Tom Clancy Support and Defend: A Campus Novel

Tom Clancy, RIP, may have passed away...but Support and Defend by Mark Greaney is a terrific author in the style of Clancy.The story revolves around President Jack Ryan's nephew Dominic Caruso. He is on the FBI payroll but works for a black operation--“The Campus.” The other important character is the lovely and competent Adara Sherman. Her official title is “Campus Transportation Director” but of course she is much more than that, and a potential love interest.Written in 2013-14, there are so many realistic parallels with current events to make the story believable: anti-Israeli State Dept underlings, security breaches by Beltway Bandit contractors, arrogant far Leftists in the National Security Council who are smarter than anyone else in the room with their own superior agenda, most capable Israeli intelligence and electronic sophistication, Russian operatives, and a most capable enemy Iran.The story also makes clear some of the challenges of operating legally while still protecting the people of the USA.I loved the book and the story. I will seek out other stories by Greaney. It is a fast read, and hard to put down.

Having read only a couple of Tom Clancy books several years ago, my judgment of Support and Defend was not clouded by a subconscious comparison of the two authors or by their two heroes, Jack Ryan and Dominic Caruso. The central theme of the book was based on tracking National Security Council assistant director, Ethan Ross, a psychological misfit. One can’t help but draw a comparison of Ross to real-life NSA traitor, Edward Snowden. If you are a fan of Snowden, you’ll be uncomfortable with this book. The book started off with a bang and didn’t let up. Greaney did a fine job developing the character of his protagonist, Dominic Caruso, who is listed as an errant FBI agent but in actuality works for “The Campus”, a civilian investigative company. Our hero, Caruso, is not always right in his judgments and he doesn’t always win his battles. He seems at times even a little naïve, more real world than many leading action heroes we read about in thrillers of the same popular genre. Adara Sherman, the tough and beautiful Campus transportation director and former navy medical corpsman, becomes Caruso’s sidekick and potential love interest. I would like to see Adara play a more prominent role in future Greaney writings. The story takes us to Panama, Switzerland, Italy and other venues and engages the FBI, the Israeli’s, Venezuelans, Panamanians, Russians, Hamas, Iranians, and even the likes of the CIA and the US Army. Greaney’s lengthy narrative descriptions become boring as well as the overdone vehicle chases. Overall, I enjoyed the novel and look forward to Greaney’s next effort. I give the book a strong 4 rating.

Mark Greaney slips right into the big shoes left by the untimely passing of Tom Clancy, the inventor of the modern Techno/Thriller. In "Support and Defend" he uses President Jack Ryan's nephew Dominic Caruso, a Clancy character, to spin a fast paced tale. Young Caruso finds himself cut off from his helpers at the Campus and must solve this adventure on his own. He must track down a down loaded list of every CIA operative around the world before the American intelligence effort is knocked back a generation. I actually enjoyed this book more than the last few that Greaney and Clancy co-authored. Greaney as an independent author is crisper and more authoritative than the two working together. Greaney has a series of books which do not involve Clancy characters. I will be seeking them out post haste. "Support and Defend" rests on the very top shelf of the thriller pile. Best of all, Greaney is a young fella with many possible books ahead of him.

In Mark Greaney's hands, every next Jack Ryan book became more Mission: Impossible and less CIA. It is very clear to see that these two authors have different expertise: Clancy was more comfortable with approaching a fictional crisis from a macro point-of-view; characters, including Jack Ryan Sr, were more like moving parts of a scheme larger than any single entity. Mark Greaney's style is more character-centered, and there are more interpersonal drama and hand-to-hand combat. I will not say either is better than the other; they are just different. I enjoy both styles and really appreciate the fact that Mr. Greaney still weaves a story line that's quite global and had not make Jack Ryan Jr another Grey Man. Yet. (please don't do that ever) This particular book, support and defend, stars pretty much only Dom. It is definitely one great example of how Greaney writes G.I Joe better than Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But it was still highly entertaining and the story closed the loop nicely. There were not as complicated as some of other books in the series, but I think it requires less work on the brain and is a nice choice for workout, mealtime or before bed.

Support and Defend is the first Tom Clancy novel written exclusively by Mark Greaney following Clancy' s death in October of last yearIn this new book, Greaney captures present day fears by building a tale around the theft of top-secret CIA files by an underling within the department. Shades of Edward Snowdon's exploits are ever-present as Dominic Caruso , a familiar hero to all Clancy fans,embarks on a personal mission to retrieve access codes to the data before CIA human assets throughout the world are compromised. Dominic is the primary character throughout this adventure with The Campus playing only a supporting role. The President and son are missing from this adventure.Support and Defend is fast paced and straight forward in its plot development as compared to other Clancy books. However, Greaney puts a surprising human face upon " Transportation Director" Adara Sherman! Not always ," all business!"Mark Greaney is carrying on the Tom Clancy tradition. A daunting task! For more overviews of Tom Clancy novels go to gordonsgoodreads.com

I just finished the book.Small thing that kept me from giving 5* is the issue with words. There are quite a few spelling errors in my copy, a lot of strange words conotations, words next to each other making no sense. I am not native english speaker, but I do read a lot in this language and have knack for spotting bad places.If you are fine with that it will be a good story book.Story: I really like the Jack Ryan Senior, and the world of the book, but not so much of other characters. Having said that it is a book worth reading.

A good engaging thriller. It’s well narrated and although a bit slow to get started it kept me interested. I read a listen to a lot of these books and although this would not be one of my favourites I am buying the next in the series. Dominic is off without the support of his colleagues to take revenge on those who killed a friend and his family and also stop secrets in the possession of a rather naive homegrown ‘traitor’ falling into enemy hands.

It says it's a Jack Ryan jnr book - it isn't. The story is about one of the other Campus characters Dom Caruso, Ryan doesn't even get a mention. It's a pretty weak story, compared to other Clancy novels. Lots of action but minimal story/plot content. It's readable but not up to the Clancy franchise standard.

Sorry, my mistake I only saw 'Tom Clancy' and thought it was one of his great books.Unfortunately only bits of it are and then the narrative suddenly changes down a gear and it is only too obvious that these bits are written by someone else! This I assume is Mark Greaney and it's written in an amateurish way like a little boy, full of over dramatic silly words and descriptions .It just spoils the whole story line and the switch on and of between Tom Clancy and Mr Greaneys' style ruins it all. Best of luck to the publishers trying to squeeze every last value from their old cash cow but it's sad really to do this to Tom Clancys' fine record after he's died.

As always these books are a good read. With the authorship under new management it has in no way changed the punchiness of the story telling. The recent editions of books are so up to date with International relationships they are almost a primer in catching up with geopolitical affairs. Great book for rainy afternoons or a long quiet holiday. Don't just buy this book buy the other books in the series. Jack Jnr's new girlfriend sounds wonderful for him.

Yet again the author hits the jackpot with this book.Another pulsating story that grabs you from the beginning through to the end,having read previous books with the main character in, this book takes you through his feelings and can do attitude that is prevalent in the world of spies.Cannot wait for his next book.

Mark Greaney is a great successor to Clancy. This book was a page-turner and it was hard to put down when I had other things to do! It's not quite as detailed as Clancy's books but as those were sometimes a little too detailed it doesn't detract from this book.Although this is listed as a Jack Ryan Jr book this is totally incorrect as he doesn't feature at all.

Being a spin-off from a major character series is quite a difficult prospect and this book works well. Unfortunately there are a couple of times when it lurches into fantasy, however this does not detract from the read. Worth following the series.

The author has borrowed the John Clark character from Tom Clancy's secret organisation and left him to fend for himself while he recuperates from injuries, but nevertheless becomes heavily involved in resolving theft of secret data. Too much background info robs the plot of pace though the story is well written

An excellent read. Had not read this earlier because it didn't include the US President - it was based on his nephew, but it was a surprisingly strong story.

Up to the standard set by Tom Clancy.

I was worried the main character wasn't going to be entertaining enough without his campus colleagues but it worked very well. Although It would be nice to see more stories utilising the campus characters.

This was a great story with lots of interesting characters. The plot kept you in suspense and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like a good thriller then this is a book for you. I would recommend this story and this author.

Brilliant follow on book to the series

What, no Ryan? Good read but some mistakes. Missed not having a Ryan role though. Need to find next in series.