4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fictional thriller, August 21, 2005
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
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Book! Worth it!, December 23, 2001
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!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting stuff, June 20, 2001
By A Customer
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.
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