Customer Reviews

Tom Clancy's Op Center #1

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I'm a philosopher, so I read a lot of heavy books. Once in awhile I have some "down time" books which I like to read just to pass time reading something that I don't need to scrutinize with pencil and paper nearby. This is one of those books, and it really does fulfill that purpose well. This is not the 'Clancy Classic' of "Red Storm Rising" or "Without Remorse," so don't get your hopes set up for that.

I enjoyed the different characters and their role in problem solving. The authors do well in showing how people often have self-interest and fair-weathered natures. I also thought that the subplots (e.g. with Hood's son, with the diplomat's wife) were present enough to engage the reader, but not overdone.

I felt that it was somewhat difficult to keep track of the various foreign characters because of their names. Instead of picking just their surname or family name, often the characters are referred to in numerous ways - thus, making it tricky to keep up. Also, I feel that perhaps a few pages could have been spent on explaining the Op-Center itself, given that this book is the first in the series..... the reader is left only basic clues about the status and origin of the Op-Center.

All in all, an excellent book for waiting rooms, beach days, and/or lazy hours on the porch.....

This entry in the just-about-above-average Op Center series is easily the best one to read out of the lot. The first one wasn`t bad, Mirror Image was passable, Acts Of War was a bit old hat and plain daft, but this beats the lot! The story of Neo-Nazis inciting race hate to change world events by means of right-wing propaganda computer games based on KKK cookouts and Nazi concentration camps may seem far-fetched to some readers, but the technology behind it is described in such a way to make it easy to understand and, frighteningly enough, feasible. The angle on the re-unification of Germany starting the resurgence of Nazism is also well put together. The characters are a lot better portrayed, especially Paul Hood`s first love paranoia. But the main criticisms which stopped this from being a ten out of ten were the co-incidence of Nancy just happening to work for the Neo-Nazi organisation trying to provoke hate(come on!) and Bob Herbert`s Dirk Pitt-style heroics in a wheelchair! That got a bit too silly, but on the whole the story and the politics behind it are the strengths here. Well worth a read.

This was a good story, but obviously not written by Clancy. I'm surprised he let his name get put on the cover. The details concerning the characters and some of the events destroy the whole fabric of the story. For example, most of the enlisted personnel in the story are cited as being "Privates". In real life, guys with those kinds of knowledge and skills would be senior NCO's. This applies to both the North and South Korean forces and the the US military. Also the team leader would not be a 25-year old Lt. Col. Maybe a 35-year old, but not 25. The author also shows his general lack of knowledge of things military by indiscriminately labeling all military forces the Army. The Army does not operate C-9A Nightengale or C-141 aircraft. The author's lack of knowledge of his characters took the edge off the whole story.

It's been a while from since i last read any of Tom Clancy's novel, so i am used to the Jack ryan series. I believe that cardinal of the kremlin and redstorm rising was Clancy's best work,although i was curious to find out what the op-center series was all about.The very idea of a crisis management team dealing with hostage situations (that are considered domestic problems to USA) taking on a crisis situation in South Korea when we have the Cia and Joints Chiefs of staff is very unbeliavable.However as i read deeper and deeper into the book, the story gather more suspense in my mind.I couldn't put the book down.The reason why i didnt give the book filled with suspense five stars instead of 3 are because of to many flaws in the story such as i stated before about a crisis management team dealing with an iternational crisis is very unlikely.

2)That op-center could handle espionage,conduct military force in the matter, (stryker advanced asault forces) and yet handle the diplomatic front of it, and in all saving thier asses when push comes to shove against the virus in thier computers and the united states of america.

3)Third but not least, Tom Clancy is very good at leaving his readers in suspense i think that he does that way to much in this book, often he would explain the characters and when a situation is about to develop he cuts to another chapter and when Clancy finally get back to where he left that paticular part, my mind has wandered because it freshly remebers the previous chapter I was reading. I gave Op-center a 3 because the is a page turner despite the faults within the book, and i have noticed clancy's style when he writes about spies, and even more excitingly about Military force he used in the book, I think Tom Clancy should focus more on the Militarisitc side than the long an drawn out spy he put in alot of his book,buy dont get me wrong Tom clancy is a fantastic writer it's just that the last set of books, I think becoming more comercial than when he used his conventional writing and plot placing skills that made him famous with Hunt for red October and Clear and present danger.MY last advice for Tom Clancy "do it for me a fan write a real harcore believable story where military force is used at a trouble spot in the world like Bosnia or Iraq not try to make it comercial on deeply getting into the families of the leading characters in the book, or getting into spies and counter spies, make that up reconaissance planes and the NRO(National Reconaissance Office) when spyin on the enemy.

Typically, I do not read fiction novels. Usually, I stick to non-fiction. Not long ago, I read my first Tom Clancy novel (Without Remorse) and thought it was one of the best things I have ever read. My wife had gotten me a copy of "Op-Center: Games of State". After reading the novel, I really had to wonder if the same author wrote both books.

Not to be overly simplistic, but the book can be divided to three sections, the beginning, middle, and ending. As to try not to ruin the book for anyone who has not read it, I will omit "key" details.

The beginning of the book gives the reader high hopes for what follows. The book has a heart-pounding beginning in Germany where a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization performed a terrorist raid on an American movie set. There are people killed and a person kidnapped. All of a sudden, the book cuts out to the "middle" (I would estimate the beginning is about 30 pages).

The middle of the book, approximately the next 400 pages is dedicated to the pursuit of a leader of a billion dollar a year business in France, who plans on crashing the European economy and encourage civil disorder in America through video games. Granted the idea is not as foolish as I am making it sound, but it is still a heck of a stretch. This part of the book revolves around Op-Center finding this person and battling the problem of White Supremacy groups (Op-Center can be thought of as being similar to the CIA or NSA in America).

The end of the book begins with a high-speed car chase as an Op-Center agent, who is in a wheel chair, is pursued and fired upon by members of the Neo-Nazi organization after he attempts to crash a Neo-Nazi party. Narrowly escaping with their life, the agent decides to crash a Neo-Nazi rally. Along the way, they meet up with a person, who is introduced in the beginning of the book during the terrorist attack, who has no concept of self-preservation. After a ridiculous statement by the person who the agent met to several hundred armed Neo-Nazis, the wheelchair bound agent and the person (who knows little about combat tactics and easily succumbs to stress) make a run for it. The ending involves several hundred healthy, armed Neo-Nazis pursuing a person in a wheelchair and their companion. All I can say without giving too much away is that the ending left me saying "alrighty then" and shaking my head. Also in the end, French and Nato commandos take down the video game guy in his factory.

This book is a little on the dull side and in parts is highly unrealistic. I think that 200 pages of "fluff" could have been easily cut out this book. Rather than reading like a novel written by a first rate writer, the book read more like a Junior High paper where the student inserts paragraphs of pointless information to make the paper look longer. The ending (especially with the Op-Center agent in the forest) was ridiculous.

I would only recommend this book to people truly interested in the Op-Center series or people who have nothing better to read. The book is like a marble cake is to someone who only likes chocolate. Parts of the book are really good and parts are foolish or pointless.

I used to be a Tom Clancy fan. I read nearly all his books prior to "Games of State". I particularly liked "Patriot Games" for example, that I read 3 or 4 times. I said "used to be", for it is difficult to be a Frenchman and remain a Tom Clancy fan after reading "Games of State". Apart from the fact that, to add some local color, he makes a grotesque mess of the french language,(but this would not be that important for english-speaking readers) he has all the characters , the "good ones" as well as the "bad ones", express such hatred and contempt for France, its people and its institutions, that I couldn't help thinking it was the author's own view that was being expressed. So I am just wondering: what did we ever do to Mr Clancy to deserve such punishment?

First of all I would like to state that I am both an avid fan of Tom Clancy and the Turkish military, as a member of a family with close ties to the Turkish air force. However I was very disappointed with the lack of even very basic knowledge and the diligence to detail usually associated with Tom Clancy books. Especially for someone with extensive knowledge of military technology and the Turkish history and military, the book is full of errors, some of which are: -Kurdish PKK terrorists are trained with Marxist-Leninist principles which do not respect any religion at all. Besides, practice of religious obligations is a crime punishable by death in the PKK organization. Clancy's Kurdish characters are far too religious to be real. -Turkish military does not operate McDonnelDouglas MD500D helicopters for patrol duty. There are no armed examples of these helicopters in any branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. -How can the security of a border gate be left to two soldiers only when there is the PKK problem and a lot of illegal drug and weapons trafficking in this area? Turkish border gates in the area are usually guarded by 200 to 300 people strong commando units serving alongside the border guards. -The closest air base to the Ataturk Dam is not two hundred miles away as the author states. The helicopter in the novel would probably be intercepted and shot down by the F-16C's of the 181st or 182nd squadrons based in Diyarbakir which are constantly patrolling the airspace in this area. -Turkish officers have been prohibited to grow moustaches or beards for the last 50 years or so; Colonel Seden in the novel can never have a moustache in active service. -In the Sanliurfa region, in which there is significant PKK terrorist activity, a Turkish colonel must be very adventurous or stupid to wander around alone on an Harley motorcycle as depicted in the novel. Colonels are usually transported in this area using Sikorsky BlackHawk helicopters, not Harleys. -Probably the most important of all, The Ataturk Dam, which is blown up by terrorists in the novel, is heavily guarded by an entire army battalion and anti-aircraft missile and gun batteries to ensure that any attack will be a suicide. Now have some fun: In the book, there is a sentence that the Turkish border is told to be carrying a 9mm "Capinda Tabanca". "Wow", the reader is supposed to say. "How impressive details! This should be some sort of Turkish-made 9mm pistol." The truth is "9mm Capinda Tabanca" translates as "9mm handgun" simply. Probably Clancy or whoever wrote the novel just looked this up from the dictionary. There is no "Capinda" brand of Turkish weapons. "Tabanca" means "pistol,handgun" and "Capinda" means "having a diameter of", used here in the context of weapon caliber. I am completely disappointed with the book. Read it, it is interested reading but do not be too tempted to think it is based on accurate technical,political and historical information on Turkey and the Kurdish problem.

This book is the best to come from Tom Clancy in a long time. For those people sick of reading about Jack Ryan and all of the convoluted plots and dull dialogue in Clancy's recent works, this is a breath of fresh air. There are several sub-plots, all of which are easy to follow and leave you turning the pages to find out what happens. Paul Hood, Mike Rodgers, and the rest of the Op-Center gang are a new group of Clancy characters that are sure to go down in history with Jack Ryan, James Greer, Bart Mancuso and Jonesy, and Cathering Ryan! A must read

This is possibly the best series I've read, and definatly the best book in it. Clancy really knows how to build suspence and create a real page-turner. It takes a surface look at Neo-Nazism in the 90's, but doesn't become an essay. Very real descriptions of all the "unimportant" details and makes them important. This is definatly a must-read, especially after reading the first two

Op Center is an excellent book. Op Center is a New York Times best seller. In Op Center, there is a mixture of adventure, suspense, mystery and technology. Op Center is the first book of a series. I am currently reading the second one. One of the main points is that Tom Clancy does not focus on just one story line, but instead, he manages to intertwine multiple story lines while he gives each one equal attention. Op Center is about a group of people who are working in Op Center. They find out that there was a crisis in North/South Korea. The book is about how they solve the problem. For example, there is a crisis in North and South Korea while someone has put a virus into Op Center. There are many other story lines, but I don't want to spoil the story. Tom Clancy really understands how the type of book and events work. The series of events are lined up in a great way. Tom Clancy organizes the events so it is extremely hard to predict the ending. I was very far off from what really happens in the end of the book. Even though this book was very good, there were some bad parts in the book. I think that some parts were very boring. At some times in the book I was just waiting for the real adventure and action to start again. I realize that without the boring parts I would probably not understand the book, but I still do not like them at all. Without these parts there would just be constant action. Another part that I didn't like is the ending. No one would guess that the ending would turn out like the way it did. I can't tell how the ending turns out because that would spoil the book for all of the readers. In conclusion, I would give this book a four and a half out of five.