REVIEW: Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy and Grant Blackwood

DEAD or Alive by Tom Clancy and Grant Blackwood
Publishing information: Paperback; 950 pages
Publisher: Putnam; 1 January 2010
ISBN: 9780399157233
Series: The Campus #2
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "Jack Ryan, the former president of the United States, is out of office, but not out of the loop about his brainchild, the Campus, a highly effective, counter-terrorism organization that operates outside the Washington hierarchy. But what Ryan doesn't know is that his son, Jack Ryan, Jr., has joined his cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso, at the shadowy Campus. While a highly effective analyst, young Ryan hungers for the action of a field agent.

The Campus has now turned their sights on the Emir, the number one terrorist threat to western civilization. A reclusive figure and mastermind of vicious terrorist acts, the Emir has eluded capture by the world's law enforcement agencies. But now with the help of ex-CIA agent John Clark and pro Marine Colonel Ding Chavez the Campus is in on the hunt. The mission: to bring the Emir in dead or alive."

It has been quite some time since I last read a Tom Clancy novel but I felt I was overdue to read the remainder of his catalog as I have always enjoyed what he puts out.

Dead or Alive is the second book in the campus series, which follows the exploits of Jack Ryan Jr. and his two cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso. In The Teeth of the Tiger, Jack Jr. got his feet wet in the spy game and know is on the fence about whether he should pursue that line of work or stay an analyst working for the off the books intelligence agency known as the Campus. Meanwhile Dominic and Brian are still using their investigative prowess to gather intel on an individual known as The Emir.

The Emir is very similar to Usama bin Laden as he is the mastermind behind a terrorist group that has been behind many of the attacks on the United States and has gone into hiding. US intelligence resources have been unable to uncover where he has gone and are stymied. That is where The Campus comes in; Jack Jr. is like a dog with a bone and with a small amount of hard intelligence is narrowing the Emir's hiding location down.

I read The Teeth of the Tiger when if first came out and was worried that I wouldn't be able to figure out where and what was going on but Clancy and Blackwood do a great job of catching readers up without missing a beat and keeping the pressure up.

There are a lot of cameos in this one as several characters from previous books show up and lend a hand. In many cases the previous book felt like Clancy was winding down Jack Sr.'s career and moving the spotlight to the son but both Ryans have a part to play and looks like I was wrong as Jack Sr. makes a major announcement and jumps back to the forefront.

With the assistance of Blackwood, Dead or Alive doesn't feel bogged down as much as your typical Clancy novel. That isn't to say that the book doesn't have its infodumps and wordiness, as it does, but it does feel a little tighter than what I remember a Clancy novel being.

Dead or Alive is a well-written thriller that puts Clancy back on my radar. I didn't waste much time picking up the remaining novels and plan to get them in short order. Recommended.

Overall 8/10