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Being President isn't getting any easier. Not only is there trouble at home, but the Asian economy is collapsing, and now, in an already unstable Russia, someone may have tried to assassinate the chairman of the SVR (formerly the KGB) with a rocket-propelled grenade. Even more disturbing are the possible motives of the assassins – are they political, criminal or personal? Or, Ryan wonders, is something far more dangerous going on?
While the Russians investigate, and some of Ryan's most trusted people head for Moscow, forces in China are moving ahead with a plan of truly audacious scope. Tired of the arrogance of the West and eager to fulfil their destiny, they are taking matters into their own hands. If they succeed, the world will never by the same. If they fail . . . the consequences may be unthinkable.
About the Author
Seventeen years ago Tom Clancy was an obscure Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history and only a letter to the editor and a brief article on the MX missile to his credit. Years before he had been an English major at Baltimore's Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October - the story of a Russian submarine captain who defects to the United States-sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Times bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it 'the perfect yarn' and 'non-put-downable.' Since then Clancy has established himself as an undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity, intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense.
Clancy's next novel, Red Storm Rising, took on U.S./Soviet tension by providing a realistic modern war scenario arising from a conventional Soviet attack on NATO. Other bestsellers followed: Patriot Games dealt with terrorism; Cardinal of the Kremlin focused on spies, secrets and the strategic defense initiative; Clear and Present Danger asked what if there was a real war on drugs; The Sum of All Fears centered around post-Cold War attempts to rekindle U.S./Soviet animosity; Without Remorse took on the rising U.S. drug trade and Vietnam War era POW's; and Debt of Honor explored the hazards of American/Japanese economic competition, the vulnerability of America's financial system, and the dangers of military downsizing. In light of recent events, Debt of Honor demonstrated once and for all Clancy's cutting-edge prescience in predicting future events. Clancy's uninterrupted string of best sellers continued with Executive Orders, which combined the threat of biological and conventional terrorism with the instability of the Persian Gulf region; Rainbow Six, which explored the dual threats posed by former Soviet intelligence operatives willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder, and genetically engineering bio weapons; and, most recently, The Bear and The Dragon, which posited a limited war between China, the U.S. and Russia.
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