Clear and Present Danger
By Tom Clancy
Book Review by Jack Reynolds
Summary:
On a boat just outside the coast of the US and Mexico, a rich business man takes his family for an inconspicuous boat ride on his private yacht. Little did they know the true reason of the ride was really to ease the purchase of drugs from Mexican cartels. A couple million dollars in hand he goes to make the exchange while his family is safely asleep and the deal goes bad. The mother and daughter are raped, cut up and thrown to the sharks along with the drug buying father.
The coast gaurd shows just in time, to see the cartels cleaning the mess off the walls. As a coast guard captain for many years, Wegener, becomes sick of the system and take matters in to his own hands. Knowing that if the murderers are sent back to the states they will easily escape the judicial system and sell their wretched product once again. He sets them up for on-ship-court, something that hadn't used for 200 years on criminals. And if they are given a guilty sentence he is allowed to hang them on his ship. When they are all set for execution he separates the two convicts and puts a head through the noose. The first one drops and the second one confesses to everything, and so does the first. The hanged man had been nothing but a dummy to fool the two of them into confessing.
This is how the book begins and this will put our hero, Jack Ryan, on the spot to either move up in the CIA or save the lives of an op gone wrong. He will face off against almost all the evils of society and have to shove each and every one of them out of the way. With a chance to save someone or play the administration at every corner this book will keep you in suspense every moment.
The first part is almost a perfect example of how cruel society is. These people, except the father, were killed and raped because of a drug sale the had no knowledge about. They had no way to protect them selves and nowhere to run. They were innocent people trapped in a trap set by people who care about nothing but money.
Wegener's ingenuous plan, in the second part, to get the cartels to confess was an extremely well done plan. Using them to get each other's confessions worked like a charm and probably saved lives. Sadly though this work-around method had to be used or they would have just used societies' currently unjust, broken system of law.
This is how the book begins and this will put our hero, Jack Ryan, on the spot to either move up in the CIA or save the lives of an op gone wrong. He will face off against almost all the evils of society and have to shove each and every one of them out of the way. With a chance to save someone or play the administration at every corner this book will keep you in suspense every moment.
Opinion of the Book:
Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy is now one of my all time favorite books. Unlike other books where the main character sacrifices their moral choices for the "greater good" Jack Ryan will do absolutely no dancing with the system. It starts off with one of the driving forces of societal cruelties, greed.The first part is almost a perfect example of how cruel society is. These people, except the father, were killed and raped because of a drug sale the had no knowledge about. They had no way to protect them selves and nowhere to run. They were innocent people trapped in a trap set by people who care about nothing but money.
Wegener's ingenuous plan, in the second part, to get the cartels to confess was an extremely well done plan. Using them to get each other's confessions worked like a charm and probably saved lives. Sadly though this work-around method had to be used or they would have just used societies' currently unjust, broken system of law.
How this Relates to the Theme:
So, here I go with my extremely Liberally Social Conservative ideas on society and my almost complete detrimental view of it. This book really puts the system out there and lets its true colors fly. When men put their lives on the line to fight and work for a system that they thought they could trust, you would at least think that when their lives would become endangered that system that they dedicated themselves to would save them. Alas no, this system will leave them to die at the hands of Mexican drug lords, the same people who cut out your tongue and then ask you to tell them who they are working for. The same people who sell detrimental products to ignorant or malleable people that could possibly kill them only for money. Even then they don't need the money, after all they just left a couple million sitting around as a decoy bank account so they wouldn't find the one overseas that was linked to their giant castle that they live in. A castle for a single man to live in!
If all of these themes don't point something out to you you are probably thinking, "But the government didn't do it, its all the Mexican's fault!"
Well my narrow minded friend you would be wrong. The US is allies with Mexico, and the Mexican government has a multitude of employees that have a very high, unexplained income. And not just 100,000 dollars too high but 2 or 3 million a year too high. And since the drug trade need someway to manipulate the government into turning a blind eye this would be the perfect solution. These members have slowly been removed from the system but honestly I don't believe for a second that they are not there in secret.
Now the good old US ought to do something about this right? It is not only immoral but hurt tax revenue, so they ought to care about that right? No, we have done very little to stop the cartels. While continuously more measures have been made no real action has been taken.
Now why have we done nothing? Because we don't have any real leaders in the government. Real leaders can throw public opinion aside and do what need to be done there and now. If we continue to put people that are so obsessed with their public opinion that they won't do anything that would bother anyone the we will get nothing done. People get elected(Hopefully) because the majority of people agree with their opinions and judgement so they should at least have enough confidence in themselves to take a risk based on their ideals. But alas we have so little hope to see any progress in government at its current state. True leaders are the one willing to stick it all on the line when they know that they are right. They take the peoples opinion into account but realize that they are really the only one in the moment and they have the best viewpoint on the situation.
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32669.Clear_and_Present_Danger
Kirkusreviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/
If all of these themes don't point something out to you you are probably thinking, "But the government didn't do it, its all the Mexican's fault!"
Well my narrow minded friend you would be wrong. The US is allies with Mexico, and the Mexican government has a multitude of employees that have a very high, unexplained income. And not just 100,000 dollars too high but 2 or 3 million a year too high. And since the drug trade need someway to manipulate the government into turning a blind eye this would be the perfect solution. These members have slowly been removed from the system but honestly I don't believe for a second that they are not there in secret.
Now the good old US ought to do something about this right? It is not only immoral but hurt tax revenue, so they ought to care about that right? No, we have done very little to stop the cartels. While continuously more measures have been made no real action has been taken.
Now why have we done nothing? Because we don't have any real leaders in the government. Real leaders can throw public opinion aside and do what need to be done there and now. If we continue to put people that are so obsessed with their public opinion that they won't do anything that would bother anyone the we will get nothing done. People get elected(Hopefully) because the majority of people agree with their opinions and judgement so they should at least have enough confidence in themselves to take a risk based on their ideals. But alas we have so little hope to see any progress in government at its current state. True leaders are the one willing to stick it all on the line when they know that they are right. They take the peoples opinion into account but realize that they are really the only one in the moment and they have the best viewpoint on the situation.
Who should Read this Book:
Everyone should read this book. I brings up complicated issues that are controversial and will likely make the a mad as a bonfire. But that is a good thing. If you read and feel nothing or are left unintroduced to any new ideas then you have simply wasted you time. If you go for my philosophy then this might be the best use of your time all week.
Other Reviews:
For all of you that are thoroughly unimpressed by my superior writing ability, here are some other sources to convince you why you should sprint to your local internet hot spot and force your way through the Amazon servers to buy this book so it can be dropped on your head by a drone.Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32669.Clear_and_Present_Danger
Kirkusreviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/
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