Fiction, Fiction Subjects

Tom Clancy's Net Force

Name: Tom Clancy's Net Force
Author: Tom Clancy
ISBN: 9780425161722

by Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik, Steve Perry

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Overview

From the #1 New York Times bestselling creators of Op-Center comes a different kind of law enforcement. In the year 2010, computers are the new superpowers. Those who control them, control the world. To enforce the Net Laws, Congress forms the ultimate computer security agency within the FBI: the Net Force.

Synopsis

In the year 2010, computers are the new superpower. Those who control them control the world. To enforce the New Laws, Congress creates the ultimate computer security agency with the FBI: the New Force.

Instructions on how to make a bomb...a list of every U.S. spy in the Euro-Asian theater...Someone with access to classified information is posting it on the Internet-and it's costing lives. Net Force Commander Alex Michaels is in the hot seat. Now, before a hostile Senate committee, he must justify the very existence of the Net Force.

Meanwhile, a virus is unleashed that throws the federal financial systems into chaos. And the Net Force operatives must hunt the wily hacker through the twists and turns of cyberspace-down a path that leads them dangerously close to home...

Publishers Weekly

Clancy's newest collaboration takes us to 2010, when the virtual Web looks like a stock-car race and gadgets and gizmos abound. Net Force, a computer security agency created by Congress, patrols the technological etherworld and those who hook into it. When the agency's director is assassinated, Deputy Director Alex Michaels suddenly finds himself in command. Diverted by the Chechen mastermind in Russia, Michaels and his forces are soon battling the New Mafia and an Irish assassin named "The Selkie." Out in the field, the Special Forces carry advanced armor and weapons systems while joshing around in cartoonlike jargon. The computer jocks drive their virtual Vipers to investigate "roadblocks" and "pileups." The equipment is interesting, but the action doesn't bear up under the ponderous exposition and flatter-than-a-floppy-disk characters. (Feb.) FYI: Net Force is soon to be an ABC mini-series.

About the Author, Tom Clancy

Known for originating the techno-thriller genre, Tom Clancy writes complex novels dense with hardware and international intrigue. Perhaps the strongest indication of his power as a writer is the fact that he is often treated by the media like a character in one of his books, asked for opinions about military readiness and the subject of rumors about being debriefed by the Pentagon. Not bad for a former salesman who was rejected for service because of bad eyesight.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

VOYA - Donna Scanlon

Based on the Net Force mini-series and set sometime in the next century, these books are about the Net Force Explorers, a group of computer-savvy teenagers specially trained to help investigate on-line crime. The idea is that teenagers often know more about technology and can sometimes access places on the Internet where adults might look suspicious; virtual reality is now commonplace, and monitors and keyboards a thing of the past. In Virtual Vandals, Matt Hunter is sent to investigate a group of teen vandals suspected of disrupting virtual reality sites, while in The Deadliest Game, Megan O'Malley and Leif Anderson look for a player bent on sabotage in a complex virtual reality game. The reader is treated to a number of descriptions of virtual reality experiences and flashing around the Internet, but for all of the high tech trappings, this is very much formula fiction, and not a particularly original formula: teenagers recruited and trained for a government agency eventually stumble across something too dangerous for them to handle alone, and when they are told to back off, they persist anyway. Naturally, they do not say anything to anyone who could be at all useful and end up in the middle of a dangerous confrontation. At the end, after being plucked from the jaws of death, they get a stern (but slightly approving) lecture from their supervisor. It is hard to imagine teens beyond junior high taking an interest in this series. True, the series is mind candy, but the writing is a bit stilted and while obviously targeted at teens, the content underestimates them. Characterization is weak; one gets little information about the characters apart from their appearance and a few character quirks. The dialogue seems clichéd as well, and the plots are predictable. Although Clancy's name appears on the cover of the book, nothing says for certain that he is the actual co-author; whether he is or not, Clancy fans who reach for this series will probably be disappointed. You may wish instead to put your time and money toward scouting out good thrillers for your collection rather than these tepid wannabes. Note: This review was written and published to address The Deadliest Game and Virtual Vandals. VOYA Codes: 2Q 2P J (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9).