Don Bentley shakes things up in the Clancyverse with a narrative unlike anything I was expecting. With parallel storylines running in seemingly completely independent paths until a surprising convergence, Weapons Grade is aptly named for a machine-gun-paced thriller that kicks off with a loud bang and walks the rounds to a terrific bullseye.
On a quiet Texas night, Jack Ryan Jr. is cornered into an ambush, or so he thinks. It’s a hit indeed but not for Ryan Jr. With a scintillating curiosity and a burning desire to make the assailants pay for the murder of an innocent man, Ryan Jr. sets off on an unsanctioned mission to find out what’s what. His investigation points him to a cold case of a college student and a team of South African hitters. It’s a bizarre conundrum but it’s one that will have profound implications for international politics.
Where we’ve recently read Ryan Jr. get caught up in dangerous situations alongside his Campus teammates, Weapons Grade paints Ryan Jr. in a rather different light as he plays more detective this time around than a spy, working leads old fashioned style and going solo. It’s a definitive moment in his evolution and it’s one that has been cultivating from Flash Point. Where Ryan Jr. has motivated mostly by the seat of his pants, his engagement to Lisanne Robertson sees him grappling with decisions that impact more than just him and that’s a fantastic interjection by Don Bentley to keep Ryan Jr. evolving.
It’s a given that Ryan Jr. stirs up a lot of trouble and he undoubtedly requires backup. Luckily, fan-favorite Cary Marks and Jad Mustafa, new bloods to the Campus, are more than prepared for the job as they provide every bit of firepower to take out heavy hitters in the most effective and badass manner, whether stationary or hanging from a chopper.
What really made Weapons Grade a clear winner is how Bentley kept a lid on the full picture, carefully sowing seeds but keeping the reveal a closely guarded secret so all readers can do is speculate and get lost in the slowly unveiling threat that ultimately reveals itself as a far nefarious and dangerous threat than anticipated. How seemingly parallel and separate plotlines finally intersect for a pulse-pounding finale is an art that Bentley has mastered in Weapons Grade.
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