Tom Clancy, Rules of Engagement, Ward Larsen, author; Scott Brick, narrator
This book is filled with familiar characters from prior Jack Ryan novels. Even though the varied authors write under the auspices of Tom Clancy’s name, and they have frequently changed, the continuity of the theme remains.
When a government plane, carrying the Secretary of Commerce and his private secretary to a meeting in Turkey, crashes into a mountain, an investigation into possible sabotage begins. How could this have happened otherwise? This plane undergoes the strictest kind of scrutiny regarding safety and security precautions. Could it have involved something called cyber-spoofing, a program that distorts the navigation information on an aircraft, causing the crew to misconstrue their location? This horrific accident soon involves President Ryan’s two children, Katie and Kyle, both of whom are involved in intelligence for the military. This circumstance adds additional stress to the President as he conducts government policy. In addition, his close friend, Secretary John Moore had possibly been murdered, and he had placed him on that plane, so his heart is heavy.
It is soon revealed that there was supposed to be a Swiss banker on that very plane. Gunther Klaus had worked in clandestine banking for years, enabling the movement of Russian money without asking any questions, but recently his own alarm bells had begun to go off when he noticed a particular Russian moving large amounts of money for odd purchases. This same person was also suddenly spending and receiving large payments he had not received before. Andrei Malenkov had been fired recently from the GRU, so Gunther wondered if something dangerous was taking place with his sudden change in behavior. He began to fear for his own life because of his involvement, and he wanted to escape. He arranged it with the CIA and was supposed to be on that very plane that crashed with Secretary Moore. The CIA was trying to secrete him out through Turkey, in exchange for information he claimed to have that was very strategic and highly dangerous about a possible attack with radioactive material somewhere in the world. Klaus suspected the Russian’s involvement in it.
When the wreckage of the plane was explored, only fifteen of the sixteen bodies that should have been on that plane were found. Who had apparently not boarded, but why? Had the banker gotten cold feet? Was he the missing passenger? Questions proliferated. Was the plane deliberately compromised? Who would want to down an American plane knowing that there would be severe repercussions? Was this possible plot so fail-safe or so dangerous that any risk taken was worth the consequences? Was the plane brought down because of the presence of the American Secretary or because of the Swiss banker?
While this tragedy was being investigated, two other familiar characters, Ding Chavez and John Clark, were engaged in an operation entailing the blowing up of a Russian ghost ship. It had changed its identity and origin several times in the prior years to escape discovery. It was suspected of engaging in clandestine, dishonest operations. Ding and his troops pulled off the detonation and destruction expertly, but their rendezvous for rescue went awry and was delayed. Ding and Clark seem to have been placed in the area specifically in order to move the story forward, because when the investigation of the plane crash begins, they are the closest agents and are diverted to Turkey by Mary Pat Foley and President Jack Ryan. They are sent to investigate the plane crash site and then to find the possible device that was used if it was sabotage.
As the story progresses, a dangerous terrorist plot is indeed discovered and is being planned by a Russian who seemingly was demoted and removed from the GRU, but possibly now had formulated a plan to become a Russian oligarch with great power and wealth by means of an act of horrific terrorism that would bring great casualty numbers to innocent people. Is this Russian thug Andrei Malenkov? The President of Russia, Nikita Yermilov, claims ignorance of anything untoward going on, yet radioactive material had been reported missing, and no answers had been forthcoming. Could that be part of the terrorist plot? Is Malenkov working alone; is he really the guilty party? How can the United States prove it? Who is providing the funds that Klaus watched being moved in and out of Malenkov’s bank account? If he has engineered the downing of the US aircraft and then the downing of a helicopter carrying a US intelligence officer who was captured, some monstrous plan must be in the works requiring great effort to prevent its discovery. How is the person responsible able to engage others to help him in this plot? Does it even seem plausible? Is it even possible to stop the catastrophic event possibly being planned? Time is of the essence, and little evidence or outside help is available, so there is no time to waste to gather proof. Instinct is the current game being played.
There are times when there is too much extraneous information and there will be the urge to skim and turn the pages to skip ahead, but the book is entertaining and the abundant action makes it an exciting read. Also, its themes of terrorism, drones and AI technology are current as is the lack of identifiable enemies which was once was the prevailing method used to fight potential threats. Flying blind has become commonplace and a reliance on advanced technology has become routine.