Acts of War (Tom Clancy's Op-Center, No 4)

Rating:
Summary: Eh *shrugs*
Review: Typically, I do not read fiction novels. Usually, I stick to non-fiction. Not long ago, I read my first Tom Clancy novel (Without Remorse) and thought it was one of the best things I have ever read. My wife had gotten me a copy of "Op-Center: Games of State". After reading the novel, I really had to wonder if the same author wrote both books.

Not to be overly simplistic, but the book can be divided to three sections, the beginning, middle, and ending. As to try not to ruin the book for anyone who has not read it, I will omit "key" details.

The beginning of the book gives the reader high hopes for what follows. The book has a heart-pounding beginning in Germany where a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization performed a terrorist raid on an American movie set. There are people killed and a person kidnapped. All of a sudden, the book cuts out to the "middle" (I would estimate the beginning is about 30 pages).

The middle of the book, approximately the next 400 pages is dedicated to the pursuit of a leader of a billion dollar a year business in France, who plans on crashing the European economy and encourage civil disorder in America through video games. Granted the idea is not as foolish as I am making it sound, but it is still a heck of a stretch. This part of the book revolves around Op-Center finding this person and battling the problem of White Supremacy groups (Op-Center can be thought of as being similar to the CIA or NSA in America).

The end of the book begins with a high-speed car chase as an Op-Center agent, who is in a wheel chair, is pursued and fired upon by members of the Neo-Nazi organization after he attempts to crash a Neo-Nazi party. Narrowly escaping with their life, the agent decides to crash a Neo-Nazi rally. Along the way, they meet up with a person, who is introduced in the beginning of the book during the terrorist attack, who has no concept of self-preservation. After a ridiculous statement by the person who the agent met to several hundred armed Neo-Nazis, the wheelchair bound agent and the person (who knows little about combat tactics and easily succumbs to stress) make a run for it. The ending involves several hundred healthy, armed Neo-Nazis pursuing a person in a wheelchair and their companion. All I can say without giving too much away is that the ending left me saying "alrighty then" and shaking my head. Also in the end, French and Nato commandos take down the video game guy in his factory.

This book is a little on the dull side and in parts is highly unrealistic. I think that 200 pages of "fluff" could have been easily cut out this book. Rather than reading like a novel written by a first rate writer, the book read more like a Junior High paper where the student inserts paragraphs of pointless information to make the paper look longer. The ending (especially with the Op-Center agent in the forest) was ridiculous.

I would only recommend this book to people truly interested in the Op-Center series or people who have nothing better to read. The book is like a marble cake is to someone who only likes chocolate. Parts of the book are really good and parts are foolish or pointless.