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Paperback
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN13: 9780425165560
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Spain is a nation poised to suffer its worst internal strife in centuries. Certain well-placed Spanish diplomats sense it. Op-Center intelligence corroborates it. All the United States and Spain have to do is find a way to avert it. Before they can, an Op-Center representative is assassinated in Madrid on her way to a top secret meeting. Now all fears are confirmed. Someone very powerful wants another Spanish civil war--no matter what the cost.
Another in the popular series of Op-Center thrillers, Balance of Power sets the stage in Spain, as tensions between various ethnic factions are pushing the country to the brink of disaster. This audio version is narrated by Jay O. Sanders (JFK, Kiss the Girls) in a rich basso profundo, but the usual Clancyesque intelligence jargon, technospeak, and geopolitical shorthand prove to be more than a mouthful. Sanders does his best to keep pace with the considerable action, but it's a tall order, especially with the added complications of Spanish names, places, and dialogue, which, for him, are obviously in a foreign language. As the story unfolds, high-level diplomatic and intelligence teams are working overtime to diffuse the crisis when their efforts are shot down by an assassin's bullet. That's when the real trouble begins: "As intelligence chief Bob Herbert had put it before Martha had left Washington, 'This will make the Spanish Civil War look like a brawl.'" The story features a broad cast of characters, some of which may flirt with stereotype. Despite this drawback, it's interesting to find these relatively obscure politics brought front and center. While this may not be the very best that Op-Center can produce, for die-hard Clancy fans it's another chance to enter the fray. (Running time: 4 hours, 4 cassettes) --George Laney
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| Couldn't give it zero |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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I can see why the Spainards hate this book. I have never been to Spain and besides Medieval history and Franco of course I don't know much about the nation beyond the norm. However, the idea of Spain turning into genocidal Balkans is just silly to me. Yes it happened in the 1930's but many things happened in the 1930's a time of insanity and hate.
Also the pyschobabble was just plain annoying to me. "She was there when Martha was killed, the guilt is going to put her into shock and paralize her!" Right and that is why whole armies stop fighting when they lose comrades. Stupid and not even close to human reality and just plain annoying to read.
I will stay away from Clancy and the techno-thriller crap. Bring back some good old cold war novels those were his master pieces. This sucks will not bother picking anymore up when I see them.
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| Not Free SF Reader |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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Spanish politics and shooting.
The Op-Center is a semi-independent agency that gets to do some dirty, dangerous work.
This time it involves getting mixed up in Spanish politics, virus, and terrorism, leading to a stressful time for all, as it doesn't take long for an assassination to happen.
Just an ok thriller type book is all.
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| Not a clever story teller |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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This is the first TC's book I read and maybe I'll give him a second chance. But someone can tell me where's the plot? Spain is willing to have an upheaval, so what? Nobody there want the CIA involved so they make some kind of gore war. I've had read awfully better books than this one.
Query: Did the CIA thwarted a revolution in Spain?
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| Not good, but not necessarily bad either |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I have read one previous Tom Clancy book, Red Storm Rising, and I was impressed. Well written and well detailed book. This is not the case with Balance of Power. The blame, then, must be with the other author, Steve Pieczenik. From the beginning when I saw another author I wondered if Clancy played more of a role than his name, and I don't think that he did. This is yet another case of a book that was written to capitalize on Clancy's name.
The book is shallow and not too deep. One chapter will present a situation, and the next chapter is the "enemy" or opposing force figuring out what just happened. Powerful men seek to overthrow the government with force and economic pressure. Break. The next chapter Op Center comes to the same conclusion that the previous chapter revealed. So there is no development, no discovery for the reader.
On the flip side it was fast paced and it kept me reading. I won't be like the other Spanish reviewers and claim how badly Clancy missed the Spanish situation. It is a work of fiction! Of course he is going to miss the true picture of the climate of Spain if he is to make the book do as he wants. So, no, I don't rate this off of that.
So that leaves the merit of the book. Fast paced fun read, albeit not too deep or complexly intertwined. It was good to imagine the undercover Striker team and their effectiveness. But, alas, this is nothing more than another author capitalizing on Clancy's name. Perhaps Clancy was consulted, or the whole series is his idea, but he doesn't seem to have written this one. In fact, other Op Center books are written by Pieczenik and when you search them they come up under his name and not Clancy. That doesn't make him a bad author, just not the complex author that we have come to respect in Clancy.
2.75 stars.
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| Tom Clancy shows no knowledge or respect for Spain |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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I was astonished how a well-reputed researcher as Tom Clancy could just mess up so bad when talking about the character of the Spaniards and political scene of Spain. It is a so respectless towards any Spanish speaking person, not only Spaniards. Plus, it shows no knowledge or interest at all on our country. American novelists should create fantastic countries that fit their misconcepts and desires, like Banania, Antiamerica or whatever. Check out "Digital fortress" by Dan Brown or the movie "Mission : Impossible 2" by John Woo. Exactly the same disdain.
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