Shadow Watch

Although not on par with any of the Jack Ryan books, this one manages to do a fine job with the material. The Space Station idea is not far off, and the settings are fine, but the characters need work and the ending was disappointing.

This was my first Clancy book and I thought it was great! It keeps you in the action at all times. I could never put it down!

This book is the LAST book of the series! Not the first! The books is better if you read the first two novels that you all neglected to read!Read Politika and Ruthless.com first. They came before Shadow Watch.This book has great ideas but it makes little sense and isn't as good if you don't read the others first. This is a great novel!

I have to wonder if some of the other customer reviewers read the same book I did. For example, Chase Cole from Melbourne, Fla, states that we never really learn how or why the shuttle explosion in Chapter 1 occurs. Yet both questions are answered quite explicitly in the story, and more than once at that. He nitpicks about a single engine Beech Bonanza being unable to transport a significant amount of illicit narcotics, presumably unaware that the Beech can ordinarily carry close to one thousand pounds of cargo and be optimized for even greater loads. He also complains that the dream sequences serve no purpose and suggests they ought to be skipped. Well, by my reading they a)provide defining insights into the psychological motivations of Annie Caulfield, a major character who is clearly to become a member of the regular series "cast", b) reveal crucial information about her history and the internal and external obstacles she must overcome over the course of the novel, and most importantly c) develop the plot by setting up the very climactic scenes in which we, through Annie, discover "how and why" the shuttle exploded. But hold on, the page-skipping Mr. Cole isn't yet finished! He also complains about the villains "walking", seemingly being too obtuse (or pretending to be anyway) to grasp what should be obvious to anyone. Namely: we're being set up for a sequel, folks! This is a smart, crackling thriller. Don't let the nasties and kvetches steer you wrong.

A whizbang read, full-tilt action from cover to cover. Won't give away the climax, but it leaves you anxiously awaiting the next book!