of the Camarilla, escaped from the pursuit. Will he reappear in the future episodes? In this episode, Ryan’s nemesis Chadwick fell to the Camarilla’s poisonous fangs. Chadwick became the target of an attack as a result of a temporary partnership with Ryan to pass the bill. It is worried about how she will appear in future stories, although she saved her life. Kelsey Callahan, who appears in Cameron’s past two works, appear three times. Moreover, this time she was assigned as a member of Ding and Dom’s investigation team. Can’t she be a candidate for a new member of the Campus. As a Japanese, I would like to support the progress between Yukiko Monzaki and Jack Jr., but I can understand the difficulty of romance that transcends nationality between spies. Despite the twists and turns, we are welcoming Chilly as a new member of the Campus. We look forward to his sprint in the coming episode.

There are so many sad parts of this story. The good guys who are killed is very sad. I am disappointed with the ending in that the author spent so many words of the minutiae of the operation of so many agencies, and so few words on the ending of the bad guys. Maybe I should have given 4 stars for that. But I so enjoyed the work of the local cop that it made up for a few shortcomings.

This book contained many of the elements of an original Tom Clancy book. Friendships between Jack Sr., and Mary Pat Foley, The Campus Crew (used to be Rainbow Six), and The President and Mrs. Ryan. Lots of complicated action. Mr. Cameron did a good job. Two things were disconcerting -- all of the acronyms (we're not all military people!), and I felt the ending was rushed. But over all, a well put together action book.

An awesome story, well written, all Jack Ryan stories are awesome. Could have had more detail in the last few chapters, I love the ending.

What a wonderful "read"! The combination of activities was really intriguing. We had Chinese soldiers on the Afghan stadium border, a shootout at a mall, Secret Service agents involve in some grim experience, and a POTUS turn his authority over to an Acting President. Oh, and we had a kidnapped FLOTUS! What action junkie could as for more, especially when the story is written with a well thought out narrative?

I really enjoy the security-procedural side of these books. Tom Clancy built this brand 40 years ago by writing about how the spooks, cops and soldiers actually did things. He gave us their language—the slang, the acronyms, the terminology—and their toys—the gear, the gizmos, the satellites. He gave us how they viewed themselves, each other, foreign counterparts and adversaries.In a weird way, these books are cozies like Agatha Christie novels are. His running characters are upstanding and sympathetic. They live in a world that works, and they are the ones making it work. People go to work in the morning believing in what they do. People willingly risk their lives for their country and try not to harm the innocent. They are married. They have kids.Jack Ryan is comfy in the White House after all these years. We can't imagine anyone else in it now. They're of course not aging him or other characters realistically. John Clark fought in Vietnam. Ryan has been in office about 25 real-world years. Uh, two-term limit . . . ?His wife Cathy is still hot and they still get it on. It seems to me they've written more about their stolen moments of White House nookie in the last few books than they had previously. I'm totally good with this. Happy marriage is part of what makes it cozy.As is continuity. We're reading about old friends. When Jack goes through a crisis, he's surrounded by familiar faces—Mary Pat Foley, Arnie Van Damm, Scott Adler. And when something bad happens, the hard guys who can make it right—Clark, Ding Chavez, Jack Jr. and crew.Meanwhile we're promised some new characters. The Campus needs more ops. We get shopped a couple of hot prospects—Eric "Ripper" Ward, the Special Forces sergeant, and Steven "Chilly" Edwards. He's an Abilene cop who distinguishes himself the day he chases an active shooter into a mall on his Harley.Here we get several layers of crisis: the vice president suddenly dies and it looks suspicious. Growing chaos caused by deep fake videos and various kinds of hacking. The kidnapping of two American MDs during charity work in remotest Afghanistan. A plot to kidnap the First Lady.The bad guys here are intriguing—elite soldiers who became mercs in most cases after transgressions got them booted from the armies they loved. We come to see they're mostly bad guys. But the leader, Debs, seems initially sympathetic in some ways. He's a perfection-seeking and disciplined operator doing for the bad guys exactly what he used to do, and well, for the good guys.

This novel reveals what may be the shadow operatives that are necessary for the full functioning of operations wing of the federal government. Multiple plots which converge.

Love this series. Can’t wait for the next book. Come on. Eleven more words? Love it. Keep it going. Yep.

I like the novelist. For relaxing at the beach.

But it proved very worthwhile to hang in there. A really excellent story with a lot of relevance to the world we live in even though most of the characters are totally amazing.At the end of the day Marc Cameron has created a really great book.

One of the best novels in recent time. Good story well told. Kept me stuck to the pages till the book was finished.

Not the usual Tom Ckancy class. Even for Marc Cameron not his usual high standards. Too many unconnected ,disparate events and them to tie them all up. Not smooth flowing and nail biting. He could have selected anything but the pharma bill and the opposition to Generic drugs from India and China. Instigated or inspired by the pharma biggies?? Talk of the big pharma ratcheting up or down numbers to sell more of their medicine. The sheer volume of generic drugs which goes into patented medicine is astounding. Whether setting up plants in Puerto Rico is as as easy as asking the genie from the lamp to set up factories to cater to the needs. Bosh.Hardly any action by the Campus guys. Can safely ignore. Current fetish of authors is to confuse the reader by unnecessary information overload and a mix of unrelated events.

A fantastic thriller from start to finishI highly recommend reading