Intelligence agencies the world over see Russia's cloak-and-dagger operations as the greatest danger. But Russia's chief enemy is the US, to which it causes endless mischief, both directly and indirectly.
Indirectly, it works through other countries to give the impression that its hands are clean. All too aware of this, writers in the West pen real and imaginative stories about the Kremlin's machinations.
A case in point is Tom Clancy's Oath Of Office. Although this reviewer must note that the famous scribe passed away in 2013, his estate found a replacement, fellow American Marc Cameron, to continue authoring Tom Clancy stories. He has mastered the style, but the plots are now more far out.
Cameron tends to draw on wishful thinking. To hear him tell it, the disaffected Iranian populace are on the verge of revolution. The ayatollahs are searching for a means to keep the lid on. The plan they come up with is to bomb several of their own installations in clearly marked USAF planes and blame the Great Satan, whereupon the citizenry will patriotically unite against the common enemy. Of course, it is Russia who supplies them with nuclear bombs to bring about certain war.
But a despotic student leader has a more destructive use for the bombs. Chapters are devoted to this. Quite frankly, I don't believe a word of it. Apparently, astrophysicists have discovered that when low orbit satellites collide, and are then nuked, large areas become radioactive for long periods. Why not zap Washington instead of Tehran and its environs?
US President Jack Ryan and his son use their own boffins to determine how to counter this threat. The reader is given scientific estimates to show how the threat is thwarted. What is unclear is whether or not the Iranian kettle boils over. And a White House to the Kremlin hotline call has Ryan Sr warning his Russian counterpart (not Putin) to keep his dirty hands off Ukraine (which he does).
From the books I've read by the actual Tom Clancy, I seriously doubt that he would have written this fanciful novel. Even fiction has its limits.
Light reading
As the global population increases exponentially, big cities are turning into mega metropolises. With tens of millions of people crammed together, authors have innumerable stories to tell.
Curiously, however, small towns remain small towns. And they have a character of their own. Virtually everybody in them knows everybody else. There are few secrets and rumours spread like wildfire. A husband or wife taking a lover is quickly identified. Sports figures are neighbours. Their children are on the same school team. There are the same shops, the same restaurants, the same doctor. Sinclair Lewis' Main Street a century ago said it all. Or almost all.
Horror maestro Stephen King is back with another tale focusing on Castle Rock, a small town personified, if somewhat updated since the early 20th century. Perhaps the only difference of note is that two of its denizens are a gay married couple. Then there is Scott Carey, who is on the hefty side, 130kg, but carries his weight well and plays a good game of tennis. A marathon runner too. Divorced, he writes computer programmes. Doctor Bob, 70ish, is retired but people still go to him for medical advice. Why hale and hearty Scott?
Unusual characters are Stephen King's literary forte and few are more extraordinary -- indeed impossible -- than Scott. His complaint is that, according to the scales, he's losing weight, yet it doesn't show anywhere on his frame. And it's not as if the weight is dropping off by small amounts. He's losing a kilo a day, every day. This is verified on the good doctor's scale. No loss of appetite. No cancer or other illness. No case like it in medical history. He drops under 100kg.
Approaching 50kg with no change in girth, the lesbian couple and another woman become concerned about Scott. (He's one of the few who's been kind to them over the years.) Doctor Bob keeps perusing strange cases elsewhere, without success. Scott falls below 50kg. His legs give way and he's confined to a wheelchair. A weightless future is unacceptable. Is there anyone willing to help him out of his misery?
Suffice to say there is one.
Elevation will delight the author's readers.
