Three decades ago a Baltimore, Maryland, insurance man Tom Clancy entered the literary world with The Hunt For Red October. Acclaimed critically and popularly, he never looked back. Never in the military, his interest and research in the weapons of war elevated him to the rank of military analyst.
A number of his novels were successfully filmed. His focus was on the Cold War, US vs USSR. His 2013 death brought cries of anguish from his numerous fans. His estate sought a replacement, or was Clancy one of a kind? Happily they found another author able to step into his shoes.
Mark Greaney has penned three Clancy-like thrillers to date, with carry-on characters, some changes, some additions. To be sure the Cold War ended, yet the sore points between the US and the Russian Federation continues in Commander-In-Chief. Its major drawback is it's overlong.
Filling 758 pages isn't difficult for a scribe, but why does he want to? For what he has to say, half the space would suffice. Greaney's premise is that US sanctions are ruining the Russian economy. Freezing its money is impoverishing the populace, not least the billionaires.
Lights burn late in the Kremlin to find a solution to this sad state of affairs, the war hawks straining at the bit for action. The Federation president agrees, but attack whom? Russia is pretty much surrounded by Nato countries. One of the most vulnerable is Lithuania.
Surely the US will lift sanctions if the Russians agree to evacuate it. Many of the book's 80 chapters are devoted to conferences called by US President Jack Ryan Sr, to how the West should react to the aggression. Both sides prepare for battle on land, sea and in the air.
One cause of this lengthy volume is that a group of ecological terrorists is added to the mix, opposing Earth-disfiguring oil and gas digging. The president's son, Jack Ryan Jr, leads the fight against them. The venue moves to Luxembourg, where Jr has a girlfriend.
All's well that ends well. War is averted.
Commander-In-Chief is far-fetched, a stretch. Nevertheless, Tom Clancy's aficionados will go for it.
Is Russia America's only enemy, I wonder?
The Theory Of Death by Faye Kellerman Harper 409pp Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops 350 baht
Mennonite murder
I don't know when suicide was made a crime. Possibly when a murder was made to look like suicide. It couldn't have been too long ago. Can you imagine the different ending to Puccini's Madam Butterfly, the police arriving to arrest Pinkerton for Cho-Cho san's death?
According to statistics, a person determined to commit suicide will do so. There are any number of reasons why, declining health perhaps most common. Unreciprocated affection another, both heading a long list. Then there's euthanasia -- getting others to do it for you -- also illegal in some places.
But what if it is murder? Clues in the investigation may well point to the killer. Yet when evidence is lacking, the prosecution has the task of trying to get the defendant (the main suspect) to confess. This situation is grist for the crime novelist.
Yank author Faye Kellerman takes a stab at it in The Theory Of Death. While I prefer her husband Jonathan Kellerman's psychological thrillers, Kellerman's stories are above average. Now and again there's an ethnic plot. This time round, several key characters are Mennonites.
The first body is an actual bullet-to-the-head suicide. Who? A mathematical genius. Why? A deteriorating brain virus. Then a second body turns up, his wife who had an affair with his colleague. A suicide from a feeling of guilt? Or murdered by the colleague for breaking up with him?
Kellerman's ongoing literary creation, New York homicide Detective Peter Decker is given the case. His former partner Taylor MacAdams, now studying law, assists. Peter's wife, Rina Lazarous, is around to give homey advice. Lots of interviews of the Mennonites, the victims' relations.
The lengthiest chapter has Peter interrogating the colleague in court. Kellerman is no John Grisham and doesn't have his knack of describing a trial. Innocent or guilty? The reader is left hanging. Taylor is allowed some private time to romance another student.
The Theory Of Death doesn't enthuse me. However, the scrivener is clearly a professional with a host of fans. And don't confuse the Mennonites with the Amish.
