Tom Clancy Chain of Command: Jack Ryan series, Book 21; Marc Cameron, author; Scott Brick, narrator
From the get-go, the reader knows that a group of foreign mercenaries known as the Camarilla, are executing a diabolical plan to influence President Ryan to abandon his plan to reform Big Pharma. They are unofficial advisors, and therefore, have plausible deniability. They are former soldiers working for Marjit Malhotra, a very wealthy pharmaceutical businessman who is plotting to create terror and bedlam, death and destruction in America, in order to pressure the President.
At first, in an attempt to persuade Ryan to drop the new drug bill, a pilot was given the choice of taking his plane into DC’s restricted air space, or see his family murdered. Then, the Vice President died from an aneurysm while at a meeting in Japan to discuss the plans for the bill that would regulate the industry. When a group of white supremacists practicing their marksmanship, spied the secret militia training (the Camarilla operating in America), they were discovered. To stop the “rednecks”, who were themselves not very law-abiding citizens, from finding out what they were really doing, a violent act of terror occurred at a mall, resulting in the loss of life of many innocent victims.
As this perfect storm developed, the Harpers, missionaries in Afghanistan, whose daughter was known to President Ryan, were kidnapped to further gain leverage over the President. The coup de grace, though, was the plan to kidnap the First Lady, Cathy Ryan. In every event and at every turn, there was the opportunity for wanton murder and betrayal, just for the end goal of greed.
All this violence was to satisfy the needs of one man who had used his money to garner power and influence. He feared that the bill would stop the multi-billion-dollar sale of his company, would stop him from accumulating more money, andt he would stop at nothing to prevent that from happening. Does this make all rich businessman suspect? Do they have too much power over our government and its officials?
The plot often became too weighed down with details that seemed meant only to fill the pages. Often, too, the melodrama was a bit over the top. There was so much death and destruction used as a distraction for law enforcement that it also distracted the reader. By the time the action began and it grew exciting, the reader might be at the point of giving up. Still, when finally, the disparate parts of the story merged and the investigations and undercover work began, it became engaging. There were many familiar names, Mary Pat Foley, Ding and Chavez, and Jack Ryan Junior, Jack Ryan and his Campus team usually played a more major part, and they were sorely missed by this reader.
In the end, Ryan’s purpose was noble. He was just trying to protect Americans. What price should he be expected to pay? Many of the characters were faced with the difficult decision of choosing between family and country, that is, whether to save their own family or put other innocent victims at risk in their stead. What do you think you would do in their position?
When a President is tested by events involving his family, should he step down rather than risk being compromised by his dual loyalties? In the end, is the Campus similar to the Camarilla, since both commit murder, though one does it to save the world and the other for fun or entertainment? Also, was the book’s side purpose to recruit Chilly Edwards, a possible new agent for the Campus?