Tom Clancy Shadow State: A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel, Book 12; M. P. Woodward, author; Scott Brick, narrator
Contrary to many reviewers, I did not find this Jack Ryan Jr. book that coherent. Yes, it was action packed, but often the action was so overwhelming, it was distracting. When the book begins, The Campus is working on an operation in the Philippines. Jack Ryan Jr.’s fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, is involved. When that op goes south, the scene rapidly changes to one in Vietnam with Jack Ryan Jr. He is investigating the purchase of a rare earth mineral company for Hendley Associates, a front for a government run company. Jack wears two hats. He also worked for The Campus like Lisanne, his fiancée. This rare earth mineral is necessary to make batteries. In order to make the US less reliant on China, a major sources for this important and rare mineral, the United States is searching to purchase a company to provide another source. An upstanding American from Texas, Bruce Stevenson, runs the company being explored. He collects and restores WWII "tools", like helicopters and boats, and he is one of the good guys.
At the same time, there is a nefarious group of Chinese working with a Laotian gang. They have teamed up to try to stop Jack and Howard Brennan, the banker involved, from auditing the company. They want the deal to go through, but since the company is also a front for a very lucrative human trafficking organization run by the "Snakeheads”, a vicious Laotian gang, they want no eyes on the mining operation site.
A French couple and an English nobleman, of very questionable character, are also involved in this scheme to pull the wool over the American’s eyes about the smuggling. The Chinese use them to prevent interference in the mining operation and allow them to conduct their illicit business in exchange. They also don’t want The Campus to discover that their stealth aircraft was not as stealthy as it appeared to be. The rare earth mineral is necessary for the batteries in the stealth aircraft. There is also a Muslim theme lurking about since the operation against Abu Sayyef compromised some of The Campus operators.
This is what I think the book is about. Sometimes, as each new danger erupted, its resolution remained a bit incomplete and because there are so many themes that were not knitted together that seamlessly, the story often seemed opaque. Perhaps it would be better understood in a print book. I listened to the audio and found it hard to follow all of the threads. So, yes, it was action packed, with one gruesome battle following another, so much so, that at one point, I had to suspend disbelief in order to believe there would be any survivors in the end. I am really dumbfounded by the lack of more critical reviews, unless they are being censored and prevented from seeing the light of day.