Clear and Present Danger

In this novel, the US president needs a campaign issue, so he makes the Columbian cartels a “clear and present danger” and sends covert forces into that country.

I love that Clancy shows me two worlds that I don’t really know: the powerful American politicians who will do anything to stay in power and the inside workings of the Columbian cartels who deeply care about their families.

Published in 1989, Clancy dared to show US politicians eagerly using our military in covert missions to further their own political agenda and that they would also readily sacrifice those troops if it… show more.

Can a novel of more than eight hundred pages ever be said to be fast-paced? Well, somehow Tom Clancy manages it with this, his fifth – and in my opinion, best – novel. He not only describes the political backdrop with well-researched erudition, but also manages to convey the adrenaline-fueled nature of small-unit military operations as well as anyone I’ve ever read. This was very influential on the way I write, and I still remember the effect it had on me even now, thirty years later. A superb book, and a fantastic introduction to the world of Jack Ryan.