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99 of 117 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Plauisble scenarios. Frightening possibilities, October 25, 2005
As Richard Clarke did with a recent long essay in the Atlantic about a new hypothetical terrorist attack in America, Clarke uses his first novel to explore possible events that might happen in the world, and what it would mean for the U.S., and other countries.
Clarke's focus is on the fall of the Saud family in Saudi Arabia and the struggle among the factions there to start a new stable government. Some want a democracy (but not a US imposed democracy), others want a theocracy based on the Koran.
The Saud family's close ties to Washington come into play, as does China's growing desire for oil and their burgeoning navy (see another recent cover article of the Atlantic a few months ago for a frightening view of a possible war with China), and the continued stresses between factions of the US Government; Defense, CIA, State, etc.
For those who hate Clarke because he didn't follow the party line after September 11, you might be surprised that he does not dwell on that event and the lack of proper response in its aftermath. It is a rather apolitical book, though not surprising because career intelligence and government workers have to stay apolitical to continue to work with whatever administration is in power. It could easily be imagined that either Republicans or Democrats are in power in Clarke's book - he makes no mention of parties.
For Clarke it's the war that is the Iraq has been the crucial event in the Middle East, not really for the better, and his scenario for that country is basically that we left there in 2006; not exactly with all of our "goals" accomplished. It is a book I think either Republicans or Democrats would enjoy and gain insight from the book. And Clarke's obvious familiarity with internal power struggles and with real-life spying and intelligence gathering is well preseneted.
The story can be a little muddled, and Clarke writes without a huge amount of detail, so the book goes by fast. But it's fairly clear by the end who had what to gain, and how they went about trying to do it.
It's an interesting scenario that might be a little overly rosy at the end; though there's no guarantee of "happily ever after," but there is a lot of hope there for stability and - gasp - a long term view of the future of oil, and what the end of that oil means. And that is something that in the US at least, remains pure fantasy.
It saddens me knowing that the amount of money spent on the current war could have funded a new "Manhattan Project" with the goal of viable alternative sources of energy. It would have sparked all sorts of economic investment, ended our dependence on Middle East dictatorships like Saudi Arabia, and kept thousands of Americans and Iraqis from being blown to bits.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strengths and weaknesses, December 11, 2005
Richard Clarke's second book is a study in strengths and weaknesses, more the former than the latter. As Clarke's first foray into fiction, the book merits four stars. Within it's pages are the promise of a future five star novel, and I hope we see a faithfully rendered movie version of this work, as it seems like it could translate very well to the screen.
As an expert on his subject matter, Clarke is (not surprisingly) very strong. The book is chock full of tidbits which could only come from an highly placed Washington insider, including some revealing "fictions" about actual events which are currently misunderstood. The novel takes the reader to places most will never see, such as the White House Situation Room and alleys in Tehran, and describes the sort of backchannels and meetings which are not publically discussed by media or elected officials, but which certainly do exist.
Clarke's knowledge of the story's elements is unsurpassed, for example the hierarchy and dynamics between various Middle Eastern factions, and the capabilities of their intelligence operations and foreign policy goals. The book's scenario of the exile of the house of Saud, replaced on the Arabian peninsula by an nascent Islamic government trying to find it's way is far from improbable. The rise of Chinese economic and military power, it's increasing modernization and industrialization leading to higher demand for imported oil is a near certainty. So is the growing influence of Iran in the Middle East, their government's effective deviousness in foreign espionage (leaving their fingerprints off of their offenses while others take the blame), and the possibility of Tehran developing nuclear weapons.
While the elements of intrigue in the story are excellent, some of Clarke's technical strengths become literary weaknesses at times. Play by play descriptions of naval and aerial battles can read like Jane's Information summaries, instead of snapping to life as the spine-tingling war stories they can and should be. Occassionally, the battle scenes can become muddled in describing who is doing what. Clarke's probable intent was to convey the fog and deception of warfare, but this instead falls short of it's potential, and some of the battles come off slightly confusing to the reader.
The main characters are solid. Though the main protagonists could have used more development, the reader does ultimately care about their fates. The motivations of each of the main actors is straightforward enough, and probably doesn't stray far from real life in terms of the motivations of career intelligence officers, foreign assets, and officials from the various governments. In portraying US officials, Clarke walks a fine line (and on at least one occasion, a not-so-fine line!) between purely fictional characters and cutouts of real people, which is not unexpected -- the cover byline reads: "Sometimes you can tell more truth through fiction." The well-informed reader will read between the lines to discover what knowledge Clarke is trying to convey about real events and people. You may even recognize some of the characters, though their names and loyalties are changed (not to protect the guilty -- more likely to protect the author from facing charges on national security violations, or worse!)
On balance, the story is excellent, well conceived, fairly well executed and highly plausible. It's an entertaining and eye opening read which will leave the earnest reader wanting Clarke's next effort.
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fabulous thriller, October 25, 2005
In 2010, Supported by the Chinese, a coup has taken out the despotic leaders of Saudi Arabia replacing it with the Republic of Islamyah. The zealots in charge begin to bring their anti-western fundamentalist Islamic fervor to nearby Bahrain by blowing up favorite haunts where the hated infidels reside. The area is quickly falling into chaos with the Chinese pushing for more discontent to further extricate the west out of the region.
Secretary of Defense Henry Conrad pushes a military solution to the Middle East crisis as he wants to invade Islamyah so that the United States can regain control of the oil. Others want to take over the entire region by force while some believe we must use diplomacy to mute the growing influence of the Chinese. Though the middle of winter in DC, the heat is on in the capital and not just because the weather is spring-like as both sides escalate the hostilities with nuclear war between the United States and China imminent unless cooler heads prevail.
THE SCORPION'S GATE is a fabulous thriller in which anti-terrorist expert Richard A. Clarke extrapolates what the future might hold based on what if consequences of decisions made by the current administration. The story line is frightening as the scenario seems plausible as Mr. Bush's legacy to the world (it will solve the long term solvency of the social security issue). Though Mr. Clarke makes the error of many first time novelists of trying to get everything into the plot, futurologists will appreciate this strong look at what might be forthcoming (who in the 1970s predicted we would still be fighting the war against drugs today?).
Harriet Klausner
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