Customer Reviews

Locked On

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

There are no plot spoilers in this review.

I started with Tom Clancy 15 years ago, and he's been my favorite author since then. I appreciate his style of writing, technical accuracy, his character building, and his art of story telling. I am not as fond of the co-authored novels or the other series that bear his name. While generally better than most of the genre, they are not up to par with the Clancy of the early Jack Ryan and John Clark novels.

I approached this book with a bit of caution, because with "Dead or Alive", I walked away with the feeling that Clancy just didn't care about the quality of his work anymore. I was encouraged that this was a book with Ryan Sr. in a prominent role, but discouraged by it being co-authored.

Overall, I like this novel. The story telling, while not historical Clancy quality, is good. It draws you in, keeps you turning the page, and gets your blood pumping at times. Those who know Clancy's style of writing and his attention to detail will certainly appreciate many parts of this story. I found myself with a smirk several times thinking "typical Clancy" or "that's ingenious". The last Clancy novel I read where I had similarly good thoughts was "The Bear and The Dragon". As far as Ryan/Clark co-authored novels go, this is better than the others but far from being great. It was a very low bar that the Clancy/Greaney duo had to rise above.

While it is "good", I have an expectation for anything with Clancy's name to be "great". So many of Clancy's earlier works fall into this "great" category for me: Red Storm Rising, Hunt for Red October, Without Remorse, Executive Orders, Rainbow Six. This doesn't fit into the same category. There are gaps in this book with unanswered questions, which has been typical for the last several novels. The big ones? Chavez has previously-unknown expert skills, and it isn't mentioned how he acquired them. Ryan's resignation from his first Presidency still isn't clearly explained, which is something I wish was in this book since it is about Ryan's run for the White House, and, honestly, was something I was looking forward to reading about. The old Clancy doesn't leave things unexplained like this, and he missed a prime opportunity to address this.

I have read enough Clancy to know which parts are written by Greaney in this novel, and they don't all flow well with the rest of the book. The difference in writing style, at times, threw me off and interrupted the story somewhat. The opening action sequence of the book is such an element. The difference in style is very apparent as the next element of the story is about Ryan Sr., and is clearly written by Clancy himself. I do not have an issue with Clancy co-authoring his books, I have an issue with the quality of those books. There is no reason a co-authored novel has to be of lower quality. It is undoubtedly hard work to make the work of two authors flow well together in a single cohesive story, and where Clancy fails is in the editing and proof-reading. The only explanation is that either Tom is losing skill, or he lacks the same level of intense passion he had before.

As for my rating, it goes a little beyond just the star value I assigned to it. I like this book, I feel it's better than just "ok". As far as entertainment value, I feel it deserves the "I like it" four-star rating. If I were to rate it on five star scale against other Ryan/Clark novels, it would be a 3. While this isn't the Clancy redemption I hoped for, I can now see an author at least trying to get back to his roots. I hope the next one is a solo novel that ties up some of the loose ends from the last few.

Final thoughts: I can't think of a reason to NOT recommend this book. Through it's flaws is a good story that is a page turner, and has some great moments with familiar characters. It leaves me glad I read it, and I'll probably read it again.

Without the energetic novelty from something like Gods of Ruin, and without the thorough overview and character development from Clancy's earlier works, his latest stuff just doesn't compare. Don't get me wrong, it's good and it should sell well, but it's not the stellar output that we're used to from the Clancy name.

Just like the other books in this latest push from Clancy to capitalize on his name, Locked on is ghostwritten (each with different writers; this one is by Greaney who has written a few books in the genre before (can't comment on those since I haven't read them). This will get the same criticism as the first two Clancy releases since his hiatus. If you're looking for "Hunt for Red October" or "Patriot Games" you're going to be disappointed. But if you want a good technothriller with a decent plot and most importantly the characters that you have grown so familiar with (Ding Chavez, John Clark, Caruso, and the Ryans), you'll enjoy the book.

Just look at it this way: there are hundreds of writers working on "The Simpsons" television show and that doesn't seem to bother people. Why should it matter if someone else is writing a Jack Ryan book?

This one gets behind the scenes of a Ryan's second race for the presidency, which is confounded by dirty tricks by the opposition (Ruin fans will love it), which evolves into a messy situation with Pakistan and terrorists. All the hot button issues today are hit on in this hefty volume and while you won't finish it in one read, that may be a good thing.

The disappointment was less in the story itself, which while not nearly as good as his earlier works was at least an improvement over his recent ones, than in the ending. In addition to farming out his name to other authors, Clancy has now further cheapened his brand by adopting the same kind of "soap opera-ish" ending as Brad Thor utilized in his most recent book, Foreign Influence. Accordingly, I'm finished with Clancy (and Thor).

I Am a huge Clancy fan. This latest edition of the Ryan clan is fair to poor! Too many 'neat' endings to the created drama. Clark is 64 yrs old and still quickly recovers from near mortal injury faster than an 18 yr. old Marine! And of course the heros keep the faith and win the day in Paris, Pakistan, Russia, and Dubai. Even get Jack Sr. elected! But there are some holes that just have you falling into doubt. The ending has an opening for the next Ryan clan novel from Clancy/Greaney team. Yet 'his /her' boss gets arrested? Another hole/mole!

Ooh a lot of fuss about this one but let us face a few facts. Clancy has not written a good novel for a long time, Rainbow Six was probably the end of his stream of good books. He and his publishers have chased the money by out-sourcing the franchise, firstly by Grant Blackwood with Dead or Alive, then Peter Telep with Against All Enemies and now Mark Greaney with Locked On. But we have to remember that the franchise has key elements that the authors have to go with, such as the rather improbable Campus and a Jack Ryan Senior who has lurched to the right wing from the earlier books. Clancy has also dictated the use of Jack Junior and the Campus gang so it is really important to understand that Mark Greaney is working within pre-defined parameters.

Having enjoyed Greaney's previous work I was optimistic about this one and I have to say I enjoyed it. Yep some minor things that Clancy purists may get uptight about, but this is a vast improvement on every book since Rainbow Six. Here we have the mix of the big picture politics with Ryan Senior seeking re-election against some dirty tricks from the incumbent President while on the ground the Campus Boys are following leads that something very big is in the offing, but old favourite John Clark has been used as a dirty trick by President Kealty and is on the run. Can Ryan get re-elected? Can the Campus halt a deadly attack and can John Clark survive unscathed?

Well Mark Greaney is getting some very unfair feedback on this one, because I have to say I enjoyed it. Mark Greaney has done a good job here and while not quite the `classic Clancy' he has had to take the book in a signposted direction.

While Tom Clancy used to be one of my favorite three authors, I've become steadily disenchanted with him over the past six or so years. His great books, such as Sum of All Fears and Hunt for Red October, were unique in marrying high adrenaline adventure with technical knowledge, but the last several seem to be the author just phoning in characters and a plot template that has become stale. I find his latest book, Locked On, not only to suffer from those deficiencies, but to be offensive in its Fox News style propaganda rants against the evil liberals and "soft on terror" administration officials, including the caricature of a George Soros-type individual who is willing to engage in treason, violation of Consttutional protections, torture, murder, and corruption of senior government officials to prevent Jack Ryan from being elected President.....come on, really? There are many new young writers who are publishing works in this genre that have what Clancy formerly had, and I'm afraid I'll be spending my Kindle money on the, from now on.

Only a few flashes of his prior writing & technique in this novel.
If this was his first book, Clancy would be selling used cars now.

I though Dead or Alive was too weighed down with political garbage. I hoped that thie would not be the case for this book. I'm not in the practice of blindly praising a political party just beacuse I voted fo them. The series has taken a disappointing journey to political jargon. It spoils the book,the series was more enjoyable when it was left to the reader to form links, instead hours are spent on reading the author's opinion. This is my last book by Tom Clancy, what a waste. I only got a a star because it couldn't post otherwise. I'm sure this will skew the metrics.

Think the series has died. Book too big, politics too disgusting. Action way too little. Excited when I picked it up. Threw it down at page 485, of 853. No more of my time.

The explanation is easy: first Clancy got lazy, now he's getting old. The same thing happened to to James Clavell, to George R. R. Martin, to Clive Cussler, to Stephen Hunter. They're old, they're wealthy and comfortable, they don't have the same drive and fire they had back in their 30's and 40's. They've earned the good things in life and now they want to enjoy them; plus, they're slowing down. Let's all just be glad for the good times, the books they gave us at their high-water mark of creativity and not begrudge these old farts their retirement.