Politika: Power Plays 01 [Kindle Edition]

Tom Clancy (Author), Martin H. Greenberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Actor Jay O. Sanders provides an acceptable narration of best-selling author Clancy's (Debt of Honor, Audio Reviews, LJ 11/15/94) reactivation of hostilities between the United States and Russia. With widespread crop failures and the sudden death of Boris Yeltsin, the Russian situation is dire at best. Old-school communists see the opportunity to scuttle American relief efforts by launching a terrorist attack in Times Square. Roger Gordian, a U.S. businessman, finds his multinational corporation in peril and takes the initiative to prevent escalation to full-scale war. Sanders's Russian accents are shaky and seem more appropriate to a Rocky and Bullwinkle adventure. Clancy's abridged story is subject to frequent character shifts, and the action is difficult to follow. Libraries may skip this disjointed effort. Not recommended.?Ray Vignovich, West Des Moines P.L., IA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

It is 1999. The sudden death of Russia's president has thrown the Russian Federation into chaos. Devastating crop failures have left millions in the grip of famine, and an uprising seems inevitable. One of Russia's provisional leaders asks the American president for help. But the whole world is watching when a deadly terrorist attack stuns the United States and evidence points to the Russian government. Amidst the turmoil in Russia, American businessman Roger Gordian finds his multinational corporation and its employees in jeopardy. Determined to find those responsible for the attack, he calls upon his crisis control team to interven. But Gordian doesn't realize how far the terrorists will go and how much he has to lose...

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 769 KB
• Print Length: 388 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0425162788
• Publisher: Berkley (December 1, 1997)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001QL5MNC
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,066 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promising start but withers quickly, September 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Politika (Tom Clancy's Power Plays, Book 1) (Paperback)

This was a major misfire from TC. Is this the alter ego of Clancy? It reminds me of Spielberg:the good Spielberg who makes Schindler's List, ET, and Saving Private Ryan; and the bad Spielberg who makes The Temple of Doom and The Lost World. This book takes a long time to move along-unless 100 pages is acceptable to you-and only sparked my interest due to the New Years bombing. This isn't as bad as the newer Rainbow Six( which bites a lot). I just miss the old Clancy:the one who gave us Red October, Patriot Games, Red Storm Rising, Clear and Present Danger, etc. Come on Tom; no more power plays to make a quick buck are gonna work here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not A Good Book!, September 27, 2000

By 

Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Politika (Tom Clancy's Power Plays, Book 1) (Paperback)

I bought this book because it had Tom Clancy listed as the author. Surprise. He has hired another ghost writer. The book started out on an exciting note. Boris Yeltsin dies after having heart surgery. The next plot developer is a terrorist act that is committed in New York on New Year's Eve. After the terrorist act it is all downhill. The plot dies a sad death. The villains are even boring. I also was able to discover that Roger Gordian is not Jack Ryan. This is not vintage Clancy. The new book "Bear and the Dragon" is a much better book. I think he must have fired his ghostwriter. Don't buy this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mind Candy Reading, to coin a phrase!, June 7, 1999

By 

Mr N Forbes-warren "author of RESURGENCE and ... (Newport, South Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Politika (Tom Clancy's Power Plays, Book 1) (Paperback)

Overall, this spin-off has a lot good about it, and I enjoyed reading it. I also own the computer game, which is taking me a while to figure out, but I'll get there! Anyway, the story is a good one. Yeltsin dies, and a massive famine hits Russia. Desperate Russian communist sympathisers bomb Millennium celebrations in NYC(this bit is brilliantly portrayed, hence a 3 star rating) and Roger Gordian, a millionnaire with a crisis-hit marriage(work, work, work) sends his private mercenaries armed with an assortment of high-tech gadgets into Russia to locate the perpetrators. The action scenes are undeniably entertaining, but the narrative is very poor in many places. Did we really need the policeman's graphic self-pity dragging on about his dead wife? That bit was so incredibly cliched and nicked from OP-CENTER(re: Gregory Donald) An unnecessary subplot distracting the readers from the real players(Gordian's private army and the Russians.) For instance, there are way too many references to TV, movies, actors and personalities to suggest a plotline or character study to a reader. As a reader and an aspiring writer myself, I've learned the hard way myself about this folly(thankyou to various critics and agents for pointing me in the right direction, wannabe writers take note!), it does not work. But Clancy can get away with anything, so it seems. Anyway, I'm glad this book came free with the game because I would not waste money on it. Ah well, I'm going to go back to reading Michael diMercurio, Dale Brown, and Stephen Coonts, to name but a few, REAL authors with PROPER storylines! Politika is a good time-filler, if one wishes, but the narrative is MIND CANDY.