Op-Center 08 (Tom Clancy's Op-Center) - Line of Control

A terrorist attack in Seoul raises tensions on Korean peninsula with war looking likely, but a new federal crisis management team is task to figure out who and why before things escalate too far. Op-Center through bearing the name of Tom Clancy, who along with Steve Pieczenik created the story, was ghostwritten by Jeff Rovin about a government agency tasked with handling both domestic and international crisis.

Renegade South Korean soldiers attack an official celebration of the founding of the country implicating the North Koreans. Op-Center director Paul Hood suddenly finds himself appointed head of Task Force by a President looking for a big foreign affairs accomplishment; however evidence and a cyberattack complicate Hood giving the President a clear go ahead to launch a war. On the peninsula, a former Ambassador to the country and his friend in the KCIA take their own individual routes to lessen the growing tensions between the two sides. But the renegade squad is racing towards their next attacks—the North Korean barracks at the DMZ and Tokyo—and the only thing that can stop them is Op-Center’s paramilitary response team, Striker with Hood’s deputy General Mike Rodger along for the action.

Set roughly around the time of book’s publication a little over 20 years ago, the plot reads almost like alternate history today but still holds up fairly well. While the primary plot is very good, the subplots connected with different characters were more of a problem. Hood is torn between crisis in Korea and with this son’s health that makes him look sympathetic while his wife appears too needy given that she knew something like this could happen, Rodgers appears to be in a mid-life crisis wanting to get back to his glory days instead of being at his post, and many of the female Op-Center personal are painted broadly with a brush in various stereotypes that back when I first read the book as a teenager didn’t pop out at me but certainly did now.

While the characterization of many of the principal characters is bland, the plot and the action are very well written making this a quick and fun read for the most part. While at the time Rovin wasn’t given his due as the book’s author, he did a good job in setting up a series that would eventually reach 12. While Op-Center is not the greatest book within the action and thriller genres but those that like those genres will find it a good read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZikvWB48LCQ
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It has many usage including, “Cash4Books.net”
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Good read and peace!!
- Ricky

If you like thrilling adventures, "Op-Center" is the book for you. It is an exciting, realistic adventure. Paul Hood is the director of Op-Center, Americas crisis management team. However, nothing can prepare him for what is about to happen. A huge explosion in South Korea kills many world leaders and threatens to start World War 3. Paul Hood and his team must find the terrorists before more disaster strikes. Soon they discover a large amount of poison gas has been stolen and the terrorist group is about to wreak havoc again. America sends out a team, and the chase is on. When Paul and his team catch up with the terrorists they are threatening to strike with missiles. Can they be stopped at the last minute? "Op-Center is action packed and exciting to the last page. The characters in this book were great. All were described in great detail and I could picture the look on everyones face. "The normaly passive cherubic face of Matt Stoll was pale as an unripe peach, with Kewpie doll smears of red on his cheeks." It seemed that the people were real because every aspect of their lives were explained. Despite great characters and a great story, at times the book was hard to follow. Each chapter switched settings. The book was told from many different places and it had to be moved around. this made it hard to understand exactly what was going on at different places. Once I got familiar with the times and places, it was easy to understand, however. It also switched to different time zones so it made it hard to understand how quickly things were happening. Tom Clancy did a great job writing this book. He made it a real exciting thriller. if You like war game types of books, you will love this one.

An average attempt at transforming the superb OP-Center TV movie to literature(not). Much of the plot is a passable rehash of Larry Bond`s excellent Red Phoenix, although the Japanese targeting of the Nodong Scuds and the politics surrounding it was a good twist. But did we really have to put up with the snivelling Gregory Donald character who spent the entire novel wallowing in self pity over his wife blown up in the Seoul bombing at the start(another plagarism - Red Phoenix began with a Seoul massacre!) - he should have been written out at the start. Save the pulp romances for dumb housewives! Other than that, and the goof - a Stealth fighter, the F117 cannot take off from an aircraft carrier(get a life!), and the secondhand plot, this is a passable first effort. Games of State is far superior. This one`s good for a plane or beach read to pass the time, but nowhere near as excellent as Tom Clancy`s real long novels.

Tom Clancy's book Op Center is a wonderful display of how a book should be written. My father was the reason I read this book in th efirst place. It had so much description about the many characters Clancy involved in his book. A person may feel that they Know one of them just by what type of personality the author gives them. This book is written so well because the reader may be able to relate to someone in the book. I also liked how Clancy took the reader behind the scenes of the whole Intelligence world. What really grabbed my attention was how the special forces members were sent in to blow the missles up. If you did not already know I just a hunger for books that are filled with action and always having something going on. This book by far had all of those things and then some. Another thing I love is that the book was actually real, and could happen. I recommend this book to anyone, and if I ever have the chance to read it again I will.

This book was an excellent thriller by Tom Clancy. It is in the series Op-Center and if you have read any of these you know that they are very good books. It is about the border between India and Pakistan called teh Line of Control, and when Pakistan begins building nuclear missile silos turmoil begins to build up between the nations. The U.S. Striker team (a division of Op-Center) is called to paradrop into the Himalayas in search for these silos but when India and Pakistan learn about American involvement they quickly deploy their armys. Soon the American team find themselves trapped in an all out battle for survival stuck between these two armys. The finish to this book is amazing, so to find out what happens to the Striker team read Tom Clancy's: Line of Control.

Let me start by stating what has already been said - this book was not written by Tom Clancy. For starters, most Clancy novels require the reader's utmost attention. In the case of this book, I was able to read it while watching The Mexican in my hotel room on a rainy day at the beach. The problem is not so much with the plot, but with the fact that much of the first few chapters has been blatantly cut-and-pasted from the previous Op-Center book, "Divide and Conquer". It is also written extremely poorly. As a matter of fact, the book begins by talking about "Hood", but you don't get "Hood's" first name until a few chapters later. I'm not a grammar freak but things like that stick out. It seems as if in the cut-and-paste job they were running, they left out a few paragraphs that were essential to the development of "Hood's" character. Op-Center was once a good series. Now it seems quite obvious that they are simply being written to fit a contractual obligation. However, being the media monkey I am, I will continue to buy them. Also, if you are in the mood for something political but a little more dumbed down than Clancy, I recommend any of the first five books in this series, or any from the NetForce series. Otherwise, don't buy this book unless you are a fan of the series or simply don't want to miss any plot developments.

Total Disneyland. For all Clancy's vaunted skill with technical derringdo, this doggo title can't even get right even such relatively simple details as Korean surnames or common greetings in that language. The breathless computer chicanery is very funny, although apparently not by design. The characters are far more cardboard than usual; the plot has twists and turns, almost none believeable; and the book has a high mawkishness quotient. Perhaps Clancy has an infinite number of monkeys under contract to produce this series of clinkers, but it's about as real-world as Robert Ludlum (and only slightly better written than those eminent pieces of hackwork).

Clancy is a reliable 4-5 ? (all those symbols and the only star is a religious one?). I realize it was set in Korea but did most of the characters have to be named Kim? I've read a lot of books set in America but never one with six "Bill"s. Easy read and kept my attention.

This story starts out with a bombing overseas and the governemnt secret agency that is chosen to take care of this attack. The op-center is a where a group of highly intelligent people gather information using satellites and spies from all over the world. This book reminds me of spy movies such as James Bond or even of books like "Rainbow Six" also written by Tom Clancy. Mr. Clancy does a great job of showing the reader exactly what is going on because of the way he uses his words. In the story he talks about an operative who notices spies stopping into this same place but in different disquises. He then talks about how the operative notices the same chronic bad breath. The kind you can smell from across the room. That line right there told me a whole lot about this spy. It also showed that this spy was not doing everything possible to change his disquise. He also talks about the atmosphere of the bar where the operative works and comments on the stale air as well as the continous backround noise that is going on. This really lets the reader get into the story and experience exactly what the character is experiencing. The vietnam setting just mad the story have a whole different twist. Clancy talked about the DMZ(Demiliteized zone) and how it was so small and lined with guards on either side. He also lets the reader see exactly howprotected this zone is by saying "Reagan was the first person ever to cross through the DMZ and live" This gives a certain mystique to this zone. While I enjoyed this book very much I think there was a little too much hi-tech talk in this book about computer programs and hardware like that. Even though I could understand what was being talke about I don't think that someone without a background in computers could figue out all that was being talked about. I you are someone who is into hi-tech espionage I owuld definately recommend this book for you.

The first problem is the story itself. The plot is simple, linear, very lacking in credibility and has a few major holes. (I will elaborate later, not to spoil).

There is a very long, uninteresting, and frankly juvenile sequence of events at the Kashmir border, spanning about the second half of the book. There is no thrill, and a lot of Washington-Kashmir Chit-chat that goes nowhere fast- "thank you, your'e welcome, good luck, whatever."

The second problem is how this book is marketed- bordering on fraud. It says on the cover- Tom Clancy's op-center, line of control, "created" by Tom Clancy. Only at the bottom it is revealed in small letters that the actual writer is a one Jeff Rovin.

If this is so, Shouldn't the writer be credited as the "Creator"?

And what in the devil is a "New York Times #1 best-selling phenomenon"? Since when are phenomena being sold? This statement is nonsense- Again, clever and cynical marketing, taking advantage of readers.

The major holes I found in the plot- Why bother trekking across the glacier for hours on hours just to make an audio recording of Nanda's confession?! Why not just use the communication devices? Why does anyone on CNN or India care about this anonymous woman's confession? It is unlikely that a nuclear war would start over a few terror acts (A sadly regular event in that area of the world. And if so- why hasn't it started yet? Also much of the Indian's actions have little sense.

In conclusion- If you like this genre, I can only suggest a different book.

Upon reading Tom Clancy's Op-Center, I found myself completely satisfied. This is quite a strange occurrence provided that I've never been a fan of ANY book. However, Op-Center has the perfect elements of a very good book. It's no wonder that it won the prize for #1 New York Times Bestseller. But why is Op-Center such a good book? Upon reading this book, you realize that the book itself is no better a story than any other; however, it is the method of approach that Clancy uses towards the readers that catches the attention. People who read many novels probably know by now that most of them have monotonous story-lines that over-exaggerate a universal theme presented throughout the book. However, Clancy stays away from this approach. Instead of a constant building up which leads to the conclusion, Clancy lets the reader drop away at certain points. It is almost as though he deliberately makes the reader lose attention. Then, as the reader begins to feel as though they are losing the story, Clancy steps in and starts rebuilding the conflict. This let's the reader decide what he `missed', and makes the story more interesting. This overall "phenomenon" can be related to a roller-coaster. First, imagine a roller-coaster that consists of one huge, long drop. Sure, it's fun at first; but soon, it would get boring... no turns, no breaks in action, nothing. It's easy to create a roller-coaster of that type, and that type of roller-coaster can be used to symbolize all those simple novels out there. But there is a reason why good roller-coasters are so much better than others. Sure, there is the fact that they are fast, but the more important reason is that they have variation. Good roller-coasters vary in action. They may start with a steep drop, then go to a huge loop, then go for a wild corkscrew, etc. In summary, contrary to popular belief, straight-forward, nonstop action is gets quite boring after some time, and variation is the key to reviving this. Is this, then, the only reason why Op-Center is such a good book? Of course not. Clancy also utilizes the ability to keep knowledge levels neutral. Often times, one may read books in which the author obviously knows nothing about his topic. He may use terms incorrectly, or use wrong terms in the first place. One way or another, this destroys the book's whole meaning. Then there are those authors who know a little too much about the topic. He may bombard the reader with too many strange new terms and uses of words. This also kills the meaning of the book, since readers won't understand to begin with. However, in Op-Center, Clancy demonstrates a good understand of the material set forth, and yet provides easy understanding for the reader. Op-Center is filled with a lot of `high-tech' words, but they are set forth in a way that the reader still understands them. Clancy is obviously not mumbling a bunch of gibberish, and if he is... he's very good at it. Through these major reasons, and other little tidbits, Tom Clancy creates the masterpiece known Op-Center. The end product is an easy-to-read, interest catching book that is suitable for most mature people. The involvement of real-world ideas also adds some realism to Clancy's novel, making it one that is a sure must-buy and must-read.

~I wonder how much of this book Clancy actually wrote. Is he just trying to make money? The plot drags on predictably and the cheesy a la ST:TNG sub-plots don Clancy is capable of. Clancy(?) usually writes much better than he does in this book and I feel embarrassed to call myself a Clancy fan after reading it. Bottom line: Stick to real Clancy novels. P.S.: the store, you should give reviewers the option of choosing zero stars.

Although Tom Clancy is no longer the author this is written in the Tom Clancy style and with the Campus list of characters. A very good read if you have enjoyed the entire Jack Ryan series, you will enjoy this one also.

Not every author can grab your attention from the first sentence and some take several pages to do it. Although I was only partially interested in the book from the beginning (this being my first of this genre), I gave it a chance and soon found the book to be quite intriguing. Clancy's style seems to be to create several plots and switch between them throughout the novel. I gave the book four stars because it had a great plot and okay description but some of the occurences were not plausible. For example, the Striker team included Privates and sergeants but it would be more likely that this type of team would contain professionals. Moreover, 25 is too young for a Lieutenant Colonel in my opinion. However, the book wasn't too taxing upon a reader's belief. All in all, I think this is a good book and I recommend it.

Not every author can grab your attention from the first sentence and some take several pages to do it. Although I was only partially interested in the book from the beginning (this being my first of this genre), I gave it a chance and soon found the book to be quite intriguing. Clancy's style seems to be to create several plots and switch between them throughout the novel. I gave the book four stars because it had a great plot and okay description but some of the occurences were not plausible. For example, the Striker team included Privates and sergeants but it would be more likely that this type of team would contain professionals. Moreover, 25 is too young for a Lieutenant Colonel in my opinion. However, the book wasn't too taxing upon a reader's belief. All in all, I think this is a good book and I recommend it.

This was a good book with some intrigue and suspense. It starts off slow but gains momentum, and the the last 50 pages or so are fairly suspenseful. If you're looking for something fun to read that's not too heavy, this is a good book. One downside is that some of the technology that would seem so fascinating when the book was written is fairly mundane now.

Tom Clancy is clearly overreaching in this incoherent and rambling book set in Kashmir. The sheer implausibility of the plot and the lack of understanding about the basic ground reality of Kashmir unfortunately touch upon a number of distressing issues. The complexity of ethnic and religious issues in Kashmir taken in conjunction with South Asia's emerging prominence in issues of global security and commerce could have provided Mr. Clancy with enough material which he could have exploited. Regrettably the book oversimplifies most of this rich historical and contemporary framework. Post the cold war; Mr. Clancy is clearly out of his comfort zone. The book fails on many other yardsticks as well. Mr. Clancy's forte in his different books had been his ability to focus on the minutiae of different aspects of the military. Here he gets basics wrong. Most of the equipment and hardware of the Indian Air Force, unit designations, and procedures seem erroneous. Most importantly the book very simply put is not a good read.

I enjoyed this latest of the Op-Center series. The India/Pakiston conflict is one of the hottest international topics right now. I couldn't put the book down. The details are more than enough for the average reader (so I'm not a military general). I think the continuing development of the characters throughout the Op-Center series, combined with a new and exciting international twist, is what makes the books so enjoyable. It was good to reconnect with old friends for a new adventure. Then ending was a little ambiguous as to the future. I hope we continue to see our comrades in action in future Op-Center books.

Despite being the 8th Op-Center, "Line of Control" lives up to the high standards the previous novels set. The book's focus is a terrorist plot in the Kashmir/Jammu region of the Indian Sub-Continent that may lead to nuclear brinkmanship. The story line will take you through twists and turns and leave you wanting more. The characters are are deep, interesting and leave you feeling as if you know them. An excellent of a military action/adventure novel.

WARNING: If you have not finished the previous seven Op-Centers, reading this book out of order will make the plot arbitrary.

The book's surprises are comparable to that of the plot of Fox's "24." Just make sure you read the Op-Center series in order!

I bought this book before heading out on an airline flight, and found I could not read more than half of it before skipping to the end. Absolutely terrible writing, lacking focus or direction. I'm at a loss as to where all these 5-star reviews came from, surely these are not Tom Clancy's regular readers. Clancy can write, the licensed "author" of this book cannot. As another reviewer said, it unfolded like a contract being filled out. This book alone has ensured I will avoid any "created by" series by Tom Clancy, how could he let this one out of the barn door? A big disappointment.

Op-Center proved itself in almost every way possible, showing the great literary skill Tom Clancy possesses. In this action packed novel Clancy manages to show multiple story lines and keep the reader interested in them all. There were a few holes in the plot but nothing that could hurt a Clancy book. A bombing in North/South Korea has Op-Center proving it's self to the president as they attempt to prevent World War III. Terrorism may be played out in the Clancy collection but I enjoyed the storyline and found the book entertaining to the end. I found the ending to be surprising and sufficient to the story itself.

Line of Control is wonderful military novel with many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing what will happen next. Rovin illustrated wonderfully the conflict that would arise between two enemies who were forced to work together for the greater good.
However, I do feel that the author does digress from the story a little too often. He sites previous books in the series more then is necessary for the storyline and over-explains military terms.
But other then that I would suggest this novel to anyone who enjoys military or intellgence novels.

If you've avoided buying this because you've been burnt in the past by Clancy and his cowriters, then give this a try. I have read every one in the Op Center series and find them to be excellent. You won't be disappointed with this selection. Try them all!

Just not that great. The military accuracy that normally sets Clancy apart (whether the book was actually written by somebody else or not) just isn't there. The plot was good enough that I finished the book, but I wouldn't recommend this one to anybody.

The solitary negative review below is correct in pointing out two errors, one of which is probably a typo. But that would be missing the point.
This book, like the others in the series, is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global military stand-offs all over the world.
Its well-paced action is a real page-turner for me.
And Mike Rodgers fans will be happy to see Paul Hood sidelined by personal distractions: just skip those pages.

Ignore the rants and ravings of the Indian reviewers, get this book for what it is, a damn good read. Wakes you up to the fact that there are other fundamentalists in the world who are even more crazier than the Islamic ones we are told about in the press. If Rovin started using real unit numbers and facts you'd think the book was based on real-life events. The scenarios are totally plausible... just when you thought the OP-Center series was getting stale, up pops a corker !!. Excellent..