Author: Tom Clancy

Title: Against All Enemies

Publisher: Putnam

If it's possibly for a 756-page novel to be efficient, that novel is Against All Enemies, Tom Clancy's latest.

Racing from one corner of the globe to another, populated with vivid characters, and featuring a new protagonist who almost equals Jack Ryan, Enemies is a thrilling, and surprisingly chilling read, painting a compelling "what-if" scenario about the feasibility of a major terrorist attack through America's leaky borders.

Clancy hasn't written a new novel solo since 2003's The Teeth of the Tiger - a Jack Ryan book, like Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and others which have made Clancy rich and famous - and this one is co-written with author and screenwriter Peter Telep.

So, except for the ambiguity over who wrote what parts of this book, one can rest assured that Enemies feels every bit like the Clancy of old. If it's not vintage Tom Clancy, it's pretty darn close.

In Enemies, Clancy whips up two timely sub-plots and sets them in motion on a collision course, placing ex-Navy Seal Maxwell Moore in the middle of both. Moore is a combat machine, honed to a fine point by the finest military training.

He's also fraught with grief, burdened by years of watching his comrades gunned down or double-crossed, a classic case of survivor's guilt. In the novel's opening, Moore is leading a team to a rendezvous to an Indus River prisoner exchange when something goes wrong and Moore's team is wiped out.

This passage is pulse-pounding, but also a solid reminder of Clancy's passion for naval details. The jargon, specifications, and ship anatomy are all recreated with loving detail.

Following this disaster, Moore returns to the States to accept a position on a joint task force investigating the escalating activities of a pair of Mexican drug cartels.

Intelligence has led the CIA to suspect the cartels are seeking to form an alliance with several Islamic extremists from Afghanistan. The common denominator is the drugs, and of course, the weapons. 

It sounds like a far-fetched, worst-case scenario cooked up by a desperate novelist, but Clancy is careful to get the motivations right. Both groups are passionate, ruthless, and need money to fund operations.

So they get together. Besides Moore, the novel tracks nearly half a dozen key characters, most notably Jorge Rojas, leader of the Juarez drug cartel, his son Miguel, terrorist Abdul Samad, Dante Corrales, a high-ranking official in the Juarez cartel, along with other cartel soldiers, terrorists, or members of Moore's task force.

In his typical fashion, Clancy introduces each character by providing a tidy amount of exposition, a shorthand rendition of biographical details, physical description, and character motivations. It's neatly done, so we get enough to hang onto while we're with a character and remember until the next time we meet them.

As the plot winds its way to the climax, its scope narrows gradually and the tension builds. Moore is tasked with tracking the Juarez cartel, getting enough intel on Rojas to link him to its illegal activities.

He loses men along the way, but never stops his pursuit of the big dog. Three-quarters of the way through, it becomes clear that taking down the Juarez cartel isn't the novel's big finish; something more significant is. We gasp at the moment of realization, then can't stop reading until the final pages.

Enemies has a sensationally-paced plot, but surprisingly, the strength of the novel is in its characters. Rojas the drug kingpin is sympathetic, and even Samad the ruthless terrorist who wishes destruction on the United States is given depth.

Nothing about Enemies drags or feels long in the tooth. Credit Clancy for identifying a timely issue and concocting a unique take on it. It's a summer read with bite, and a return to form from one of the genre's biggest names.

*This article first published 6/28/2011