Don Bentley delivers the goods in a big way bringing his trademark unapologetic ludicrous speed pacing and relentless brawling action sequences to Target Acquired, his first foray into Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe. It’s an all-out, pedal to the metal, full tilt sprint from beginning to end, propelled forward with 40,000 pounds of thrust from the afterburners of a F-35.
Breathing new life into the iconic series, Don focuses Target Acquired almost entirely on Jack Ryan Jr with minimal cameos from the team at The Campus. Jack is in Israel for what should be a milk run observational operation with the CIA, but as you might expect the proceedings go sideways and Jack gets swept into the middle of a multi-faceted operation that threatens the security of Israel, the world, and an American scientist and her innocent son. Not one to back down from doing what is right, Jack throws caution to the wind – and throws more than a handful of haymakers – in a bloody attempt to rescue the Americans from the clutches of evil.
The brilliance in this book is concentrating the story on Jack Ryan Jr to give us a glimpse into his growth as an operator. Jack exhibits ceaseless Energizer Bunny persistence with savage close quarters hand-to-hand fighting the likes we haven’t seen from him before, further evolving his character into a bona fide badass and putting more distance between his conflicting personas of clandestine operator and being the President’s son. He still has a lot to learn before he’s at the level of John Clark and Ding Chavez, but he makes a quantum leap in that direction in Target Acquired.
The Jack Ryan Jr. series is in amazing hands with Don Bentley, a tremendous writer who by all accounts is a fantastic dude to boot. He promises to continue bringing a fresh take to the Tom Clancy realm that is sure to delight long time Clancy fans as well as bring a new generation into the fold. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the next installment. But if Target Acquired is any indication, you better start strapping in now because it’ll blow your socks clean off.
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