The Bear and the Dragon

Tom Clancy's works have received a great deal of acclaim for their cutting-edge foresight in foretelling future events, in addition to their large-scale drama and compelling narrative drive.

The future is, in fact, very close at hand in The Bear and the Dragon.

Jack Ryan, who was just elected president on his own, has discovered that life has not gotten any easier. There are obstacles in his own country at every turn, a revolution in Liberia, a collapsing Asian economy, and now there may have been an attempt in Moscow to remove the chairman of the SVR—a former KGB agent—using a rocket-propelled grenade. Even more concerning than the high-level assassination may be the names of the possible assassins. Things are already unsettling enough in Russia. Were they disgruntled former KGB agents, the Russian Mafia, or political enemies? Or is there something even more sinister at work here, Ryan wonders?

Ryan is accurate. Because troops in China are going forward with a genuinely daring plan, even as he sends his most trusted eyes and ears, including black operations expert John Clark, to uncover the truth. The world as we know it will change drastically if they are successful. The ramifications will be unimaginable if they fail.

This is Clancy at his best—there is none better—blending the astonishing realism and authenticity that are his trademarks with a complex storyline, razor-sharp suspense, and an amazing cast of characters.