POINT OF CONTACT
Jack Ryan Jr. Book 3
Mike Maden
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Pub
June 13th, 2017

Tom Clancy’s POINT OF CONTACT by Mike Maden brings back the return of Jack Ryan Jr. He has taken over the writings for the Clancy estate, replacing Grant Blackwood. Maden has put his own imprint on Jack Ryan Jr. by making him a solo main character instead of one of many secondary characters.

Maden noted, “I received a call from my editor, Tom Colgan, of my paperback Drone series who is also the Tom Clancy editor. Although it was a thrilling day it was also the most terrifying day. I was asked to write the summer book and Marc Cameron will write the fall series. Tom is the one conducting the symphony story making sure there are no conflicts between the plots and that the whole series is on a certain guide path.”

He also wants Tom Clancy fans to understand, “I would never think of imitating Clancy who I consider a complete original. I consider him the one who practically invented the genre. I hope to honor his spirit, memory, and imagination by keeping alive the characters and universe. I feel it is a great responsibility to be a part of the tradition in which Clancy emphasizes America is good and the people who serve this country deserve both honor and respect.”

This plot has US Senator Weston Rhodes hiring Hendley Associates to view the books of Dalfan Technologies. It is a Singapore company that will be taken over by a large conglomerate. Hendley Associates is one of the best financial analysis firms in the country and the cover for The Campus, a top-secret American intelligence agency.  Rhodes asks for two specific analysts, Jack Ryan Jr., and Paul Brown, a mild-mannered forensic accountant. The Senator wants someone to crunch the numbers to make sure there are no surprises that will turn up down the road. What starts out as a routine audit soon turns into something far more dangerous when Ryan uncovers a potential sinister motive behind the merger, with the help of Brown. Ryan and Brown race to escape a team of trained assassins to prevent a global catastrophe, even at the cost of their own lives.

Because the rest of the Campus team was basically missing in action, Jack Jr. was completely on his own, needing to use resources and grit. He needs to prove that although there is admiration for his dad, President Jack Ryan Sr., he is his own man. This story shows how Junior goes on a journey, a test to prove he can be self-reliant.

Those who have read Maden in the past know he is immune to political correctness. In this book it is no different. He has a few scenes that involve knife fighting, describing how it “will slice through skin, muscle, tendons, cartilage, and even bone…. Second, the knife extends your reach.” When asked, Maden noted, “I wanted the knife to be the weapon of choice in this book. I put in the quote how it is not the knife or gun that kills, but the person having the weapon. If someone does not have access to a gun they find a knife. If they don’t have access to those they get a van to kill people. So are we going to ban vans next?”

Throughout the book readers realize the clear distinction between the good guys and bad guys. The antagonists are described as “cold-blooded fanatics who butchered innocent civilians. They lost the right to be treated with respect, either in life or in death.” Maden hoped to show “you cannot negotiate with evil. We are in an era where we are waking up to the fact it must be destroyed.”

No stranger to thrillers Maden has previous experience as the writer of the Drone series featuring Troy Pearce. He uses new technology, incorporated it into a plot, which emphasizes how the global economic situation could threaten world peace.