The President’s son Jack Ryan Jr.--of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series—while living a quiet life after his forced leave from a covert intelligence company the main character refers to as The Campus, suddenly finds himself the target of an assassination. With the first assassin killed in an accident by a truck, Jack starts his personal investigation on who wants him dead and why. All the bloodshed and clues lead to a private security firm called Rostock Security Group managed and founded by Jürgen Rostock, a former general in the German Special Forces, now a philanthropist and human rights advocate. Jack soon finds an ally in a reporter who willingly aids him or fumbles his way while running an investigation of his own. Just what is Rostock after and why will be evident to the reader at the end of the book.

The opening of the story hooks the reader firmly and doesn’t let go until the end. The language of the author is direct and understandable. The setting is credible and involves several different places in the world. The dialogue is believable and fits the characters. Yet, I found the plot construction to be frail with too much action, due to cinematic concerns, as the story seems to be written in scenes for the camera.

This book might be good for excitement-seeking thriller-lovers, but I would have liked to read about more fully-rounded and better-presented characters, a plot without holes, and smarter pacing. What I was uncomfortable with were the overly exciting events, fierce fights, and twisted discoveries that kept happening one after the other, without letting the reader take a breath. As such, I still kept on reading, and at each turn of the plot, I was curious if the main character would succeed and come out alive or not. My point is, this much electrifying action, although appreciated by some readers of the genre, can be too taxing and pointless for others.

Still, I think Grant Blackwood honored Tom Clancy after Clancy's passing in 2013 by continuing with Clancy's series and using his characters.

feeling pointless excitement

the beginning and the set-up.

the too much fast action that never slowed down. It felt as if I were riding in a vehicle that surpassed the sound barrier several times over.

stay away from such thrillers, but not all because I like a good thriller if written with a more cultivated slant for well-rounded storytelling.

kidnapped by cheap thrills

is Grant Blackwood, a US Navy Veteran who collaborated with Tom Clancy, James Rollins, and Clive Cussler. He has his own Briggs-Tanner series.

if you like this type of thrillers that are all action and nothing else, this book is for you. Also, the book is well written and well edited.

I am on alert myself to not read any thriller like this one again without checking the reviews first.

I picked this book up thinking it was written by Tom Clancy. Wrong! I discovered later that it is written by Grant Blackwood, another author who often collaborated with Tom Clancy. When I looked carefully I saw that the name of the book is not just Duty and Honor but Tom Clancy Duty and Honor.

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Created Apr 11, 2018 at 7:24pm • Submit your own review...