The Teeth of the Tiger

Rating:
Summary: Clancy introduces his next generation with Jack Ryan Lite
Review: Tom Clancy and Jack Ryan hit the ceiling with "Executive Orders," which was Clancy's ninth novel and the seventh Jack Ryan techno-thriller. That particular novel ended with the character, now President of the United States, declaring his intention to run for and be elected to the office that he gained through a tragic twist of fate. We learn in "The Teeth of the Tiger" that Ryan was elected with a plurality surpassed only by George Washington, but I was disappointed that the next Jack Ryan novel, "The Bear and the Dragon," had skipped over the election, because I was really looking forward to Tom Clancy's take on the circus that is American presidential politics and was anticipating Ryan carving up his political opponent in a debate the same way I enjoyed watching Jed Bartlett do on "The West Wing." But this was not to be.

It is clear now in retrospect that since "Executive Orders" Clancy has seriously lost momentum. "Rainbow Six" was a John Clark novel that originally indicated Clancy was taking a break from Jack Ryan again. But "The Bear and the Dragon" showed that Clancy no longer knew what to do with Jack Ryan. On the one hand the story, with China and Russia going to war, was again upping the ante for what was at stake, but the family element, always a strong component in these books, was essentially gone. Clancy tried to reset his character, taking Jack Ryan back to the early days in "Red Rabbit" and dealing with a real event: the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. It was the mission more than the time frame that made that particular book seem different and I had to wonder if events in the real world had moved so far beyond the Cold War that existed when Clancy began writing that the fictional world he had created was collapsing because of external forces.

That idea gains credence in "The Teeth of the Tiger," where September 11th has happened, but we have no idea how it fits into the Clancy chronology. The opening chapters of this novel reminded me of the opening credits of "Aliens3" where everything you liked about the previous story was jettisoned. Jack Ryan is now retired, as are most of the major supporting characters we have come to know, and one of them is dead. You will be shocked by who is now POTUS and a bit miffed that there is no explanation for how that particular abomination took place. On the one hand, clearly Clancy is trying to clear the table, whether to start over or to get back to the basics will be your call when you finished reading the novel. But while none of the familiar characters appear, they still get talked about a lot.

Our hero is now John Patrick Ryan, Jr., although he is actually one of a trio of youngsters at the heart of this story. The others are his cousins, Dominic and Brian Caruso, a rookie FBI agent and a Marine captain just back from Afghanistan, who have caught the eye of the people at "The Campus." What this novel is about, in terms of contemporary geopolitics, is Tom Clancy's solution to the Brave New World of terrorism. When anybody with an automatic weapon and the willingness to die can cause serious damage, the old rules no longer apply. Set up by President Ryan before he left office, "The Campus" operates outside the system, free of government restrictions and Congressional oversight. Its mission is to identify and locate terrorist threats and to eliminate them.

The result of this next generation of Clancy heroes is best described as "Jack Ryan Lite," as history repeats itself and another Jack Ryan proves himself to be a natural in the field of intelligence with a knack for getting his hands dirty. This new trio certainly talks a lot more (and way too much in public), especially the two brothers (fraternal twins), who endlessly debate things in the way those chatty FBI agents and Marine officers tend to do. Junior, as he is usually called, never interacts with any of his family besides his cousins, which is a conscious but artificial choice by Clancy (Has the author been shying off this element since his divorce and remarriage? You decide). The other thing missing are the wonderful backstories that Clancy used to work in for characters (e.g., the whole Red Wegener bit from "Clear and Present Danger"), which is one reason that "The Teeth of the Tiger" does not have the heft of its predecessors.

Of course, when you are not dealing with a nuclear explosion, biochemical warfare, or military invasions, a series of "minor" terrorist attacks and a handful of assassinations seems almost trivial. But this is the world in which we now live and the one in which Tom Clancy clearly wants his next generation of characters to do their job. I do not fault the idea, but the execution is not up to Clancy's standards and again I see the need for an editor to step in and make him clean up his writing. Characters are saying the same things over and over again in only slightly different ways. Most importantly, "The Teeth of the Tiger" fails the ultimate test of a Clancy book. From time to time I will pick up "Patriot Games" or "Executive Orders" and reread my favorite parts. But like "The Bear and the Dragon," this latest Clancy novel is going up on the shelf and is probably not coming back down again, which is the most damming critique I can offer.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy's efforts to carry on the Ryan series don't pay off.
Review: The Teeth of the Tiger represents Clancy's effort to get himself out the corner into which he has painted himself in the Jack Ryan novels. By making Ryan the President, Clancy made it impossible for the character to move around and pull of the heroics of the earlier books. In Rainbow Six, Clancy turned to John Clark and kept Ryan offstge. Here, he swtiches the focus to a new generation of characters -- two nephews of Jack Ryan and Ryan's son, Jack Jr. While this a good idea -- none of the original characters were getting any younger -- the plot of The Teeth of the Tiger strains plausibility, even for a thriller.

In his earlier books, Clancy portrayed the CIA as highly capable. Now it is described as bureaucratic nightmare, incapable of fighting terrorism. Instead, now former President Jack Ryan (before he resigned the Presidency for reasons that aren't clearly explained) created a self-supporting, very small organization designed to identify and kill terrorists. Ollie North testified that William Casey actually considered the same idea -- he thought that by taking the profits from Iran-contra, he could create a version of the CIA that got no federal funds and thus could function without Congressional oversight. Here, the organization that is created is so small that it is ludicrous to conclude that it could accomplish anything. The organization gets its information by evesdropping on NSA-CIA traffic. Somehow, two or three people (most of the time one person, Jack Ryan, Jr.) is able to ferret out of this immense amount of information the names and location of terrorists. And then the organization's two (yes, two) field agents are able to quickly find them and kill them.

The book is filled with other implausibilities -- to get Jack Ryan Jr. involved in the action, it is suddenly decided the two agents need backup, although they've had no problems up to that point. Junior is sent to back them up even though he has absolutely no field training.

Readers should be aware that this book appears to be the first in a series; much of the first third is spent setting up plots for which there is no resolution, and the main villain has not been identified by Ryan Jr. and company by the end of the book.

There are a few set pieces that Clancy will enjoy -- a shootout in a mall, the details of how people can be smuggled in the U.S. and other examples of Clancy's research. But if this had been Clancy's first book, I don't think he would have had much of a career.

Rating:
Summary: less than gripping
Review: This is not a very believable tale and the Jack Ryan Jr. character is not very exciting. The plot is thin and predictable. Clancy does a lot of name dropping, with characters from previous books in the Ryan series, but this one just doesn't have much of a story to tell.

Rating:
Summary: setting the stage
Review: This book is not the usual Tom Clancy read...he is just setting the stage for future books, with the introduction of a few new characters and very little action....I was disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, even by recent Clancy standards
Review: Clancy made a name for himself with bold, imaginative plots and excellent pacing. Even as his recent books have become loaded down with political commentary and the author's ruminations on faith, they at least retained some of this original spark (think of some of the scarily visionary elements of Debt of Honor or Executive Orders).

Teeth of the Tiger has none of that. The plot is bland and workmanlike. The somewhat promising idea of an alliance between terrorists and drug cartels is never really explored. Having exhausted the possibilities of his first crop of characters (where is there to go after being President?), Clancy now brings us the even more incredible son of Jack Ryan, who has all the makings of a future Dirk Pitt. Clancy's socio-religious musings are present and accounted for, but offer little insight beyond the standard blandishments that "all religions can be twisted" and "Islam and Christianity are fundamentally the same."

Most disappointing, though, is the fact that this book is so obviously intended as the first of a series. There's no resolution of key plot elements, and after enduring a lengthy set-up of Ryan Jr., his assassin cousins, and the clandestine outfit that they all work for, the book ends just as it's starting to get mildly interesting.

If you're hungry for Clancy, re-read "The Hunt for Red October." Even the 5th time through it's better than "Teeth of the Tiger."

Rating:
Summary: Sadly disappointed
Review: I never thought I would say this about a Clancy book but I feel ripped off by this book. This one should be called "Teeth of the Tiger, Part 1" since it obviously stops in the middle of the story. If I didn't know better, I would swear that Clancy wanted to get the book on the market but just didn't know how to bring it to a close.
I have every one of his other books & have enjoyed them immensely (I've read each of them at least 3 times each). I don't expect to be re-reading this one anytime soon.
Will I buy the next Clancy book? At this point, I really don't know. Maybe I'll read a copy from the library & before spending my money since I don't feel that this one was worth it.
Sorry, Tom, but you'll have to try harder next time.

Rating:
Summary: Not destine to be a classic.
Review: While this book was an easy but interesting read, it lacks the multi-dimensional character that I appreciate in a Clancy novel. This book reads more line an "Op-Center" or "Net Force" than full-blown, classic, Clancy. There was nothing really surprising in the plot or ending.

I appreciate the characters and the background. I hope this is an introduction to a cast that we will see in the future, embroiled is some great global conspiracies.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to his standards
Review: I was dissapointed by this book. The characters (especially Jack Jr.) are not very sympathetic and the plot seems like a retread of some of the better Clark stories. The ending was not only abrupt but also unsatisfying; it reminded me of the stories that used to be serialized in newspapers, when I read the last page I turned it over looking for the next chapter. All in all I would say get it from the library or wait until it shows up in a used bookstore.

Rating:
Summary: First in a series?
Review: I love Tom Clancy books, and this one was excellent. It appears that it may be the first in a series about the next generation of the Ryan family. I hope so. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it ends rather abruptly. I suspect a sequel is planned. If you like Clancy, read this one.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent action
Review: Tom Clancy fans will certainly enjoy his latest installment and those who have never read Clancy before will be drawn in by his always timely "what-if" plot. You don't need to have read a Clancy book in the past to enjoy this action thriller, although characters and events from past novels are referenced now and then, this novel stands on its own. Not nearly as dense as past novels nor as difficult to get into. This novel has fewer complicated characters to keep track of and begins in mid-action. The plot deals with the idea of fighting back against terrorists in an unconvential manner. Interesting and entertainig both.