Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy

After a lapse of nearly ten years, Tom Clancy has returned to the best-seller list with his new thriller "Dead or Alive"

Former indomidable C.I.A. agent and ex-president Jack Ryan is now retired and writing his memoirs. His successor, a career politician, is more interested in image than reality, and has many veterans of the war on terror nervous about the safety of the U.S.

A terrorist leader known only as the "Emir" is planning horrendous acts against the free world, but has managed to remain hidden from the security agencies sent to hunt him down. Several anti-terror departments. some under the radar of government supervision, have put his capture on high priority - dead or alive.

Jack Ryan Jr, son of the former president of the U.S., is employed by a firm of financial security traders, which actually is a front for a group known as "The Campus". The employees of "The Campus" are trained to uncover and take out known terrorist activists, a fact unknown to Jack Jr's parents. Jack and his cohorts aggresively take on the dangerous task of tracking and eliminating "the Emir"

This novel stays true to the Clancy style, with courageous and loyal men putting their lives on the line to keep their country safe from evil intentions. With its nearly 1000 pages there is plenty of action, seen both from the eyes of Muslim terrorists and those who aim to stop their deadly plans. While not of the "can't put it down" intensity it is nevertheless a well polished tale of modern national security and those diligent operatives who manage to keep the world a peaceful place.