Book reviews!

19 November 2008 @ 09:02 pm

Here I am, after a long period of inactivity. Frankly, I’ve grown bored of the games on my NDS and PSP, and I’ve just completed MGS4 and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (finally!) so I’ve gotten addicted to reading again. I’ve picked up a couple of Daniel Silva’s thrillers like Prince of Fire and it’s really good! But I’ll have to disagree with this comment:

“Daniel Silva confirms his position as a front-runner to succeed Tom Clancy as America’s foremost source of international intrigue fiction.” – Bookpage

Tom Clancy is really, really good! I’ve never really read someone else’s work as brilliant as his (it’s true I haven’t read a lot, but that’s hardly the point here!), although I must admit it’s been a long time since he released his last book…

Anyway, I read Executive Orders about a month ago, and I still do remember most of it, including its excellence in craft. It’s about the new American President who had to take charge after a crazy suicide attack (by a Japanese pilot who lost his close ones in a war with the Americans) killed most of Congress and a lot of the Government.

Jack Ryan faces threats from Mahmoud Haji Daryaei, the religious extremist leader of Iran, as well as the Prime Minister of India and someone in the Government of China. They’re all eager to seize the ultimate opportunity: attack the world’s strongest country while it’s in the hands of a weak and inexperienced politician, and make their own country the new superpower. Daryaei has someone inside the Secret Service ready to assassinate Jack (and he very nearly did, if not for the brilliant investigation on the part of the FBI). And Daryaei even released the Ebola virus into America and set it amongst the people. Talk about despicable!

And there were these 2 jokers who thought they were doing the world a favor if they blew up the White House (fortunately discovered by their fellow Americans). Oh and the American media is trying to bring Jack down by discussing in public the nature of his work in the CIA (when obviously this shouldn’t happen. People could get killed if all the secret stuff is disclosed to the public) at the “command” of ex-Vice President Ed Kealty. Kealty wanted to be President so he claimed he never resigned, so Jack was never Vice President and hence NOT President! When in actual fact, Ed was forced to resign because he raped several women working for him and one of them committed suicide.

Jack often thinks that he should never have accepted the job at the start, so he wouldn’t have to bear such heavy responsibility for everything that happens to his country. But he handles things really well for someone who is a really honest guy and not cut out for politics. And he, of course, manages to save his country from ruin at the end of the day. HOORAY!

That’s what I like about Tom Clancy’s novels. They have complicated plots and very real and yet outstanding characters. If only I could say the same thing about his latest novel…

Teeth of the Tiger was a letdown. Sure, I love the way he writes. The way he described a terrorist’s death after being stabbed in the ass with a substance called succinylcholine (which leaves absolutely no detectable trace during a post-mortem examination) was riveting. But the plot was too simple. And to tell the truth, I really missed the old cast. Jack Ryan, John Clark… They’ve all grown old and not physically fit to be in crazy adventures any more. Damn it.

Well, until I see another Tom Clancy novel in bookstores, I’m sticking to Daniel Silva. His Gabriel Allon series will keep me sane for the next few weeks. And it’s not like they’re bad. They’re actually pretty good. Good enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Just not good enough to get my heart pumping like crazy. Or to get tears welling up inside my eyes. Damn. I miss those moments.


Current Location: at home (home sweet home)
Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: MPO OST