Tom Clancy Books

This guide is a good one. As a casual comment, it isn't the easiest to follow, but then again the game isn't supposed to be too easy either. I've seen better, but this one works.

If you've read any of Tom's books, you would know that he can sure write a good thriller. In fact, he's considered one of the best thriller novelists in the modern era, often mentioned alongside names such as John Grisham and Michael Crichton.

Rainbow Six is a great testament to that.

Rarely did I stop turning the pages in this one. The prose was flowing, the action was fast and the plot was engaging. Being someone who had served in the army before, I was attracted by the details of the mechanics surrounding the anti-terrorist team named RAINBOW. It's clear Tom knows his stuff. All the facts on the weapons were spot on, and the plot was very believable; with the US government being a part of a bio-terrorism scheme to exterminate the world's population, holocaust style. The multi-national team RAINBOW took center stage in this one, and for much of the book, we learn about their members, their individual roles in the team and their many characteristics. Which is good; having the members of RAINBOW drive the book was a good move by Clancy.

The plot moves on in many threads, much like Ted Bell's SPY where we see many threads moving on in a chronological sequence. It has a very gradual build-up that many thrillers typically employ. RAINBOW started off being formed in the first few chapters to being a serious threat to the main problem (the bio-terrorism problem) in the end. The book moves in and out between the team, the bad guys (Popov and the terrorists), the US government and the many external forces influencing the situation itself. And the plot threads move at a very fast pace, making it very enagaging and urgent.

All in all, I found it a very exciting read. And I recommend it to all looking for a good thriller to plunge into.

I was disappointed in this book. It was too drawn out and too many subplots. Hard to keep all the characters in mind. Actually, if I hadn't read any of Vince Flynn's books, I might have been a little more excited about this book. I have read some other Clancy books and enjoyed them, but this one dragged on.

This gift hooked its' new owner the first time he read it. Adventure, well written espionage and keeping the attention are just some of his mentions. Obviously a plot and book to enjoy.

Extremely boring... The first Clancy book that was not a constant page turner for me. What happened Tom?

I usually enjoy reading Clancy's novels, but this must be his worst. I tried to finish the book, but it took me almost three months. The story is highly repetitious, with similar incidents throughout the first half of the book. The prose was too verbose. The book could have been half the length and would have been better. Worse yet, Clancy was offbase in his over-eagerness to introduce new technologies, and promoted the DKL Lifeguard (supposedly a human presence detector), which was proven in a later Department of Justice double-blind study to perform no better than random chance, and upon a physical engineering dissection by Sandia National Lab, found to contain a block of plastic with a human hair in it as the active sensing element! Shame to Mr. Clancy for falling for that. One would have thought that someone who had been exposed to so much hi-tech through all his research would have had better sense.

Sam Fisher is a spy for a secret U.S. agency, and will do anything to protect his country. The agency is called the third echelon. Nobody, except for the people involved, knows about it. This fast pace novel by David Michaels is called Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.

This intense action thriller includes both great shooting scenes and a well drawn out story line. The setting of the book is about 2002 in the Middle East and Washington DC. The plot is about terrorists that plan to drop a nuke on Bagdad, Iraq. Sam Fisher wants stop that but in doing so he must spy, steal, destroy, and assassinate. Sam Fisher (the main character) and his colonel, Erving Lambert, must stop Namik Basaran and Andrei Zdrok in there plans to take over Iraq. Over time Sam learns that he cannot trust anybody and must always be on alert. The theme of the book is to not always trust everybody and terrorism needs to stop. I thought that this was a very good book that I would give a 9.5 out of 10. I really liked the plot and the way that it switched between different characters. This book would be best suited for 13+ on account of intense action scenes and foul language. If you read this book and really liked it then also try the sequel Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout. Please try this book and I promise you won't be disappointed!

I am in the middle of the third book and do like the series somewhat. I suppose most of you might say, "Why are you reading the whole series if you're only giving this review 3 stars?" Well, I bought the whole series for starters. Second, I don't always give up the ship because because of a few bad starts.
The book was fun to read. I have played the actual Splinter Cell game on Xbox a few times so the visuals in my mind were pretty neat. At times I did think the story was a little corny and a little choppy which seems to get slightly better in the second book. There were few times when I thought the author could have spent a little more time thinking about Sam would actually say. Some the words that come out of his mouth, I can't say that I could ever actually picture any special forces guys saying some of the stuff in the book. His thoughts seemed to portray a special forces guy, but not what he actually would say. Was it a little predictable?...okay maybe but what book of this type isn't. It is a pretty quick read.

Great book. I read all of them and didn't read this one till last. That was my biggest mistake. It takes you through the foundations of Splinter Cell and gives you the knowledge for the other books. Having read the others first it was kind of a given as to the plot and what toys he was going to get. All in all a very good book but yet even a better series. I originally started out reading Richard Marcinko's books (Rogue Warrior series) but in his last three to four books he has gotten a lot more touchy feely and not as rigid as he used to be. If you like the Splinter cell series I suggest Marcinko, check those out, real world. Just make sure you start with the first one. Happy reading!!

Sam Fisher is the next generation spy, operating in a Splinter Cell, which will be disavowed by all government agencies if he happens to stumble. He has state-of-the-art weapons and support, but it is oftentimes his brain which delivers the punch to defeat the bad guys.

Author Tom Michaels packs in arms merchants, terrorist groups, history of the Middle East and scenes pulled out of the news in a choppy debut of an ongoing series.

There is sometimes too much action within parallel plotlines which find his daughter being kidnapped, Splinter Cell agents targeted for murder, an arms merchant who has a stealth fighter and a terrorist - who was thought to be dead - having a secret weapon aimed at Iraq.

Though Michaels does a decent job bringing so much together in the closing scenes, the lack of solid focus splinters what could have been a fantastic roller-coaster ride in the warfare within the shadows between good and evil.

I've played all of the Tom Clancy-based Splinter Cell games and have considered them to be among the best 3rd person stealth style games on the current market (IMHO). My interest was peaked when I realized that there was also a series of books being written by David Michaels based on Tom Clancy's fictionalized invention. This book in particular was a decent start for the series. I felt that the writing style wasn't necessarily as mature (i.e., in the books for adults vs. books for children sense) as it could have been considering the audience it was targeting (i.e., with the inclusion of rated R language and sexual moments). I would warn parents against buying this book for their children who have merely "played the games" as the books stray from the premise of the games to deal more with Sam Fisher's personal life and that of his daughter. The language is rough in parts (obviously not as much as it could be, but that does not discount the fact that the inclusion of the F word, the taking of God's name in vain, and a handful of Sh** uses litter the pages of these books). The games, while they do have language, do not have this much which is a reason that I liked them. They also certainly do not have the adult situations that this author has chosen to include.

As far as the stealth and "Splinter Cell" action that the book offers, this first book is strong in that department with thorough explanations and detailed descriptions on how Sam Fisher's suit works, how Third Echelon came to be, how his weapons and suits end up in other countries waiting for him, how his weapons and gadgets work, and even details of his home life that aren't explored as deeply in the games (IMHO).

In a nutshell, the books fill the "other pages" of Sam Fisher's story, his life, and his ops.

I found this book interesting and entertaining at the same time. I just don't know the level of understanding that can be reached by any reader who is not familiar with the subjec. Most of the acronyms are not explained, and the different levels of the chain of command are not depicted with the proper clarity. Both the above issues are not critical for those familiar with warfare and doctrine, but could be a problem for casual readers.

Good read. Also gave me a better understanding of Desert Storm and made a talk by Genereal Franks more enjoyable.

I like Tom Clancy, really; but this book was so boring that I found myself constantly falling asleep while trying to read it. It's a good and informative story, but seriously needs an editor.

This is the problem with Clancy's non-fiction work, in my opinion. Much too wordy, and not edited enough to seem as engaging as his original fiction. We've seen better books written in military and war time situations, but Clancy constantly gets sidetracked by the 'essay' approach to non-fiction.

First of all, you should know that the parts of this book written by Gen. Franks are not literary masterpieces. But then again Franks is not an author, he's a soldier.

However, if you want to learn about the no BS day by day actions of VII Corps during the 4 day ground war... this is the book for you. I was a young Sergeant in 3rd Armored Division during Desert Storm and this book really brings back the images of the war better than any other book on the subject I've read (including "Crusade" and "It doesn't take a hero").

The General has painstakingly written most of the essential information that one must read in order to know what happened during the infamous "Hail Mary" (as Schwarzkopf likes to refer to it) from the point of view of the soldiers of VII corps.

Gen. Franks is a gentleman soldier who, above all else, is a consummate professional. You won't get the theatrics that were included in Schwarzkopf's book... all you get is the down and dirty facts of what VII Corps went through.

Apart from the info regarding Desert Storm, I also enjoyed the background information on Gen. Franks, his service in Vietnam and how he overcame a potential career killer (losing half of his leg to a grenade) and became a Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army (and a 4-Star before he retired).

However, memoirs like this aren't really written for the public. Rather, their written for students of the event so they can learn from the past. And, for that, this book deserves a spot on any military enthusiasts book shelf.

Oh, and Tom Clancy did a good job too!

The book is very dense and poorly written. I expected a clearer narrative from Clancy. The book is repetitive and could be much tighter. Franks complains about being criticized for the tempo of his forces during the war. While he may have been wrongly criticized, it seems to be eating him up and the book reads like a 700 page justification of his decisions. I think it really detracts from what could have been an expert level description of the ground war. I appreciate that Franks is describing the war from his perspective, but I would have preferred less of his emotions and more matter of fact information about how the war progressed and the battles fought. He uses much more ink describing how the criticism of him was incorrect than he does describing his corps elimination of the Iraqi divisions.

I listened to it, rather than turning pages. The first half was more interesting than the
second half, which is more politics than personal or military history. That is not to deny
value to the later portion of the book. It was interesting to compare Zinni's adventures in
Somalia to the account in "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures -- A True Story From
Hell On Earth" by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thompson. They can both be true.

Zinni wins my admiration for his patient determination to improve things, a unit or a nation.
He shows the Somalia warlords as human. It was a disappointment that he took so long to see
through Yasser Arafat.

Zinni makes much of his "tell it like it is" attitude, and his interest in how to fight effectively.
I was surprised that he did not mention the statue of John Boyd in the center of the lobby at
Marine headquarters. Boyd was an Air Force fighter pilot, that taught how to fight effectively,
and told unpopular truths. Amazon has several books about him.

Zinni did not support the Iraq war. He claims plans for after the battles were won were not done,
or not done well. Could be. He claims 300,000 troops were needed. I wish he had supplied details
of that estimate, similar to the detailed plans for the evacuation from Somalia.

This is not one of Clancy's best, but it is still pretty good. I recommend it to those interested
in military history, whatever their opinions on the current Iraq situation.

Mr Clancy is one of the best military writers and he is typically on his game in this biography of Marine General Tony Zinni who eventually rose to CINC at CENTCOM, the command that has the heart of the middle east at its core. Clancy deftly switches back and forth between a first-person narrative of his subject and his own overviews of the history and background of each period, whether it be Vietnam or Somalia, Turkey or Pakistan. The only issue I have with Tom Clancy is italics. Everything told verbally by General Zinni is presented in italics so that a 440-page narrative probably contains about 220 pages of italics. If only Mr. Clancy would consult the Chicago Manual which states that italics should be used sparingly and never for more than a paragraph! Tom, I get a different voice in my head when I read the italics and I don't necessarily like that voice.

This book, co written with General Tony Zinni, tells of the methods, means, and the reasons for our military. The last part, when General Zinni pulls no punches, about our approach to war, foreign relations, and when to use and how to use the military [with the help of the civilian authority] to fight smarter battles and when to fight, is an excellent assessment of our current problems in the U.S.. His approach to fight in a "smarter" way, reflecting the new realities of war, e.g., terrorism, and an ever changing world, is the way it should be-and not to declare "victory", if that is the objective, on an aircraft carrier as a photo-op [his words], and to support the ideas that are right and to criticize the ideas that are wrong, even if they are "politically" incorrect. A first rate book.

While 'In to the storm' elaborate detail of one big battle, and 'Shadow warrior' tells many big events, this 'Battle ready' tells us every single experience of General Zinni from O-2, O-3, O-4, everything till retired from O-10. I think I will be bored but with his sense of humor, General Zinni brings all his tought without make this book boring. (e.g. the HANDCON and took a bus in 'Nam).
I learn how military and diplomat works in peacemaker process.

In the summer of 1994, I attended a change-of-command ceremony at Camp Pendleton for the I Marine Expeditionary Force. A new 3-star was about to take command prematurely for someone of his seniority. He hadn't even been a division commander, a 2-star billet. The fast-tracking general was Tony Zinni and the rest of his career continued to rocket. Other reviewers have commented on every aspect of his book, including his lack of support for the invasion of Iraq, so I will focus on two parts that impressed me deeply. I do agree with several others that having Tom Clancy as a co-author was distracting and unnecessary. The alternating first and third-person narratives were uneven at times. Thus the 4-stars. But then again, "Battle Ready" is not a literary selection.

The first part was Zinni's 1967 tour as an adviser (called "co van" for "trusted friend" with the Vietnamese Marine Corps). Many accounts have been published about Marines in Vietnam but only handful has come from advisers; the very best Marine officers were selected for advisory duty. Other "co vans" include Gens. Boomer, Hoar, and Myatt--on the Army side, McCaffrey, Powell and Schwarzkopf. All of these men experienced a different Vietnam War than those who fought in American units.

Why is Zinni's advisory experience relevant now? Marine advisers are mentoring Iraqis, and they could only dream their counterparts fought like the South Vietnamese. There's no hubris in Zinni's observations. He understood the Americans' lack of cultural knowledge, including his own early on: "The advisers' job was not to give the Vietnamese Marines tactical advice (they had more fighting experience than most Americans, and it was their country...American commanders were all in a hurry. They wanted to end the war on their one-year tour of duty. Vietnamese [Marine] commanders realized they would be in it for the duration."

The last chapter, Chapter Eight titled "The Calling," is a classic leadership primer-observations made over the distinguished 40-year career of Zinni, a Marine warrior, scholar and leader. As a former Marine, I found his last paragraph most touching: "I have been all over this globe and exposed to most of the cultures on it. I am fascinated by them. I love the diversity. I want to understand them and embrace them. I could never understand prejudice or rejection or the sense of superiority that drive the hatemongers of the world. I lived through a tumultuous period of our history when our own minorities broke from second-class citizenship into full participation in this wonderful dream we call America. I have been proud of their accomplishments and contributions. They have proven the bigots wrong and made our nation greater. I hope the dream we have struggled to realize can be extended to the rest of the planet."

General, it was my privilege to serve under commanders like you. Semper fi!

The Op Centre series is going from bad to worse, I have brought all Tom Clancy's books (all the earlier ones from Red October to my last Red Rabbit) but after I happen to read the first Op Centre book I stopped buying them and just got them from the library, hoping that they would get better and that they would be worth buying again, unfortunately that didn't happen.
This last one is so bad that it is the last one I will get from the library and just stop reading Tom Clancy's books all together.
Always very sad to see a successful author run out of ideas and continue for the money. I would wager that in the long run you will loose money Tom as people will just stop reading your novels.

Even though this is not the best Op-Center work, This book portrays an excellent look at a serious problem in our world today. That problem is the idea of total Pacifism. This book sets an outstanding contrast between those who favor war and those who oppose it at all costs. State of Seige shows the frustrations of Pacifists and the frustrations of those dealing with them. As a Navy Seal once said, "No one wants to fight, but someone ought to know how." State of Seige is a must read for students war or pacifism.

When I read Clancy's books for my first time, it sparked my attention. These books are great for reading on free time and when you have homework or nothing to do. Clancy expresses the urgency of the book greatly when terrorists attack the UN H.Q. If you keep reading clear through to dinner time, you never want to put it down and eat anything. I hope that Clancy will make more books so i can read them.

Clancy has done great in ditching those sometimes boring political plots and went into the action theme. The story is excellent and here is a summary: Paul Hood has retired as the Regional Op-Center director and now wishes to be with his wife and kids more. Sharon was a TV cooking show personality and his daughter Harleigh was an excellent violinist for her teenage age. His son, Alexander Hood (I hope I got the name right) enjoys video games and challenge. When Paul Hood finnaly retires, there is a sub-plot of emotional issues between him and Sharon but when they go to see Harleigh perform at a special diplomatic concert in New York for ambassadors and senators, greedy terrorists with a grandiose plan to get the world's attention and recieve a high ransom invade the United Nations building where the teenagers will perform and take the children and government people hostage. It is a race against time as hostages are killed on an hourly bases and while Secretary-General Chatterjee complains about giving diplomacy when Mike Rodgers wants to send in the Striker team. This has a good plot and lots of adventure that will "dazzle all readers!" (Me!)

I am apparently in a minority of one but I am beginning to find Mr Clancy et al right-wing polemics a little alarming. From strong beginnings with Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and particularly Sum of all Fears, his novels (including his mainstream as well as Op Center novels) have deteriorated in paranoid, simplistic visions of a Pax Americana who owes nothing to the rest of the world and is justified using any means to achieve any ends it sees fit.

I am aware that none of these novels reflect 'reality', but their continued popularity may reveal dangerous tendencies on the part of their fans to believe this is the way the world could/should be. The US represents the greatest civilisation that the world has ever seen... if these books represent the views of its population, is in danger of going the same way as its predecessors

This book was passed to me by my 14-year old son. I needed something to do on a flight to Tokyo, so I read most of it on the way there, and the rest on the way back. The large amount of spelling and grammar errors took away from my enjoyment of the book. It seemed that the editing of the book was outsourced to another country that did not grasp the language. I have always enjoyed Tom Clancy's books, whether written in the first person or the third person, and this one was fairly interesting. The author seemed to spend too much time describing details of the surroundings Fisher was entering, which was more of a distraction than needed details. There seemed to be good technical details of Navy tactics, but the weapons were purely fantasy. It was a fiction book, so I can't be too critical about that.

This is my first Splinter Cell novel and overall I enjoyed it. I thought the plot was interesting and there was a lot of action. The biggest problem for me was the blow-by-blow description of Sam entering hallways, elevators, etc. The other biggest disappointment was the number of grammatical errors. The editor shouldn't be paid. Unfortunately, I've seen that a lot of late in many of the novels I read and by different publishers. Maybe it's a representation of what our schools are producing. (lol)

I only read halfway through Checkmate and had come across TWO DOZEN errors in grammar and spelling. I had to put the book down for a few weeks because it annoyed me so much! I can't believe that in this day and age this book would pass a spellcheck with no problems. The book claims to be printed in the United States of America, but I don't think it's just coincidence some of these sentences sound like a chinaman proofread this book. Here's what I mean:

Some grammar issues:
p40 "To his right he heard a the muffled chugging of a marine engine."
p44 "...he might be able wait out the security sweep."
p68 "...and a spiked soft rubber ball roughly the size of marble."
p190 "Inside he found storage closet lined with empty shelves."

A few misspellings:
(same page as a grammatical error) p68 "...the sabot breakes away, leaving only the Cottonball."
p77 "If it became necessary, the man's disapperance wouldn't immediately raise an alarm."

Spellcheck didn't catch these?!? Was this book penned on a legal pad before being immediately and haphazardly typed up? In many places periods, commas, and words were even left out entirely! I have lost interest in this book, hardcore.

Narration. Not only are there so many errors of all kinds, but the narration is way off from the first two books in the Splinter Cell series. Splinter Cell's self-titled and Operation Barracuda series were well written and had a first person narration. At first, the first person style was kind of annoying, but then it stood out more and made the books what they are: good. You got to feel like you were inside Sam Fisher's head, just as if you were controlling his every move while playing the video games. It was a good way to tackle a video game such as Splinter Cell and make it into a good book. Checkmate drops the first person narration and goes for the third person. Why? No clue. Is it broken? Nope! So don't fix it!

So, what about the actual storyline and plot? In all accounts, the story could have been topnotch. A lot of elements were there to potentially make this one shine. However, even that wasn't done right!

For the facts I discussed above, I give this book one single star because Amazon won't allow a rating of zero. If I were Tom Clancy, I would be embarrassed and ashamed that a book like this had my name all over it.

A gruesome terrorist attack destroys a town in New Mexico, leaving thousands dead and survivors facing agonizing death.

The clues to the criminals lead to Iran, but there is a trail hidden under layers of deception which is a path to the evil mastermind. And as war draws near, special operative Sam Fisher is in the ultimate race against time to uncover the truth.

In the third book in a series based on Ubisoft's game - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - author David Michaels brings a healthy dose of slowly devoloping scenes, which is necessary for a character who operates as a phantom within the shadows of government.

Fisher - a member of the elite Third Echelon organization - uses cutting-edge technology and classic spy techniques as the rugged trail takes him to numerous nations, with bad guys even popping up in swanky hotel in the Emirate of Dubai.

Michaels delivers a winner by finally offering the reader an overt exploration into the covert aspect of Fisher's work; on land, sea and in the air.

This is one of Tom Clancy's best books that I have read. There is a detailed description of what is going on in the book. Sam Fisher is a Third Echelon special operative. Fisher must use stealth to overcome any obstacles in his path. Fisher uses his OPSAT (operational satellite uplink screen) to get maps of what he is dealing with. For example the Fisher had a layout of vessel named the Trego during one of his missions. Alternatively Fisher would use the ASE which is the all seeing eye to get a view from above in NV (night vision) IR (inferred) and (electromagnet) EM which allowed him to see sensors cameras etc. The whole book is about who is behind the poisoning of the town in New Mexico. Fisher finds out what the poisoning was and now he is looking for whoever did this. Towards the end of the story Fisher gets closer and closer to finding who is behind the poisoning. My opinion for this story is that this was a great book. This was a great book because of all the events that happened and the description of what is happening. This is great for anyone that likes books about stealth and being sneaky and doing what you have to do to help. If you like the game then you should get the book. This book is packed with over 50 chapters of exciting conclusions that you will want to know what happens next.

My thoughts about this book are good. I like that Tom Clancy expresses his ideas and how Fisher uses code names when on missions. Fisher's movements are detailed when he is trying to be quiet on a mission. The code names for some of the equipment had me confused sometimes but you eventually memorize what it is. My favorite thing about this book is that Fisher has a gun to get answers out of people but prefers to use the dagger he has. I think he does this because the dagger is more painful and he doesn't want to waist ammunition. If you don't have this book you should get it.

I liked the book, but I really liked the quick service. The vendor was great.

First of all let me say how glad I am that Tom Clancy finally gave Jeff Rovin cover credit for this novel and how great an idea it was to turn this series over to this writer. Mr. Rovin's tight journalistic style is perfect for this series. With all that said this book is a solid addition to a series that consistently suprises me with its intelligence and depth of characters. I call this the new pulp fiction with the highest regard as this series entertains and educates at the same time.

The premise of this novel has a conspiracy of government officials attempting to usurp the power of the presidency in order to alter world policy to their beliefs. The main focus of their coup is by trying to convince the president that he is becoming mentally unstable. In an era where perception is reality this is not as hard for them to do as the reader would believe. By contrasting the president's struggles with his sanity with Paul Hood's (the head of Op-Center)private tribulations, Jeff Rovin has done an admirable job of making this an exciting and emotional thriller. Combined with the intricate details and knowledge of Washington and international politics make this fast-paced and entertaining read and a solid addition to this series.

Tom Clancy has been one of my long time favorite authors with books like Bear and The Dragon, State of Siege, and Line of Control. It displays that everyone can have their own agenda and that those agendas are not necessarily for the common good. Putting all that aside, Tom Clancy and Steve Piecznik along with Jeff Rovin, do a great job of bringing the details of Military Intelligence to the common people. Excellent book for those who like War, Intel, and thirllers. I would recommend it in a heart beat.

I am not too sure about what to say about this book. It was okay, but it could have been much better. It was interesting in places, but there was constantly dry, boring content thrown in. Every once in a while, it would get off into an unneeded description or explanation that really did not help the plot. It was interesting how they put in enough scenes of the "bad guys" to give you the hints to figure out a happening; usually just before the "good guys" figured it out.
Overall? It was a good book with plenty of action, but it had it's faults, like all books. It was better than some Clancy books that I have read, but there has been a few better than it.
I would still recommend, especially if you have been following the Op-Center series. It was surprising how much it could stand alone, yet it also continued what happened in earlier books.

A good thriller but missing something. This was not up to the normal Op-Center books, in my opinion. While it has a good story line it seemed to be off.

in this story Paul Hood ends up seeking help from is Op-Center counterpart in Russia to help hunt down the notorious assassin the "Harpooner". At the same time it seems that all of the issues in the Caspian Sea seem to be tied back to the US president who may be having a mental break down, or is he. His wife thinks that something is wrong and calls in his old friend Paul Hood who is being stonewalled by members of the president's cabinet. While the story is plausible it still bothered me. If you normally like this type of story you will probably enjoy the book but not be thrilled by it.

Sam Fisher is a modern spy - with unique, state-of-the-art technology planted in his body - and an old-school outlook on getting down-and-dirty when a kick to the jaw is needed.

He is a member of an elite, covert team - Third Echelon - which is under attack from a variety of sources; a politician who seeks drastic funding cuts, terrorist organizations and several individuals who willingly sell-out the security of this nation.

In this second novel of an ongoing series, author David Michaels has a lot of issues on the plate, but delivers a luke-warm adventure due to reheating old cliches within this genre.

From crazy automobile chases, secret escape routes for the bad guys and Fisher balancing revenge with his training as an elite covert spy, the plot stalls at critical junctures where creativity is most crucial. Perhaps more reliance on the Fisher character in Ubisoft's outstanding game would have bolstered the action.

Michaels has a quality main character and a great concept, but he must write with only a slight nod to the past.

I have played all of the Splinter Cell video games and I enjoy the series very much. I bought the third book, Checkmate, in an airport with fairly low expectations. It was well written enough, particularly because I like the genre and the Sam Fisher character. I read the reviews for the first two books and I ignored the bad ones. I cannot believe that these books made it to print. The writing appears to have been done by a high school student or a non-native english speaker. There obviously was no editor assigned to the project. I lost count of the number of times words were used incorrectly or gratuitously.(My favorite, is when a "hidden surveillance team" was inserted -- as opposed to what, a "visible" surveillance team?) Worst of all, in these books Sam Fisher is a total moron. I won't put spoilers in here, but there are instances where someone is very obviously bad or try to kill Sam and after it would be paintfully obvious to anyone, he would say "I'm beginning to get the feeling that they are aiming for me" or "I'm starting to think this guy might be not be on our side". At the end of one of the books, he does something so stupid and amateurish that you won't believe it. And, if only a handful of people know about Third Echelon, why do I lose count of the number of people who know? Perhaps it is my ignorance, but do covert operatives take Army flights out of Dulles? Wouldn't he know he needed the access code in the many hours before he got to the facility he was infilitrating? If the facility was abandoned, why would they send him and not the FBI? These books have more holes than swiss cheese. My wife couldn't believe that insisted on finishing the books, but I was invested and wanted to know the resolution. Perhaps the practice of writing made the third one better or maybe they found an editor. But owners of the first two books should be issued a refund.

Second installment of Splinter Cell series. Has more character development but still quick interesting read. Should stop picking on Middle East countries and find another target to demonize...

I am a big fan of Splinter Cell. I have all the xbox games, so I decided to buy the books to see if there were any differences. I think I love the book just as much as I do the games.
So if you are a Splinter Cell fan, I highly recommend reading the books too. They will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

If you like TC novels then this is a great book to have.

This book was my least favorite book in the net force series (yes i have read all of them up to springboard)because it has too much useless day to day stuff that is boring. Toni keeps complaining about how shes fat and is on and off with the scrimshaw stuff.

Most net force books take me 2 weeks to read...but this one took me a month!Also, what does net force have to do with controlling drugs?

The other novels that came after this were pretty much a chore to read, especially state of war. They always just start out with a death (or many),and go through the introduction. Then they just go for days or even weeks without any leads at all. Then a personal event happens, and they get a lead. This is where most of the books start to pick up their pace. This is when its hard to put the book down. But thats changing with every new novel. However when springboard came out in January, it renewed my interest in Net Force.

There is an illegal drug being sold on the Net that makes you Superman. The FDA calls on Net Force and the NSA to stop the seller.
I liked the action and the descriptions Clancy uses to describe what's going on. Every thing is described with great detail.
I would recommend this book to adults that like violence, action and details about guns.

Once again Tom Clancy has outdone himself. This book was the greatest book I've read in my whole life. Tom Clancy's Net Force starts to track a major drug dealer that has created a new drug called, Thor's Hammer. The inventor of this new drug is, Bobby Drayne. Drayne's father is retired from the FBI. This drug is like a steroid, except a lot more potent, it increases all of your senses and makes you really strong. If you want to feel like "Superman" for a few hours, it will cost you $40,000. But due to the fact that it is like a steroid, you'd better have a lot of time on your hands to recover from the drug. The Net Force starts going after Drayne, and then there is "The Point of Impact."
If you like novels that have a lot of action and adventure, this book is for you. It is intriguing and will hold your attention during the whole book. When you think it is about to get boring, more action and adventure comes along. This is a great book! You should buy it!

I have read a lot of Clancy books, among them several in the many that are actually written by other authors. This is my third Net Force book. That said, I have read worse books with Clancy's name on them, but this book just wasn't very interesting to me. Part of that is because I have lately started wondering why I even read these books, because they are all rather similar; the good guys always win and usually by killing the bad guys; the only good guys to get killed are minor characters while the more major characters might get injured; etc. The only major diferences is how the story is developed. This book actually increased my questioning as to why I read these books. This is mainly because this book seems to put across the message that the main purpose in life is to have sex. This book is absolutely packed to references about sex, mentioning people having sex, or such references as two people taking a shower together. That gets really tiring after a while. Other books in the series do mention such things a lot, but not as much as this book.
This book has most of the characters returning from previous books, but there are two that are noticably gone. There are only two quick references to Tyrone Howard, and they are about him being away on a school trip. These references remind you of the importand role he played in the last few books. Also, there is no reference to Tyrone's boomerang-throwing friend (can't remember her name).
As for the good parts? The noticable, worth-mentioning ones are few. This book does have a few surprising twists in the story, such as the rogue government agents, which help keep it from becoming too plain. Also, this book does not have very much bad language, which is surprising. It does have some bad language, but I have read books that were much worse in that respect.

Even so, 3 stars is the most I can give this book. It is just not very interesting, and there are other books that I can read and enjoy much more than any of Clancy's. I cannot truthfully recommend this book, although if you are reading through the series, this would be a necessary inclusion.

I was fully prepared to dislike this book. To begin with, it was a gift, not something I would have chosen. I'm not a big Tom Clancy fan. I don't have anything against him, I just haven't read any of his books. The thing is, I still haven't read any of Clancy's books. Although POINT OF IMPACT has Clancy's name all over it, it was actually written by Steve Perry, someone I had never heard of.

Then there was the prologue, which contains some very hokey and contrived dialogue. By the time I got through the first few pages my eyes were rolling. Given the larger-than-life action and comic book characterization typical of this type of book, combined with what I had seen so far, I figured I was in for a real stinker.

But, to my surprise, POINT OF IMPACT turned out to be pretty good. Not a literary masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but entertaining and quite readable. The prologue was just a setup. To be sure, you still get the over-the-top plot, but that goes with the genre. Beyond that, there actually was some character development. Not so much for the Net Force "good guys" (I assume they're already familiar from previous books in the series) as for the "bad guy" drug maker and his sidekick. These two become somewhat familiar and interesting as the story progresses.

I enjoyed POINT OF IMPACT and I hadn't expected to. It wasn't clever or memorable in any particular way. There isn't any real depth. Still, it didn't bore me and the writing was competent. For a light read, you could do a lot worse. Fans of this genre won't be disappointed.