Ruthless.com (Tom Clancy's Power Plays) [Unabridged] [Hardcover]

Tom Clancy (Author), Martin Greenberg (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tom Clancy's Power Plays | Publication Date: November 1999

Following the deregulation of computer encryption codes, an unforeseen Pandora's Box is opened. Terrorists now have a potential back door into the nation's defence computers, and someone plans to use it. One man understands the danger and has the resources to act before it's too late.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like Politika, the first installment in the Tom Clancy's Power Plays series created with Martin Greenberg, ruthless.com offers the international scope and techno-thrills of the Jack Ryan-John Clark novels--but, importantly, without Jack Ryan and John Clark. For many Clancy fans, that means that ruthless.com will be a disappointment. The hero is again Roger Gordian, and Gordian's claim to fame is his ownership of UpLink Communications; he was also the man who struggled (with his Sword security team) to avert a global nuclear war in Politika. This time Gordian's concerns are slightly more modest. As a champion of encryption technology, Gordian has fought the shifting political winds that have tried to deregulate his industry. But now, he faces attacks from within: UpLink is the subject of a hostile takeover bid that threatens to put the highly sensitive codes that secure military communications into the hands of international terrorists. While it is more violent than the usual Jack Ryan fare, and Gordian and others in the cast are left underdeveloped in the complex shifts and turns of the plot, ruthless.com has many moments that recall the best of Clancy (Gordian, for example, maintains a highly ethical streak despite his corporate panache). --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Intrigues are afoot to wrest UpLink Communications and its encryption program away from its owner, Roger Gordian. So good-guy Gordian assembles a maelstrom of operatives, congressmen and writers to fight back. According to the publishers, this novel is "created" by Clancy and Greenberg, who press the viewpoint that not all information is useful and that encryption technology in the wrong hands could jeopardize national and world security. The action sequences are strong and well paced; one only wishes the creators had spent some time on the one-dimensional characters. Gordian is as plain as they come, and most of the secondary characters are interchangeable. The book will be of most interest to those who are knowledgeable in encryption-technology issues and who have read the first in the Power Plays series, Politika. It's worth noting that the Power Plays series began with a computer game.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Pub Ltd; Unabridged edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727854240
• ISBN-13: 978-0727854247
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,046,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Horribly Dissapointing, September 24, 2003

By 

Jerrod Shipman (Toledo, Oh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ruthless.Com (Tom Clancy's Power Plays, Book 2) (Paperback)

I have read every book Written or inspired by Tom Clancy up to the Power Play's series. I have been horribly dissapointed by this series and specifically with Ruthless.com The plot is underdeveloped and the characters are terribly introduced and explained. It seems as if the authors tried to cram all of the intrigue of a Clancy book into 400 pages, which if you are a true clancy fan you know his usually run into 600-700 pages. If this book were given the attention it needs on the characters and plot then it would be an excelent read. Unfortunately as it stands this book is absolutely pitiful. I had to force myself to finish it by telling myself it would get better in the next chapter. Don't read this.....

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars mindless.com, January 26, 2001

By 

Rennie Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ruthless.Com (Tom Clancy's Power Plays, Book 2) (Paperback)

I've liked some of Tom Clancy's previous books such as "The Hunt for Red October", "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger". For those not familiar with his books, Tom Clancy writes "techno-thrillers", books where a lot of high-tech stuff, mostly military hardware, has a central role.

"ruthless.com" is billed as involving computer technology and high drama in the IT business so I was looking forward to enjoying it. Unfortunately, I found it poorly written and totally unrealistic. Furthermore, the leading character comes across as a bit of an idiot and the leading bad guy is very unfairly based on Bill Gates. In other words, I didn't like the book at all.

The basic story is about the hero, Roger Gordian and his company, UpLink International, being targeted for a hostile takeover by the nasty Marcus Cain, who runs Monolith Technologies. But big business conflicts aren't exciting enough for a Tom Clancy book (even though Marcus Cain is into all sorts of dirty tricks including murder attempts) so there's a sinister over-plot involving some really nasty Asians who are using Marcus Cain as a pawn in their bid for total world domination.

And how do Microsoft-like companies find themselves involved in an international military power struggle? It has something to do with encryption technology... For example, the bad guys break into a privately-run high-security "crypto key repository facility" to steal the encryption keys for a US Navy nuclear submarine's communications links! This is ludicrous, both because modern encryption systems do not use "back-up keys" stored in any kind of "repository" and because the US military would never place such keys, if they did exist, in a privately-run repository.

In addition to finding the plot totally unbelievable I also didn't like the two main characters. Roger Gordian is supposed to be the hero but how are you supposed to identify with someone who's so dumb that he thinks that he can keep encryption technology out of the hands of terrorists by refusing to export it from the good ol' USA? The fact that some of the best encryption technology comes from Israel and is based on work done by Russian scientists isn't mentioned in the book. Then there's the plot-line about a hostile takeover attempt to which Gordian has stupidly made his company vulnerable, and his supposedly very clever way of getting out if this problem which basically involves him stopping being quite as stupid as he has previously been.

I also found it distasteful that the badies Marcus Cain and his Monolith Technologies are obviously based on Bill Gates and Microsoft. Marcus Cain went to Harvard but dropped out (was expelled), built up a company based on operating systems for computers, stole most of the ideas that his company's software is based on, is into philanthropy (but only as a PR trick), and is willing to do just about anything to crush a competitor. Anyone who knows the Bill Gates and Microsoft story can see the large number of similarities, but with everything distorted and exaggerated.

All-in-all a total waste of time. It should have been called "mindless.com".

Rennie Petersen

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cashing In On Clancy's Name!, October 22, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Ruthless.Com (Tom Clancy's Power Plays, Book 2) (Paperback)

I bought this book because I thought it was written by Tom Clancy. The people that sold me this book are still laughing at me for buying it. I will be glad when Tom Clancy starts writing his onw books again. Roger Gordian falls termendously short in his role as a hero.The plot for this book is very weak. The evil plot of a corporate takeover nearly takes off but falls short also. This book series has so far been very bad. I wish they(Tom and his ghostwriter) would start writing quality books.I have nearly gotten to the point where I donot buy these books with cowriters. Maybe I will find a book that is really written by Tom Clancy