Product Description
Jack Ryan, who had only accepted the Vice-Presidency as a caretaker for a year, suddenly finds himself President of the United States, and must contend with international enemies on both a personal and state level who see a U.S. internal crisis as a great opportunity. 2,250,000 first printing. BOMC Main.

Amazon.com Review
Tom Clancy goes to the White House in this thriller of political terror and global disaster. The American political situation takes a disturbing turn as the President, Congress, and Supreme Court are obliterated when a Japanese terrorist lands a 747 on the Capitol. Meanwhile the Iranians are unleashing an Ebola virus threat on the country. Jack Ryan, CIA agent, is cast in the middle of this maelstrom. Because of a recent sex scandal, Ryan was appointed vice president, a slot he doesn't hold for long when he lands in the Chief Executive's chair. He goes after the Iranians and then tries to piece together the country and his life the only way he knows how--with a fury that we've grown accustomed to in Clancy's intricate, detailed, and accurate stories of warfare and intrigue.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 503 reviews)

The Pinnacle of the Jack Ryan Universe

"Executive Orders" is 1358 pages long. Yes, you read that correctly 1358 pages long! No one has ever praised Tom Clancy for the brevity of his prose, but 1358 pages is one audaciously long book. The only thing that could keep reading a novel of this length from being an overwhelmingly tiresome exercise is for it to contain an audaciously good story. Fortunately for Tom Clancy and Jack Ryan fans, this book resoundingly succeeds on this count.

Now, please be forewarned [IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "DEBT OF HONOR" YET, THEN GO NO FURTHER WITH THIS REVIEW]:

Now, if you have read "Debt of Honor", you will remember the absolutely shocking way it ended, with a rogue Japanese commercial airline pilot crashing his 747 into the Capitol Dome during the President's speech to a joint session of Congress, killing all of Congress, the President, the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court justices (among others). This all happened after the sitting Vice President has resigned in disgrace and Jack Ryan was just approved to be the new VP by acclimation vote of Congress before the plane struck.

So, now Jack is President and he has rebuild a devastated government while facing a political threat from the former VP who thinks he should be president; a foreign crisis brought about by Middle East upheavals (one of which is proving to be quite prophetic); and a domestic crisis brought about by a biological terrorist attack. It's just another day in the life of Jack Ryan.

The real appeal of this book is that every different plot thread is extraordinarily well thought out and set up. In most books this ambitious, you will find certain plot lines boring, making you anxious to get to more exciting portions of the story. In "Executive Orders", Clancy never falls into that trap. You can feel each different thread building upon the others, instead of running in opposition to them. The payoff is a tremendous climax (or rather a series of them) which rewards the reader for their efforts throughout this magnum opus.

"Executive Orders" is a crowning achievement in the Jack Ryan Universe. There are so many fabulous books in the Ryan series, but this one is its apex.

March 28, 2008

Still a fantastic story

Executive Orders is the story of American survival after the government is decapitated. Enemies sense weakness and use terrorists to strike with biological weapons. The rest of the page turning story is about American survival and retribution. Another great, huge, Tom Clancy novel.

Another book with a similar theme is Behold, an Ashen Horse. The attack is more severe, and the president a more pragmatic and hard man than Clancy's Jack Ryan. Retribution is also much more sever than what President Ryan dispenses.

Both books are excellent reads, deal with real world problems, contain interlocking subplots, and will scare the you know what out of you with their realism.
March 15, 2008

From Pleasant to Ponderous

Having been a Clancy fan from his beginning, when I picked up Executive Orders, I hoped to find the same class of writing and pleasant presentation as had been the mark of (most) of his prior work.
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Unfortunately, it seems he had either reached that pinnacle where he could demand he get paid on a "per word" basis, thus the incredible and completely unnecessary length of this work - or he had offended all possible editors of skill, and been left with a very inferior pool to choose from. I'd find it hard to explain this ineffective work otherwise, clearly published on the hope of the merit of the Clancy name and not on any intrinsic merits of its own.
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This is one ponderous book...one that I had a very hard time working through. It could have been fully and effectively covered with half the size, resulting in a much more readable and productive Clancy gripper...easier to follow, more demonstrative of the points he wanted to make, and more conducive to continuing his future unblemished.
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Though I must say I thought I saw it coming in a couple of his works leading up to this one, at least they were still effecive and noteworthy, though beginning to be somewhat needlessly long.
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It is my hope that we don't have a repeat of this exercise in literary back-sliding, and that Mr. Clancy continues to use other writers to assist him in putting his works together as he's been doing since, to keep him from the mistakes he made here.

December 23, 2007

Plotlines review

Let rate each of the major plotlines in the book in true U.S. Navy fashion, of Outstanding, Excellent, Good, Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. SPOILER ALERT -- spoilers abound.

The Asia Minor war with the United Islamic Republic. First off, I must note that Jack Ryan is not a good president. His unpresidential conduct (e.g., maudlin funeral service) made him, and by extension his country, look weak. Something to think about when we elect the next president. Second, we now know that Iran taking over Iraq in a matter of days is not something that could happen. Iran can barely control itself, let alone another country. The land, air and sea battles were fairly well done, however. Rating: good.

Ebola terrorism. Well done with the exception that Ding and Chavez pop up, Zelig-like, to provide crucial information about who has been experimenting with monkeys. The retribution at the end was fantastic (JDAMs on the mullah-in-chief's house especially), and my only question is, Why not use a high-level nuclear bomb to destroy the lab, instead of a low-level one? Rating: excellent.

The assassination attempt on Jack. The idea of a Mohammedan sleeper agent is certainly plausible, post- 9-11, post-Lackawanna Sleeper Cell. I didn't like the fact that catching the rogue Secret Service agent depended in part on luck, but it was certainly presented in a plausible way. Rating: excellent.

The assassination attempt on SANDBOX. I'm getting tired of "kids in jep." Clancy skillfully played that card in "Patriot Games" but I'm a little annoyed to see it come up again here. The only thing that saves this plotline from Unsatisfactory rating is the vivid description of the assault and the takedown of the bad guys. Rating: satisfactory.

The Mountain Men. Didn't go anywhere and was unnecessary. Unsatisfactory.

Edward Kealty tries to muscle back into the presidency. A little absurd but does present interesting legal issues. Rating: good.

Running the government. Clancy obviously took the chance to tell us everything he would change if he were president, but it wound up being just a series of political speeches that any competent editor could have stopped. Two hundred or more pages could have been taken out of the book in this part alone and it would have been far better. Clancy needs an editor with some backbone, for his sake as well as ours. Rating: unsatisfactory.
September 03, 2007

Fast Paced and Thrilling

If you are a fan of Tom Clancy you will love this book. It has all the aspects a book require to make it a great read. Twist after twist this book will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. The events in this book are so realistic you might as well be reading a non-fiction book, that's part of what makes this book so good. If haven't read the books leading up to this I would definitely recommend that you read the other jack Ryan books first. You will fall in love with Jack Ryan in this book and all of Tom Clancy's other books.
August 06, 2007

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Debt of Honor
by Tom Clancy

Without Remorse
by Tom Clancy

The Bear and the Dragon
by Tom Clancy

Rainbow Six
by Tom Clancy

The Cardinal of the Kremlin
by Tom Clancy