Customer Reviews

Op Center (Tom Clancy's Op-Center)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I may be one of the lone proponents of this book, but I have been a fan of the Op-Center series and wanted to defend it. None of the Op-Center books are written by Tom Clancy, but by Jeff Rovin, and I agree it is misleading to have TC's name in large bold letters on the cover. I call these books Tom Clancy "lite" because they are quick reads and do not get so bogged down with military strategy and techno-jargon. (There have been times I have fallen asleep as Tom Clancy goes on & on about some piece of military equipment). True military affectionados will probably not like these books.

The main characters of Paul Hood, Mike Rodgers, Bob Herbert, and Brett August have developed over the series. I think it would be difficult to appreciate their reactions/emotions, etc. without the benefit of knowing what they have experienced together in the previous 7 books in the series. The tragic loss of so many of the Strikers in Line of Control is more meaningful if you were familiar with their parts in other crisis situations from the other books. That being said, a better author would be able to weave a compelling story without the reader having to be familiar with the whole series.

Some of the reviewers commented on the inaccuracies in this book and that may very well be the case. I am not very familiar with the geo-political situation between Pakistan and India and did not consider this to be a textbook or a documentary. Most likely, a real Tom Clancy book would have been better researched and more accurate.

In my opinion, it was a chilling fictional story set in the Himalayans that passed the time on a hot Summer day. In case anyone would like to read the Op-Center series in order, they are as follows:

Op-Center
Mirror Image
Games of State
Acts of War
Balance of Power
State of Siege
Divide and Conquer
Line of Control

This was the first book I read from the popular Op-Centre series created by Tom Clancy & Steve Pieczenik. I noticed
one thing though, this book was not written by Tom Clancy, it was written by Jeff Rovin. However, that did not dampen my spirits as I ventured out to read this book. This was mainly because of its exciting theme revolving around India, Pakistan, & the U.S., their elder sibling!

The story revolves around the possibility of a nuclear war between India & Pakistan. The other angle involves an American covert operations team called Striker, & a devious double agent in Kashmir who could be the deciding factor between war & peace in that region. Sounds good!

Well whatever drawbacks others have found with this book, I must say I definately enjoyed the book & finished it incredibly
fast. So then, let me begin with the good points of this book. Firstly, the plot feels amazingly real & as an Indian I shudder to think if it were actually true! The narrative is fast paced & theres some good characterisation, the ones I liked were especially Bob Herbert of Op-centre & General Mike Rodgers of Striker. The political situation in Kashmir is depicted beautifully with all the facts crystal clear & depicting reality. To add to all this, theres some good action (although it takes a while to begin), nice high tech equipment stuff & good use of local characters like a Pakistani terrorist cell & some Indian operatives. All in all there seem to be no loopholes in the story & the climax is very good with nothing over the top of reality.

Sounds perfect? How about a few drawbacks then? Well, it feels really bugging when the scenes in the book keep changing too frequently, almost every 4-5 pages. The story switches too frequently from Washington, to Kargil to Srinagar which tends to break the continuity a little. Also, the op-centre Striker team has very little to do in the first 200 pages or so. However, the biggest drawback I found was the character of Ron Friday, the devious double agent in Kashmir. I really failed to understand his agenda throughout the book. Being such an important character in the story, his character should have been explained more clearly.

In the end what really matters is this book is really good. Its worth picking up. My advice is: Read this book with an open mind with no prejudices towards any of the countries, especially if you are an Indian, a Pakistani or an American.
Happy Reading!

The Op-Center and Net Force series are not written to be great literature, though they are entertaining for pure action buffs. What makes them truly interesting, however, is the very clear insight and knowledge they offer about turbulent international affairs--very clear insight not found in most political thrillers. Definitely some goofy stuff--but generally very intriguing.

This book was an excellent thriller by Tom Clancy. It is in the series Op-Center and if you have read any of these you know that they are very good books. It is about the border between India and Pakistan called teh Line of Control, and when Pakistan begins building nuclear missile silos turmoil begins to build up between the nations. The U.S. Striker team (a division of Op-Center) is called to paradrop into the Himalayas in search for these silos but when India and Pakistan learn about American involvement they quickly deploy their armys. Soon the American team find themselves trapped in an all out battle for survival stuck between these two armys. The finish to this book is amazing, so to find out what happens to the Striker team read Tom Clancy's: Line of Control.

I could be alone in this. I too bought this book prior to an airline flight, and I based my purchase on two things. One, I thought Tom Clancy had something to do with it. And two, the blurb on the back seemed interesting.
Well, I was mislead on both counts. I cannot for the life of me spot any influence from Tom Clancy - there is truly something wrong in the literary world when the cover of the book has the author in the smallest letters at the bottom.
And where on earth was this supposed cleric stirring up rebellion against India? And when did the border "erupt" between India and Pakistan? Did I miss something? I'll admit I'm not the most observant reader in the world, but I'm sure I'd notice what the blurb claimed to be the major plots of the book.
In the end, an okay book. Considering it wasn't by Tom Clancy. I certainly would not recommend it though, and I'd be making sure I am equipped with decent reading material before I take my next flight.

Line of Control is wonderful military novel with many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing what will happen next. Rovin illustrated wonderfully the conflict that would arise between two enemies who were forced to work together for the greater good.
However, I do feel that the author does digress from the story a little too often. He sites previous books in the series more then is necessary for the storyline and over-explains military terms.
But other then that I would suggest this novel to anyone who enjoys military or intellgence novels.

This is the first Tom Clancy's military kind of novel I've read. The book has its plot, which is a really interesting one between India and Pakistan and the involvement of US military force. However, the way the plot develops in the book is too slow with too many details, background information, and unrelated character. The chapters of the book keep on shifting, which is purposely used for getting the reader's interest, but then the constant shift of chapters is somehow confusing and some of the chapters in between are unrelated to the plot, which makes it even harder to follow. Also, since he puts in so many effort to the background and details, there¡¦s not much left in the ending, which makes the book a little unbalance.
The plot basically deals with the conflict between India and Pakistan, also the involvement of a striker team from U.S. Stuck with a double agent, which they can't totally trust in, the Americans are in big trouble. Also the trouble led by the bombing of Sharab and her group is another theme that the author mentions about.
Overall, the book was written in the form that not much concentration is required, even though there is some confusing part in the middle, the question will be solved when you get to the end, this is a good book for people whose into military action and stuff, so enjoy the book!

The latest Op-Center sets its story in one of today's most dangerous places - the India Pakistani border. In fact in recent newspapers, the unfortunate terrorist activities described in the early chapters, actually happened. Talk about topical. The author's done his research. The plot moves along quickly, and deftly pulls Op Center into the conflict. Moral & diplomatic dilemmas abound. Op Center fans get to spend a little more time with Striker & Mike Rodgers in the field. Ron Friday, introduced in D & Conquer, provides an interesting foil. It's a great read.

This book is a piece of junk. The author has detailed information about the war planes, CIA etc etc. But sadly, he does not have a clue about the real conflict in Kashmir. The whole plot is just laughable.

Ignore the rants and ravings of the Indian reviewers, get this book for what it is, a damn good read. Wakes you up to the fact that there are other fundamentalists in the world who are even more crazier than the Islamic ones we are told about in the press. If Rovin started using real unit numbers and facts you'd think the book was based on real-life events. The scenarios are totally plausible... just when you thought the OP-Center series was getting stale, up pops a corker !!. Excellent..