I enjoyed this book quite a bit, if only because it features John Kelly (John Clark) as a very different type of protagonist. As I was reading it, I got the feeling that the author was getting tired of Ryan's "Goody-good" temperament and wanted to explore a darker, more nuanced hero in John Clark. While still part of the Jack Ryan Universe, the setting is in the 1960's and 70's when Ryan would be a teenager. The book follows two separate plot lines, tied together by the main character who faces similar challenges in both. At home in Baltimore, Maryland, Kelly takes on the illegal drug trade on a very personal level before traveling to Vietnam to undertake a covert operation to rescue a US POW.