Balance of Power (Tom Clancy's Op-Centre) - Softcover

Tom Clancy; Steve Pieczenik

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006510876 ISBN 13: 9780006510871

Publisher: Bra Bocker, 1998

Synopsis

The fifth volume in the fast-selling series of high-tech, high-action thrillers created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. Tom Clancy's Op-Centre, the series of international thrillers centred on the National Crisis Management Centre in Washington, is now firmly established as a bestselling phenomenon - a must for technothriller fans around the world. The previous volume in the series, Acts of War, was one of the fastest-selling thrillers of 1997. Now that remarkable record is set to continue, with a spectacular new story - Balance of Power. Spain is a nation poised to suffer its worst internal strife in a thousand years. Certain well-placed Spanish diplomats sense it. Op-Centre's intelligence corroborates it. All the United States and Spain have to do is find a way to avert it. Before they can, an Op-Centre representative is assassinated in Madrid on her way to a top-secret diplomatic meeting. Now all fears are confirmed. Someone very powerful wants another Spanish civil war - no matter what the cost.

About this title

Review

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

From the Inside Flap

4 cassettes / 4 hours
Read by Jay O. Sanders

"Clancy knows how to build a thriller." - Boston Globe

Spain is a nation poised to suffer its worst internal strife in a thousand years.  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 diplomatic meeting.  Now all fears are confirmed.  Someone very powerful wants another Spanish civil war -- no matter what the cost.

A powerful profile of America's defense, intelligence, and crisis management technology, Tom Clancy's Op-Center is the creation of Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik - inspiring this and other gripping novels.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bra Bocker
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0006510876
• ISBN 13: 9780006510871
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464