While working on a “white side” operation for Henley and Associates, Jack Ryan Junior finds more than he bargained for in this thrilling series debut from author M.P. Woodward.
When he’s not getting in gunfights and hauling in bad guys, Jack Ryan Junior still puts in work at Henley and Associates, a financial trading institution founded by Gerry Hendley. The company itself is a front for the Campus, the off-the-books private security firm for which Jack is the lead operator. But that doesn’t mean that when the bullets slow down, Jack isn’t expected to get some desk work done—and this time around, he is tasked with evaluating the potential acquisition of GeoTech, a rare earth mining company that operates primarily out of the Vietnamese highlands.
Digging into the company’s financials, Jack becomes suspicious of some patterns he sees in GeoTech’s books and ultimately decides that in order to sus out the true financial risk, he’ll need to see their mining operation in-person to perform an audit and check things out.
Heading to Vietnam, a country that has seen an economic resurgence of late, Jack meets with GeoTech’s CEO, and is shown around. Eventually, he’s invited aboard a helicopter that’s ultimately taken down—though how and why remain open questions long after the crash landing. The sequence, which mirrors what we know of Jack Ryan Senior’s helicopter crash during his time as a marine (mentioned briefly in The Hunt for Red October) and later shown in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), proves to be just the beginning of more problems for Jack, foreshadowing what’s yet to come.
Unbeknownst to Jack, who is forced to go on the run in Vietnam, the Chinese have their own reasons to keep Henley and Associates out of GeoTech’s business and far away from their books. That thread, which involves industrial espionage and a connection to American defense technologies, ultimately weaves with one surrounding a savage Vietnamese gang that rules the jungles and is involved in a human trafficking operation. With numerous bad actors closing in all around him, Jack must find a way to side-step the danger long enough to assemble the puzzle pieces in hopes of seeing the bigger picture—one that, once revealed, sets off a shocking chain of events that’ll leave Jack, and readers, unsure where to turn next.
Tasked with the near-impossible job of following up Andrews & Wilson’s summer blockbuster Act of Defiance, a nostalgia-driven sequel to Tom Clancy’s iconic debut, The Hunt for Red October, M.P. Woodward proves that he, too, is in command of the Ryanverse, delivering a brilliant and intricate plot that—while smart—doesn’t skimp on the action. More in line with Mike Maden’s Tom Clancy Point of Contact (2017) than, say, Don Bentley’s Tom Clancy Weapons Grade (2023), Woodward brings energy and excitement to the Junior books, which generally seems to generate less buzz than the Senior titles. That may soon change if Woodward can continue to churn out stories like this, which underscores the advantage and uniqueness of the Ryanverse post-Clancy. Allowing other writers to step in and offer their take on such beloved characters keeps things fresh for a series that could otherwise begin to feel stale, given how long Jack Ryan has occupied the Oval Office and been in front of readers. The estate’s ability to find high-quality writers to step in for several books at a time has proven to be second to none, and overall, that sort of longevity is a testament to just how beloved Clancy’s characters remain to this day.
Mixing action, intrigue, and political drama to create a fast-paced, high-stakes thriller that jumps off the page and demands your attention, M.P. Woodward gives Jack Ryan fans exactly what they’ve been asking for with Tom Clancy Shadow State, setting a high bar for future entries to try and live up to.
Book Details
Author: M.P. Woodward
Series: Jack Ryan Junior #12
Pages: 384 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0593717945
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: August 20th
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.
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