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Debt of Honor

Debt of Honor

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $19.77
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Shallow, long and ridiculous.
Review: The famous rule about a good story is that it should "suspend your disbelief". Mr. Clancy has in the past used this as his launch pad for some good stories. The settings were real, the characters seemed plausable and the plot used modern world politics to set up a seemingly possible drama. This makes his books an interesting and sometimes exciting ride of "what ifs?" in today's world.

This is not one of them. I honestly can not reccomend this book to anyone but a Clancy die-hard. Even then they should save their time.
It goes back to the above stated rule. There is no way I could believe that anything in the book (expect for the ending) could really happen. It's so ridiculous!
Japan starting a war with the US? Really, does anyone buy this? There is a ton of logic and many reasons why this simply could not happen. Much of which is made clear in the book. Yet Mr. Clancy, so wrapped in his fantasy he is blind to the reality, pushes on as if it were fact.
This would not be so bad if the rest of the book had value. Other than a doorstop. It doesn't. The characters are flat and the same ones we've come to expect. Sadly Ryan is tired and seems to be going through the motions. Gone are the days where he was a fish out of water tasked with the seemingly impossible, but now he is the go-to guy to make anything work. Its no wonder he becomes president, there is nothing else for him to do.

This is also full of stereotypes and lame ideas. Japan is made out to be a cold place ruled by a hand full of old rich men. That there entire government is just a false face to protect the interests of a few wealthy guys. Granted money talks, but this is a bit much.
The idea of crashing the stock market was, to be blunt, dumb. A computer virus! Of course! Why didn't anyone think of this before! And it can erase every single record of every kind in every company in any place! Why that makes total sense!
The idea that the US armed forces would be depleted to a record low is a bit silly. For one thing it is not easy much as the Russians have found out. It is expensive to disarm as well. There is a lot of hardware that has to be disassembled before there is nothing left of value or threat. In short, you just can't have a bunch of nuclear submarines floating at dock for years with out a lot of effort to disarm them. Yet this is the case in Mr. Clancy's daydream.
On top of this is to far far too long. I started skipping paragraphs then pages, finding out that much of the text did little but to bore me. The technical detail that is welcome in other books is page-filler here and it gets old.

In short, go read Red October or Sum of All Fears. Again if you have to.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A foreshadowing of a national disaster?
Review: Like most Americans, I sat transfixed before my TV set on September 11, 2001, completely transfixed by the unfolding disaster on our shores. Time and time again, I watched that relentless tattoo of images cross my TV screen: hijacked passenger jets flying at full speed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center; the twin towers of that magnificent structure collapsing to the ground, one right after the other, with thousands of people inside them; and a new generation of heroes ' firefighters and police officers ' working round the clock to find survivors of these horrific events.

As I watched events unfold on that fateful day, I kept getting this nagging feeling that this story all seemed too familiar. Where had I heard it before? Was it a movie I had seen? A book I had read?

Then I remembered. Tom Clancy's 1994 novel, "Debt of Honor." At the time of its publication in 1994, it was the latest in the continuing saga of Jack Ryan, that fictional Central Intelligence Agency operative in several of Clancy's previous novels.

By the time I read "Debt of Honor" in 1994, I had found myself growing tired of Clancy's books. Each one seemed infinitely longer than its predecessor, filled with more complex twists and turns of plot; laced with more of Clancy's tiresome personal political philosophy; and filled with plots and subplots that seemed progressively more far-fetched.

When I finished "Debt of Honor," I thought Clancy had really out-done himself by creating a plot that was so unrealistic that it bordered on the ludicrous. In his usual highly charged, "grab 'em by the throat and don't let 'em go 'til the last page" fashion, Clancy took me on quite a journey. In retrospect, it was a journey I should have paid more attention to!

For me, "Debt of Honor" was vintage Clancy: lots of interesting "techno-war" stuff, but not much else. Despite being unrealistic to the point of absurdity, the plot is indeed well crafted and quite exciting. It's pretty easy to get caught up in the chain of events that Clancy creates, even though you, the reader, will probably have a pretty fair idea of where the book is headed by the halfway point'

'Or will you?

One of the major reasons for the tremendous popularity of Tom Clancy's novels over the years has been their almost uncanny ability to foreshadow future events, as well as future trends in military technology and geopolitical thinking. One of Clancy's greatest strengths as a writer of fiction is the meticulous research he does before ever setting pen to paper (or, in modern parlance, before cranking up the ol' word processor and "inputting data.") Even with their frequently fantastic plots and subplots, Clancy's novels always have a realistic "feel" to them. I suppose that's why I continue reading them, even though their plots are wearing thin and seem to reach further and further into the realm of impossibility, thereby rendering the impossible distinctly possible.

"Rendering the impossible distinctly possible" is exactly what happened with "Debt of Honor;" for this seemingly incredible plot foreshadowed last September's terrorist attacks in a truly chilling fashion.

Last September, life really did tragically imitate art. And, in light of those catastrophic events, the plot of "Debt of Honor" doesn't seem quite so far-fetched after all.

Give Tom Clancy his due. He did his homework, drew some pretty somber conclusions about what just might happen from his research, and concocted a plot that really should have served as a warning to all of us: "America, let's get our act together' the next time we're attacked, it will be in the least expected ways. It will involve what our government now calls rather euphemistically 'asymmetrical warfare.' And we, as a nation, are not prepared to defend ourselves for what is surely coming."

Because I pooh-poohed "Debt of Honor," as so much "Clancy fancy," judging it "too outrageous," I dismissed the author's vitally important message. I suspect a lot of people who read this book might've done the same.

In hindsight, it's scary just how accurate a prediction Clancy made in "Debt of Honor." What's even scarier is that he continued sounding the same message in the sequel to this book, entitled "Executive Orders." Its premise: biological weapons in the hands of state-sponsored middle eastern terrorists.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Chillingly False...
Review: Tom Clancy's works have, like it or not, taken on a great deal of topicality in the last ten years. From worries over Ireland and the Middle East to jumbo jets colliding with American buildings and the worry over nuclear and biological terrorism, Clancy's works have developed a certain level, for better or for worse, of credibility recently.

So, 1994's "Debt of Honor" is a bit baffling. Of all the countries the US could consider a security threat in the modern age, Clancy picks Japan to turn his attention to. Dusting off the tired ideas of thinly-veiled Japanese racism towards the US, continued anger over the events of World War II, and "the famous Japanese inscrutablility", Clancy shows us a Japan itching for an excuse to start a nuclear stand-off with the US.

I could outline the reasons why this idea is ludicrous (beginning with China and Korea), but by this point in his series, his world has become a sort-of alternate history where the US has completely disarmed it's nuclear stockpile and dismantled it's Japanese and Korean military bases, where Korea has reunified and Japan has economically pulled itself up by it's bootstraps and (apparently) mended fences with it's East Asian neighbors. So, while I had a great diatribe for why his idea of Japanese nuclear proliferation would never work, I find it completely inappropriate for a world that has become a caricature of ours.

Ultimately, this book serves as a warning against the dangers of nuclear disarmament. After bringing the world to the brink of nuclear winter in "The Sum of All Fears", Clancy's moral in "Debt of Honor" seems to be that we must always keep at least a few nuclear ICBMS squirreled away in case our best friends decide to point them at our back. One almost wonders why he didn't imagine a new 'Axis of Evil' comprised of Japan, Britain and Sweden.

Anyway, within his own world, his logic makes a bizarre sort-of sense, but within the confines of real-world topicality, most of it falls apart. Attacks on the stock market digitally and the final cliffhanger ten pages or so have jarring implications for the real world, but one must not extrapolate to the rest of the book.

Purely as an exercise in fantasy, I found this book to be sufficiently interesting by page 450 or so to keep me going, but I barely made it that far - needing a mental diatribe against his Japan-bashing to keep me going. His knowledge of military units is, I am certain, superb, but he should truly study Asia in greater depth before trying to tackle it again. His analysis of Japan ultimately comes in as poorly studied and poorly understood. He falls back on ethnic stereotypes and fear of in what hands the Japanese government lies rather than pushing for his own analysis, or even seeming to understand that the Japanese are every bit as disparate in their opinions as any other country.

For an author making his reputation based on "what could be", Tom Clancy misses the mark disturbingly in this book. While he shouldn't always look back to Russia for inspiration 10 years after the end of the Cold War, he shouldn't cast around so desperately for a new United States adversary, either.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too much confusing data - not enough plot and story line
Review: Clancy needlessly wastes words and pages explaining details that are far too intricate to be truly necessary to advance the story line. He's still a great writer, but this material should be in a technical manual not a work of fiction.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Superhumans, supercountry???
Review: Unlike a lot of readers i do not mind the amount of background information Clancy gives us on both financial an technical issues. I do not even mind the fact that almost every likeable character Clancy ever created happens to turn up at the very spots where the action takes place. And about the possibility that something like this would really happen? Remember, this is fiction!!!
But what started to annoy me was the fact that once the Americans, and Jack Ryan, in particular go for it everything works out 100%. The simplicity with which the enemy is beaten without any casualties for the Americans really pisses me off. I'll try not to betray to much but two examples. The enemy has superb early warning radar planes, better than any the US have. But they are wiped away in a way that seems quite inbelievable to me. Especially the first two ones.
The location for enemy missiles is very well choosen according to Clancy, making it hardly possible to take them out. But all of a sudden comes the intelligent bombs and its done. Actually there is even an alternative way of taking these missiles out which is even easier.
There are loads of other examples. Once the US strikes back it all seems way to easy. As i often tend to sympathize with the underdog i even start hoping for the enemy to come out victorious, instead of the proclaimed heros of this book.
Please mr. Clancy, give your heros some flaws. Let American technology fail once and a while. You'll have me back as a fan in no time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Too much missing
Review: There is just too much missing between this abridged tape and the book. Yes I know what abridged means, but in this tape there seems to be no connection or reasons for some of the action. It is a good thing i have read the book so I knew what was going on. I will keep reading Clancy but I have bought my last audio book of his.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: What the..???
Review: OK the book started good, I was starting to get into the story until the part when the Japanese attack the 2 carriers...from that point on I was like "you got to be kidding me!!" That is like the most stupid and dumbest operation I have ever read, come on the fire a few ASW torpedoes at two aircraft carriers and call it a day? Victory we put a couple of small holes on those two ships...now the Americans will respect us!! It was just ridiculous, from then on it just went downhill for me...sorry but I think that this book is plain stupid.
Well the attack on Wall Street was cool...way too much babble but cool.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very Solid Effort
Review: Another competent effort by Clancy. For me the whole Jack Ryan as President role (in later books) does not work, but as NSA he is a perfect fit for the job. Becuase of the believability of his role in the story, with the back ground we know about him, I completely trust the character. This believability of the role and character are the main reason I can give this story some slack. I was hard pressed to believe the story line at first but through out the book you come to believe in it. You always get a lot of detail and fact with a Clancy book, this is one of he reasons I really like the books and the reason some of my friends are getting turned off. The extra pages on economics and weapons bring extra value to me. If you like Clancy you will love this book and probably do not need these reviews to prompt you to buy one. If you are just curious then give it a try.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A thriller for the Wall Street set
Review: On an assembly plant in Japan, an electrical surge prevents a gasoline tank from being
completely sealed the way it should. Then on the way over to the US auto plant, the hold
containing the tank leaks and sea water further weakens the tank. Finally a worker in that auto
plant fails to follow quality-control checks carefully. The result-an accident that costs the lives
of a family of four.

And that is just the excuse a congressman needs to start a trade war with Japan in order to win

re-election. When that is combined with a clever computer attack on the stock market designed
to bring out a collapse far worse than the Great Depression, the trade war soon escalates into
military action that has eerie parallels with the beginning of World War II.

But this time, it is Japan that has nuclear weapons, for the United States has just destroyed its
last missile as part of a treaty with Russia. The invasion of US territories in the Pacific is
peaceful enough, but it can only be seen as the first step in a careful plan. Unfortunately Japan's
political leaders are not in charge this time (nor, to change the historical parallel, are the
military.) Instead, the one in charge is a businessman with the philosophy that what is good for
him is good for Japan.

This is certainly a situation that calls for a hero, and Jack Ryan is up to the occasion. In Debt of
Honor, Tom Clancy takes his character into the middle of the government in his new post as
National Security Advisor, where he can be involved in every area.

Those who have read Clancy's other books will be familiar with his emphasis on technology, but
this time he has involved Wall Street, too, and tries to help us understand that enormously
complex institution. These readers will also recognize the way Clancy brings together a
multitude of different stories into a coherent thread, though it does seem to take him a bit longer
than it did in previous works.

This is pure escapism, and the further I read the more engaged I became. I spent several days
getting started, but I swallowed the last three hundred pages as quickly as I could, letting my
other responsibilities slide until I finished.

One warning: The ending of the book is quite surprising, and it leaves a lot of loose threads.
Luckily Clancy's next book is already in print.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Action-packed Ending, Looooong beginning
Review: I decided to pick up this book before I took on "Executive Orders" and overall, I was satisfied with the experience. I won't bore you with the plot, but I will tell you that the first half of the book (Almost 1000 pages total!) drags on F O R E V E R. The economic crisis (half the book) was rather pointless since it was solved rather easily and predictably. The battles are exciting and worth the pain of reading the first half. Recommended.


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