Dead or Alive [NOOK Book]

From Barnes & Noble

This aptly titled December release pits Jack Ryan, Jr. and a ragtag group of cousins and cohorts against the vicious terrorist Emir, Tom Clancy's most sadistic villain yet. This take-no-prisoner techno-thriller was old plot master Clancy's first book in seven years, but his fans hadn't forgotten: They made it an instant hardcover bestseller. Now it's in mass-market and NOOK Book.

Publishers Weekly

After stumbling with The Teeth of the Tiger (2003), bestseller Clancy is back at the top of his game, aided by Blackwood (An Echo of War), with this update on the Jack Ryan story, both father and son. While the senior Ryan is sitting at home quietly penning his memoirs, the real action is taking place at "The Campus," the independent secret intelligence agency he set up when he was commander in chief. Jack Ryan Jr., who works for The Campus as a researcher, has, unbeknownst to his father, begun involving himself in field operations. Uppermost in the sights of The Campus is the deadly Emir (read Osama bin Laden), who has set in motion a new round of attacks. Jack Sr. is furious at current President Edward Kealty, whose liberal administration is stripping the CIA and other intelligence agencies of funding and manpower. In-depth research, continuous suspense, and scores of fascinating characters prove again why Clancy, the man who virtually invented this genre, reigns supreme in the crowded thriller field.
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Bookreporter.com

DEAD OR ALIVE is a step-by-step game of cat-and-mouse. The cat, in this case, is the Campus, an organization created under the presidential administration of Jack Ryan to carry out its mission of identifying, hunting down and eliminating terrorists, and to do so without outside oversight or supervision. The Campus is a small but capable group that includes two generations of black ops, John Clark and “Ding” Gomez, as well as brothers Dominic and Brian Caruso. The mouse is a thinly disguised Osama bin Laden caricature known as the Emir, a terrorist who is the most wanted man on earth and who, in an admittedly brilliant stroke, is hiding in plain sight under the nose of the nation he regards as the Great Satan.

The Campus, being an off-the-books organization that officially does not exist on the American intelligence grid, wants to locate the Emir in the worst possible way. The Carusos’ cousin, Jack Ryan, Jr., has decided that he wants a piece of the action as well. Having had a taste of field work more by accident than by design in THE TEETH OF THE TIGER, Ryan is hungry for more, but isn’t especially keen on letting his famous father know about his newfound avocation. The senior Ryan is faced with a major decision and a momentous opportunity provided in part by the current presidential administration, which is frequently wrong but never in doubt. When a number of seemingly disparate occurrences appear to indicate that the Emir is planning a major attack, the Campus begins a race against time to determine the exact details in order to head it off.

One of the major enjoyments of DEAD OR ALIVE is that Clancy and Blackwood aren’t quick at all to reveal precisely what the Emir has planned. Instead, they drop clues from multiple scenarios around the world, from Russia to Paris, from Sweden to the Hindu Kush, and from sources as varied as airplane mechanics to…Santa. I’m serious. You’ll look at the world, and the people who risk their lives on our behalf --- the rough men of whom George Orwell wrote, who stand ready in the night to do violence against those who would harm us --- in an entirely new light. You’ll also find that this is one of those rare giant books that, after close to a thousand pages, will leave you wanting even more.

While one could be forgiven for initially believing that DEAD OR ALIVE would be Clancy’s finis to his universe, it is quite clear after reading it that things are just getting warmed up. That does not mean that every single character we have come to know and love make it to the end of the finish line; not all of them do. I was surprised by who did not and how strongly it affected me. Clancy has always been a real-world guy, however, and in the real world the good guys take some hits.

Blackwood’s contribution to DEAD OR ALIVE --- equal parts experience, hard work, writing skill and storytelling craft --- cannot be overstated. If Clancy has been searching for his heir apparent, he has found him. I’m looking forward to more from both of them, individually and collaboratively, in the future.

--(Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub)

Los Angeles Times

Library Journal