The Scorpion's Gate

Good Book

Anyone interested in current events should find this book very interesting. Had to believe it was written in 2005 - it really hits some "buttons".

Felt I learned something

Good entertaining story.Don't have a problem with an author having political beliefs as long as I enjoyed reading the book.If I think the author's writings are all that disagreeable to me, I stay away from his/her books. Really thought I learned something about what is going on in the middle east and why.Would definitely read more books by this author.

A Pultizer prize-winning writer accepts a last-minute booty call?

the 45-year-old female reporter accepts a late-night booty call from a younger, married man who has been drinking? then, he expresses mixed feelings about their one-night stand the next morning, to her face. not exactly star-crossed love. geez, are these high-powered characters too cool or too busy to be in healthy, loving relationships? this slam-bam 'love' life was past depressing to debasement. wouldn't a woman this successful have better options? everything else was enthralling and worth reading. a unique author, a unique perspective...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A great blend of fiction and fact he should have been listened to.

This blend of fact and fiction written by a former advisor to several Presidents, including the current one, for a time, has many valid points. He should have been listened to prior to 9/11. Though it is unlike that a real coup d'etat that would depose the Saudi royal family seems unlikely it could happen? This fiction could reflect (one day perhaps) fact.

A fast-paced thriller

Reads like a Tom Clancy novel but without the right-wing spin. Richard Clarke uses his substantial knowledge of the Middle East to create a disturbing vision of that area of the world in the near future.

good thriller read, should have been longer

I read a review of this book that says it should do good on airport sales. I wish it was for international flights, not NY to LA. Clarke does the intricate plot, technical details, and multiple story lines well. The3 characters are even reasonably believable, well, except the Secretary of Defense. I guess Clarke REALLY doesn't like Rummy. I call this a good political thriller with an inspiring end but it should have been longer.

Great Plot, Wooden Characters

For those of us who have found the extreme right bias of most popular spy fiction tediously predictable , it is a refreshing change to read a book that puts love of country front and center, instead of ideology. While Clarke explicitly denies this is a roman a clef, the portrait of the Secretary of Defense - borderline psychotic and gullible - is deliciously recognizable. So is the Armenian-American Wolfowitz clone. I wish the other characters were as well drawn, but the plot is so fantastic - and so realistic for the most part - you get swept along anyway.

SUPERB READING OF A STUNNING NARRATIVE

If anyone has the credentials to write a novel concerning present day terrorism, political chicanery, and war, it is Richard A. Clarke. During the Reagan administration he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence. Clarke's responsibilities increased during the first Bush Administration when he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs, and then as a member of the National Security Council staff. He served as special assistant to President Clinton for some eight years, and from 2001 to 2003 he was chairman of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. There is more but, obviously this is a man to be heard and as he has said 'Fiction can often tell the truth better than nonfiction. And there is a lot of truth that needs to be told.' Setting his story five years in the future Clarke has woven a compelling, often frightening action drama that takes place over 30 days. Listeners are catapulted into a world gone awry with the terrorist bombing of a luxury hotel in Manama Bahrain. The question is exactly who was responsible and what do they want? There are elements at home and in the Middle East eager for war, not war as we have known but a nuclear war. All are in need of oil and Saudi sheiks have been ousted. We are in peril, and it's questionable whether or not anyone can save us. Film and television actor Robertson Dean provides an exciting yet serious reading of this mesmerizing tale. He's an experienced performer who knows there's no need for added vocal drama in the performance of such a stunning narrative. - Gail Cooke

Could have been a recommended book but?

The book did have good action and storyline but the biased slant detracted from the story. The political view of the author only hurt the story. I did continue to read because the book had a good premise. I just had to laugh at the bias and skip the paragraphs that were obviously a rage against the current administration in Washington. Hope another book can come out that is not so slanted left.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

fabulous thriller

In 2010, Supported by the Chinese, a coup has taken out the despotic leaders of Saudi Arabia replacing it with the Republic of Islamyah. The zealots in charge begin to bring their anti-western fundamentalist Islamic fervor to nearby Bahrain by blowing up favorite haunts where the hated infidels reside. The area is quickly falling into chaos with the Chinese pushing for more discontent to further extricate the west out of the region. Secretary of Defense Henry Conrad pushes a military solution to the Middle East crisis as he wants to invade Islamyah so that the United States can regain control of the oil. Others want to take over the entire region by force while some believe we must use diplomacy to mute the growing influence of the Chinese. Though the middle of winter in DC, the heat is on in the capital and not just because the weather is spring-like as both sides escalate the hostilities with nuclear war between the United States and China imminent unless cooler heads prevail. --- THE SCORPION¿S GATE is a fabulous thriller in which anti-terrorist expert Richard A. Clarke extrapolates what the future might hold based on what if consequences of decisions made by the current administration. The story line is frightening as the scenario seems plausible as Mr. Bush¿s legacy to the world (it will solve the long term solvency of the social security issue). Though Mr. Clarke makes the error of many first time novelists of trying to get everything into the plot, futurologists will appreciate this strong look at what might be forthcoming (who in the 1970s predicted we would still be fighting the war against drugs today?). --- Harriet Klausner

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No text was provided for this review.