Tom Clancy's Op-Center: Into the Fire: A Novel

Into the Fire follows the tried and true Tom Clancy formula of the U.S. on the brink of a catastrophic war, this time with North Korea. All that stands between the prospective combatants is a small group of plucky Americans aided by the technological might of the American armory. The book has the technological edge of the U.S. military allowing the crew of a small naval vessel to avoid becoming POW's of the North Koreans, to be used as bargaining chips by the Hermit Kingdom to bolster its claims to a disputed area of sea floor which happens to be rich in natural gas which is desperately needed by the Chinese to fuel their economy. While the book follows the familliar Clancy formula, it doesn't let that formula get in the way of a good techno-thriller. The plot is highly believable, particularly given the actual state of relations between the 2 Koreas and their principal allies over this very issue, the right to claim resource rich areas of the sea floor. The book also has the patented Clancy ability to introduce technical information about the tools available to the respective adversaries in a way that merges with the plot and doesn't leave the reader bored or confused. Obviously, the Op-Center books are intended to be a series, and the authors are still introducing some of the key players for anticipated larger roles in the future. As long as they don't tinker too much with the successful Clancy formula, I expect the follo-ups to be entertaining reading, just like Into the Fire.

I was a bit torn about my review for this new book in the Op-Center series. I loved the series and wanted this to put a fresh new look on the series and bring back a well tested set of books.SO, let's start with this, I started reading and quite frankly couldn't put it down. When I read my first Tom Clancy book I had that experience, I started reading and couldn't stop. That happened here as well. It's Dick Couch who is writing, but he caught my attention and interest and I kept reading and reading and reading until I was done. Now I want some more.NOW, why it was not what I expected. It didn't seem to me that the OP-Center was the main character of the novel. Yes, they are still the best set of intelligence gathering people and they have some good technical and military people involved, BUT, the story revolved more around Captain Kate Bigelow and the USS Milwaukee. This Naval Vessel is not a war time fighting vessel, it is a mine sweeper that carries little to no defensive weapons. But as the Milwaukee joins with the Defender (another U.S. minesweeper) and a South Korean flotilla they are approached by North Korean Naval Vessels that are wanting to capture and take prisoner all the naval personnel on the Milwaukee just like the USS Pueblo from the last century.But Captain Kate Bigelow is a great leader and she takes her no weapon vessel and uses it as a way to hold off the two Korean Vessels and allowing the flotilla to escape. But she will loose her ship and some of her crew and come close to having everyone captured.OP-Center is the group that analyzes the situation and provides the U.S. President with a way to intervene and get the crew back. But this could lead to all out war.The book is compelling with today's political and military situations with North Korea. They are a menace to the world and need to be contained and in a sense reprimanded much as a stubborn child should be.Dick Couch gets the situation right and does a great job of bringing the situation to a climax that you will find impressive and well written.I'm happy with this new edition to OP-Center, but must say that it is not like our old OP-Center but still worth the read.I'll look forward to Dick Couch's next book

I liked the book, perhaps for the very reason that some won't: the authors demonstrate a solid knowledge about the U.S. military and include details that may go over the heads of some readers. For me, the details kept me entertained, and there was plenty of action to move the story along. It was really nice to have a strong female leader. I'm glad I bought the book.

Tom Clancy’s INTO THE FIRE is written by Dick Couch and George Galdorisi. The story, part of Clancy’s Op-Center series, is all U.S. Navy with a tiny bit of USAF and Army thrown in. Commander Kate Bigelow, USNA grad, is captain of the minesweeper, USS Milwaukee. What was to be a joint mine-hunting exercise with the South Korean Navy near Inchon Harbor quickly turned into a mini hot war with the rogue nation of North Korea. For reasons not understood by Washington, North Korea dreamed up a plot to capture the Milwaukee and hold its crew hostage. A North Korean attack disables the Milwaukee forcing Bigelow to beach the ship on an uninhabited island. With dead and wounded aboard and under constant bombardment from North Korean shore batteries, Kate Bigelow proves her mettle and her readiness for command. To complicate matters even more, her XO is weak and constantly questions her decisions. Op-Center—reporting directly to President Midkiff—soon takes control of the potentially explosive international situation and introduces a questionable and untested system to rescue the stranded sailors. The writers manage to seamlessly move from one disaster to another keeping the reader constantly on edge and turning pages. Into The Fire is an exciting action packed book that is hard to put down. I give the story a strong 4 ½ stars.

Action packed tale that moves along smartly. Not much wasted words that slows the pace. It's the kind of story you really don't want to put down.There is only one nit. There is one passage where the story related the previous terrorist attack. But the details related don't match the incident that was written in the previous book. Not sure why that is, the authors are the same and you'd think that they would remember what they wrote. And that incident occurred at the end of that book. But in the end, it's really a non issue, as it has no real bearing on this book's storyline.

Tom Clancy did not take the easy way out in this Op Center work. He went into a lot of detail to present a tale that made suspension of disbelief somewhat acceptable.

written for thick Americans

decent read

Pretty good

Excellent.

A good, fictional effort of the US outwitting the bad guys. A bit implausible that the rescue went with barely a hitch, but still a good read. There were so many characters, however, and none of them were imbued with Tom Clancy's ability to make them more engaging and easy to identify with or admire. Jack Ryan and John Clark are a couple of examples and this was missing in the read.