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Tom Clancy's Op-Center (Tom Clancy's Op Center (Paperback))

Tom Clancy's Op-Center (Tom Clancy's Op Center (Paperback))

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Turkish Army is not this weak
Review: The story is nice and all but it is not realistic. Not only do the Syrians kill Turkish border guards no match, but they also manage to steal a helicopter, blow up a dam, and also get back to Syria. Clancy is actually a good writer but America and Israel are the only nations in the world to have powerful militaries.

Then the unrealistic story continues. Later on in the book we find out that a small Turkish unit was "wiped out" by a Syrian army! What?

The Turkish army is the region's most developed and powerful. Turkey also posses the second largest army in NATO and has a powerful work ethic. When I went to Turkey for the NATO summit, I saw some Turkish soldiers train at the military barracks and boy did they look fierce. Nothing like some soldiers in the region. Had this situation really took place, Turkey would not only invade Syria but also crush any rebellion inside. In this book (which has badly researched), America and Israel "save" Turkey because they are the only countries in the world to manage this situation. Take my advice, skip this pro Israel pro American book and read something else.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great plot sends you into enemy territory
Review: This story starts out with a bombing overseas and the governemnt secret agency that is chosen to take care of this attack. The op-center is a where a group of highly intelligent people gather information using satellites and spies from all over the world. This book reminds me of spy movies such as James Bond or even of books like "Rainbow Six" also written by Tom Clancy. Mr. Clancy does a great job of showing the reader exactly what is going on because of the way he uses his words. In the story he talks about an operative who notices spies stopping into this same place but in different disquises. He then talks about how the operative notices the same chronic bad breath. The kind you can smell from across the room. That line right there told me a whole lot about this spy. It also showed that this spy was not doing everything possible to change his disquise. He also talks about the atmosphere of the bar where the operative works and comments on the stale air as well as the continous backround noise that is going on. This really lets the reader get into the story and experience exactly what the character is experiencing. The vietnam setting just mad the story have a whole different twist. Clancy talked about the DMZ(Demiliteized zone) and how it was so small and lined with guards on either side. He also lets the reader see exactly howprotected this zone is by saying "Reagan was the first person ever to cross through the DMZ and live" This gives a certain mystique to this zone. While I enjoyed this book very much I think there was a little too much hi-tech talk in this book about computer programs and hardware like that. Even though I could understand what was being talke about I don't think that someone without a background in computers could figue out all that was being talked about. I you are someone who is into hi-tech espionage I owuld definately recommend this book for you.

Rating: 3 stars
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.



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