Sea of Fire (Tom Clancy's Op-Centre, Book 10) Review

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(More customer reviews)Before I reached page 50 I realised this author had confined his research on Australia (the setting for much of the action) to a Sydney Street Directory. Yes, you can see the Sydney Opera House from the Park Hyatt Hotel and that's the limit of his accuracy.
The protagonist travelled from Sydney to Darwin in 116 minutes? Not in a P3 Orion he didn't (unless it is unique among propellor driven aircraft in that it can travel at Mach 2. Maybe it was a Concorde in disguise.) The distance is more than 2000 miles (about equivalent of LA to Miami or New York to Phoenix). The offending yacht travelled from the Celebes Sea to Cairns (well over 2000 miles) in 30 hours. Australia's P3s are owned by the Air Force, not the Navy. In the RAN, a Warrant Officer is not a senior officer. A wommera is not a means of throwing darts, it is a means Aborigines used for throwing spears (it applies extra leverage as an extension to the length of the arm). In itself, a wommera would be about as useful a weapon as any other thin stick and it is hard to imagine why anyone would carry one, especially as that character was supposed to be half Aboriginal..
A willing suspension of disbelief in the interests of a good yarn is one thing, lamentable research and gross (easily checkable) error is quite another. Don't waste money on this dog.

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A half-dead Singapore pirate is plucked from the Celebes Sea in the Western Pacific, setting off alarms halfway around the world in Washington, D.C. Traces of radiation are found on the man, causing Australian officials to call in Op-Center for a top-secret investigation of nuclear disposal sights. When an empty drum from a recent drop-off is discovered near where the pirate's ship was destroyed, the Op-Center team comes to a terrifying conclusion: a multi-national corporation that has been hired to dispose of nuclear waste is selling it instead -- to a most unlikely terrorist... A powerful profile of America's defense, intelligence, and crisis management technology, Tom Clancy's Op-Center is the creation of Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik -- inspiring this and other gripping novels.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Red Storm Rising Review

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(More customer reviews)A few years ago, for reasons I couldn't remember if my life depended on it, I bought a book that didn't have to do with sports. It was Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. At the time I didn't have any knowledge whatsoever of military happenings in the world. I remembered the Gulf War as a nuissance that the news had aired for a month instead of sports (gasp!). Until RSR, I hadn't read a book that was longer than 300 pages. Sound familiar? I'm writing this review for those of you who are like I was.
The first time I read Red Storm Rising, it took me about a week. I don't remember why (I have a terrible memory, don't I?), but I loved it, even though I didn't understand most of the jargon and tactics. I then embarked on a week of net-surfing to learn everything I could about the weapon systems Clancy described. I even borrowed a book from the library about the Cold War, and this is at age fifteen (my friends thought I was nuts). Then I read my new favorite book again, and I actually understood a lot of the air, land, and sea combat sequences.
Anyway, one book doesn't make an addiction, so the next trip to the bookstore I bought "The Hunt for Red October". Take a look at its reviews and guess how I reacted to it. I was officially hooked on techno-thrillers.
Today, I have every book in the Tom Clancy collection (except for the Net Forces and Powerplays), and I loved every one to one degree or another. I also have all or nearly all of Larry Bond's (who was a co-writer with Clancy on Red Storm Rising) and Stephen Coonts' books. These writers, along with Clancy, do their homework when writing their books. I haven't detected a single error in their military jargonizing (I may be wrong), and they spend a lot of time (couple hundred pages) developing the story, instead of just saying, "stuff happened, now let's get to the action!". There are also a bunch of new authors who have this skill (ie. - Patrick Robinson, James Cobb) who you should check out if you like Clancy, Coonts and Bond.
P.S. - If you really liked Red Storm Rising and you want more Cold War era NATO-USSR war books, be forewarned; there aren't many good ones. If you see one called "WWIII" by Ian Slater, don't touch it with a ten foot pole. It's a series of books, and he evidently has no knowledge at all about military hardware and international politics. Check out his reviews (I've never seen so many 1 stars).

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The Tom Clancy Companion (Revised) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Tom Clancy Companion is absolutely vital to any and all Tom Clancy fans, because it contains references to every character and weapon, every piece of equipment used in Clancy's novel, plus much more such as in-depth interviews with Tom Clancy ("TC"), and essays by TC on issues such as nuclear proliferation and gun control. The book also contains detailed summarires and cririques of TC's books. The only thing is that The TC Companion was written in 1991 so it only encompasses the Clancy universe up to and including The Sum of All Fears,which means there is obviously no reference to Without Remorse, Debt of Honor, Executive Orders, his non-fiction works or the Op-Center series. Which makes me ask: WHEN IS THE 2ND EDITION OF THE TOM CLANCY COMPANION GONNA BE WRITTEN

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Completely revised, updated, and expanded-the ultimate book for Tom Clancy fans.Here, with Tom Clancy's cooperation and approval, is a fascinating, in-depth look at his powerful and influential work.This newly revised, updated, and expanded guide features: - Information on his blockbuster novels, bestselling series, and major motion pictures- Clancy's controversial essays on current issues- A complete, updated concordance-a comprehensive, alphabetical guide to Clancy's characters, weapons, hardware, and more

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