Customer Reviews

Hidden Agendas (Tom Clancy's Net Force, No. 2)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Early works were solid. I've been a true fan and read from Red October through to Clear and Present Danger.

What's clear is this book is well below par. Its more along the lines of a Sue Grafton novel as in "T is for Terrible". The Danger is that Tom & Steve put their names on it. I feel like a teacher catching students cheating on an exam. Either this isn't their work or this isn't the work I know their capable of. I can't recommend this and would like a refund.

A few technical points - And I'm not a writer but just some obvious flaws. 1. Poor dialog. 2/10 The same phrasing is used by multiple characters. Sometimes on the Same page! (Granny sickle & Howard sickle - this is lame. A first year writer could do better) 2. Concepts - 3.5/10 I agree the VR approach is laughable. 3. The printed book - 0/10 - Half the book is either smudged or blurred on poor quality paper. This is obviously a publisher cashing in on Tom's name. Previously I didn't think twice about a new Clancy novel. Now I'll have to skim the book first to see if its even worth consideration.

I was hanging around the Pentagon when Hunt for Red October hit the streets. It was talked about in every gathering, during coffee at every conference, and in every cocktail party into the night. Folks at the Navy Annex and Ballston were wide eyed that someone had the knowledge and audacity to write such a tale. None of us could put it down. The same was true for every other Clancy novel including the hard cover edition of Executive Orders which very nearly cracked my ribs a few times when I went to sleep after reading into the early hours.

Then, I'm on a plane with a copy of Hidden Agendas. I sit back, read the first few pages, look at the cover to be sure that my son hadn't substituted one of his Pokemon books. Then, I waded through the rest of it, sad and then angry that one of our most prolific and enjoyable writers would permit his name to be seen in the same neighborhood with such fluffy material.

There was no substance there Tommy, no angst, no depth, no real threat. There was only a pair of one-dimensional bad boys and this Net Force gang, most of whom Jack Ryan would have assigned as door guards at the State Department.

Give it a rest Tommy. If you don't want to write, then enjoy all that success has brought you. If this Pieczenik fellow is holding you hostage someplace, let us know and we'll rescue you. Otherwise, please, don't sully the great and global stories you've shared with us. Go lay on the beach somewhere and give your own imagination free rein once again.

Hidden Agendas follows on from the first book where the head of Net Force (Steve Day) was assassinated by terrorists, in steps Alex Michaels to take over the ship with has trusted team of computer experts, Toni Fiorella and Jay Gridley. Without giving to much away, someone was not only able to get their hands on top secret information but is posting it on the net, sending the world into chaos. Michaels and his team are sent on a wild goose chase on the info they are being allowed to gather on the suspect, it seems no-one is safe from these terrorists. I have read both books and find them quick paced and hard to put down. There is Action , suspence, humor and a touch of romance thrown in for good measure. If the first two books are anything to go by, I'm buying the rest and I can't wait for the TV series.

Really poorly written. Little intrigue or adventure. Piece meal writing, by the two authors. What a waste of time.

tom clancy's net force: hidden agendas goes beyond the normal chaos at the office it brings in interoffice romances, operations in the field, nad many more factors. it starts out witha bomb it ends in federal banking systems being thrown into chaos which is really just a smokescreen for...

I've read every Clancy novel, since Red October & Red Storm Rising. These were great. This one is trash. Why did it take two people to write this junk?

They stretch the concept of Virtual Reality to unbelievable levels, seemingly just to put people in period costumes/sceneries. Instead of using it in a credible way, they turn it into a gimmick.

The character interaction is quite pathetic (everybody gets lucky with the best looking woman, without half trying). More like a porn movie.

Clancy novels used to have oodles of technical detail. He used to be a real source of insight in how the military and it's technologies work. Now he seems to just crank out Hollywood'isms just for it's own sake.

I'm sorry that Mr. Clancy felt the need to put his name to this. His "brand" is going down the tubes.

If Tom Clancy actually wrote 'Hidden Agendas', he needs to retire. If he didn't, he needs to apologize, at least to me for buying this dross expecting a good read. I feel cheated.

About 300 Pages of great story telling, but then an extra 200 page of complete nothing.

Most of the book was great and entertaining, but for a good part of it I read stuff that didnt seem to have any relevance to the plot whatsoever and could quite frankly be left out of the book without changing the story at all.
But I did enjoy the book overall, even though it should only have been a 300 page book.

First thing to establish is Tom Clancy did not write this book. I don't know why he puts his name on it, but the "Net Force" books are OK if you want something that is easy to read and doesn't make you think too hard.

The books are best read in sequence - I made the mistake of buying "Night Moves" and reading that first, before I realised it was a series.

I like the parallel stories a lot and the romantic angle between Alex and Toni prevents it all from being military tactics (which I also enjoy a lot).

One disappointing thing for me about "Net Force" is the name of the military head "Col. John Howard". Well, I am Australian and "John Howard" is the name of our Prime Minister. Whenever I read the name, I imagine a short, balding little weazel! Maybe Clancy and Steve Perry should check stuff like that out before they name their characters!

Conclusion: Good for a light read when you don't want to concentrate too much.

As a Clancy fan, and having panned "Night Moves" in an earlier review, I felt obligated to give another of his Net Force books a read. "Hidden Agendas" is, chronologically, the prequel to Clancy's earlier work. He might have done well to release it first. The characters in this book are better developed and the plot an improvement over his earlier effort. However, as inferred by another Amazon reviewer, this is the stuff of a movie script perhaps more than popular literature.

In "Hidden Agendas" the Net Force battles a computer wiz nee: body-building street thug and his employer, an apparently legitimate U.S. Congressional official with secrets to share. A "cloak 'n dagger" chase" traces its way across the U.S. and Europe before settling in an "OK Corral" confrontation that simultaneously brings all of the principals together in an obscure African nation.

Clancy does a nicer job here of developing his characters. He provides the origin of the relationship between Alex Michaels and Toni Fiorella as well as the unlikely match between Sergeant Fernandez and goddess-genius Joanna Winthrop. Even Jay Gridley's VR (virual reality) computer scenarios are less excentric. Col. John Howard is perhaps the most believable character (if you ignore the tree falling on him during a wilderness exercise in Washington). And we're less distracted by the wanderings Howard's son, Tyron, than in the earlier release.

Clancy doesn't let the intermittent romantic steam rust his proficiency for detail on weaponry and military tactics. However the motive of the key antagonist, Thomas Hughes, is never made completely clear. Despite a skeptical start, I enjoyed this volume better than "Night Moves."