Customer Reviews

Tom Clancy's Power Plays

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

First off, with a book like this, who is the author? I assumed it was Clancy, but now I am not so sure. What does it mean when two other men are the "creators" of a thriller? Did they come up with the concept and the first listed person is the actual author? If so it is very difficult to know who to give praise or critism to, or maybe that is the idea? I have enjoyed Clancy's books for several years. They make a good intelligent change of pace from my usual readers diet of science, education, ethics, mysteries, and history. He is a good writer even though I think he churns out the books too fast. However, since I am not sure who wrote this book, I don't know to whom to give the credit.

The near completion of the human genome and the emergence of diverse infectious diseases which are new to us make for plenty of possible and scary scenarios. Obviously this group of men has tapped into this large reservoir. The problem is when someone who does not have the science background reaches for a book like this, and it is a middle of a series...the authors make assumptions about what the reader knows about genetics and disease, and where they have come in in reading the series. For me it wasn't a problem because I worked on HIV and am working on the ethical implications of the Human Genome project for the disabled. However, most of the people who I know who read this type of book for pleasure, would have definite problems following the back-and-forth writing of the plot, and a lot of the genetic information is going to seem very improbably to those who do not read Science on a regular basis.

This is a good book, with a good plot and decent characterization. The science is pretty good, and I hope the authors don't give the wackos out there any new ideas. Probably not...like I said, this is currently an area of immense concern and immense discussion. This is definitely more intelligent writing than say Robin Cook (who started this genre), but it is not easy reading for those who are looking for something that does not require a few active brain cells (which I sometimes want too!) Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

Bio-Strike was a great book. It tied in all the important material. I definitely reccommend it to anyone that is in for an adventure. But read them in order or you will be lost. Jerome used great suspense and action to making this a great story and plot.

First of all, don't let the giant TOM CLANCY printing on the cover fool you... this book wasn't even written by Tom Clancy. Evidently, the series was a brainchild of his, but the author is another person in little print at the bottom of the cover. Poor guy, he writes the novel, and Clancy gets the credit (at least in consumer's eyes if they don't take the time to read the whole cover)... the upside of this is that Clancy will also take the hits if the book is generally considered to be a flop, which is nice for this guy too, I guess. :)

I need to clarify that this is the only book in the Power Plays series that I have read. I don't believe that it is critical for you to read EVERY book in a series in order to be able to enjoy each individually. A great author will craft each book in a way that makes it possible to read any book in the series and still feel like you've absorbed a complete novel with no huge hanging plot holes or the like (i.e. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles).

This book was, in my opinion, too long-winded. Some people appreciate that style of writing, but I felt it wasn't entirely appropriate for this story... I have a limited amount of free time, and I spent about twice the time I should have reading this book. The story was a good idea, but the length of the book was taken up with inane details of the story and dialog, and too little time was spent on character development, and on the villain, especially. The villain remains an anonymous and vague character, which works sometimes, but in this book we are left wondering and wanting more details about his motives, his methods, and more real world information about his role in the story to accompany several pages of his demented psychoanalysis of a painting. Don't get me wrong... he was INTRIGUIING, but never given life. The Lathrop character was by far the most interesting... a classic double agent, but with extra ego, self-interest, and intelligence thrown in for good measure.

As far as the science of the book goes, I'm not a biochemist. As a result, I don't know if the author actually knows his stuff (a la Crichton but less arrogant with his knowledge), or if he just read a few books and made it sound convincing. I don't much care, either... the story worked, even if the details clouded it.

Bottom line is this: If you read the book just because you see Tom Clancy's name on the cover, you're in for a bit of a disappointment, because it's not the Tom Clancy we've all come to know and love who actually authored the book. That's not to say the author did a bad job, either... the book just seemed to drag on too long in my understanding of the story. It could've been trimmed by about 100 pages, and the ending could have been a little LESS OBVIOUS. Yes, unfortunately, the ending is not-even-a-challenge obvious long before the end of the book, but that doesn't detract from the end of the story as much as you might think. It's a good book if you enjoy Sci-Fi/Action hybrids, but if you're not a huge fan of the genre, then you won't feel it's time well spent. 3 stars because it did what was expected, nothing more, nothing less. Not outstanding in its field, but I don't think it totally sucked either, unlike other reviewers who wrote it off out of hand.

This book was a terrible book. The content was pretty boring at most times. This was nothing like the Sum of All Fears, or Patriot Games. I only liked brief parts of it. Hey Tom! Pick up the pace!

As a person involved in the biotech area, I was excited to pick up a thriller novel with a DNA helix on the cover at my local bookstore. Several days later, I felt unfulfilled and empty after having read the novel.

The author took what could have been an exciting and suspense filled premise and turned it into an adolescent attempt at documenting the actions of living G.I. Joe figures.

Unlike most readers on these reviews, this is the first "Clancy" book I have read. I put it in quotes because it wasn't till I got home with the book that I realized a ghost writer was involved. The first 4 pages were awesome, setting up an "outbreak" type scenario. Where did that story go for the next 300+ pages? There were so many characters in this book that I got confused repeatedly, and finally gave up trying to figure them out. What was up with all the sub-plots which go nowhere...ej. The government guy and Megan, Thibideaux and Ricci..... The story dragged on and on and finally picked up at the end, but it was too late to salvage this story. If he wanted to write a thrilling series, with the backing of Clancy, it could have been done, since everything he needs is in this book. The problem is that by combining all of these story lines into one 400+ page novel, the overall product turned out to be a confusing mess.

This is Tom Clancy's third book in the last two months. Since he is not Asimov, I wonder how much involvement he really has in the writing of these novels? Jerome is most likely the true writer and should thus receive more credit. Good book though.

Wow, this is by far the most BORING "thriller" I have ever picked up. It starts out pretty good, but then gets bogged down in several boring and confusing sub-plots. Even the writing style is dreadful -- I kept reading hoping it would pick up and it never really did. This book is a DOG, don't waste your time with it. Tom Clancy did not write this book - I am surprised he would endorse such a lame novel with his name.

I am a scientist and love thrillers. I was very interested in the first chapter. Pretty much immediately after I became bored to death and kept hoping for the next chapter to grab my interest again. I am not even halfway through and hope that I can force myself to finish (I'm just determined to finish what I start, although my husband can't understand why I'd keep going when I'm so bored). The author (not Clancy) simply over-embellishes (why do I need the description of how the guy lit his cigar? what's with this guy smelling/tasting the air all the time?/ the over-description of how and why he changed his clothes in the car). I keep finding myself rolling my eyes and reading passages only to realize I paid no attention. I had to come on Amazon and read reviews to see if it was just me..but it's not. This is just a normal-sized paperback, yet so little of it is worth reading. I expect a lot of extra backstory in a huge Stephen King novel, but this story is simply being bogged down with too much boring fluff..as if it was added just to make it big enough to publish. I hope to finish it, if just for the challenge. I prefer a book that draws me into the next page and chapter with the suspense of what is about to happen next. This book does not fit the bill. ZZZZ.

This book was simply awesome, Tom Clancy did it again. A beautiful idea with the the virus unleashed on the head of Uplink Technologies and how ricci and the rest of the team find the vaccine to save not only Roger Gordian but everyone else who has inherited the virus. a real page turner. Honestly I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes Tom Clancy novels.