Debt of Honor: A foreshadowing of a national disaster?
Written: Sep 19 '01 (Updated Sep 19 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Fantastic plot based on meticulous research.
Cons: Fantastic plot wears pretty thin.
The Bottom Line: Even with its fantastic plot and subplots, Debt of Honor has a realistic feel to it... that’s why I continue reading and enjoying Clancy's books...
NOTE TO READERS: I am donating all proceeds earned from this review to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund, in support of the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
Like most Americans, I’ve sat for many hours during the past week in front of my television set, transfixed by the news coverage of disaster on our shores. Time and time again, since Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I've watched that relentless tattoo of surreal images cross my TV screen: hijacked passenger jets flying at full speed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center; the twin towers of that magnificent structure collapsing to the ground, one right after the other, with thousands of people inside them; and a new generation of heroes – firefighters and police officers – working round the clock to find survivors of these horrific events.
Events so outrageous, so unbelievable, that it’s almost impossible to imagine them being dreamed up, even by someone with the most fertile imagination in the world. Yet, that’s exactly what happened. You see, seven years ago, a work of American fiction foreshadowed last week's heinous attack on America. The book: Debt of Honor, by Tom Clancy.
As I watched events unfold last week, I kept getting this nagging feeling that this story seemed all too familiar. Where had I heard it before? Was it a movie I had seen? A book I had read?
Then I remembered. Tom Clancy’s 1994 novel, Debt of Honor. At the time of its publication in 1994, it was the latest in the continuing saga of Jack Ryan, that brilliantly conceived fictional Central Intelligence Agency operative in Clancy’s previous novels, The Cardinal of the Kremlin; Patriot Games; The Hunt for Red October; Clear and Present Danger; and The Sum of All Fears.
At the time I read Debt of Honor in 1994, I had read all of Clancy’s previous "Jack Ryan" novels; I had found myself growing tired of them. As each book came off the press, it seemed infinitely longer than its predecessor, filled with more complex (and harder to follow) twists and turns of plot; laced with larger dollops of Clancy’s tiresome personal political philosophy; and filled with plots and subplots that seemed progressively more far-fetched.
When I finished Debt of Honor, I thought Clancy had really out-done himself by creating a plot that was so unrealistic that it bordered on the ludicrous. In his usual highly charged, "grab ‘em by the throat and don’t let ‘em go ‘til the last page" fashion, Clancy took me on quite a journey. In retrospect, it was a journey I should have paid more attention to!
How is it possible that three seemingly separate events – a fatal traffic accident on a Tennessee highway; the sale of a majority shareholder’s shares in a major Wall Street investment firm; and military maneuvers by Russia, China, and India – could first lead to near economic collapse for the United States, and ultimately to war between the United States and Japan? What role does newly appointed National Security Advisor Jack Ryan have to play in the impending conflict between America and Japan? How is his career affected by the myriad of gut-wrenching decisions he is forced to make? How do those critical decisions affect Ryan’s position at the end of the book? And what does all this have to do with the events of September 11, 2001?
Read Debt of Honor to find the answers to all these questions!
The pages of Debt of Honor are crowded with many of the same characters that populated Clancy’s earlier novels. In addition to Jack Ryan, readers can follow the exploits (and, oh by the way, career advancements) of Ryan’s wife, Cathy; his best friend, naval aviator Robby Jackson (drawn from Patriot Games); Navy Captain (now Rear Admiral) Bart Mancuso and Seaman (now a civilian contractor with a Ph.D.) Ron Jones (of Red October fame); intelligence operatives John Clark and "Ding" Chavez, (sprung from the pages of Clear and Present Danger). All great characters, to be sure – brilliantly conceived by a master storyteller.
Debt of Honor is vintage Clancy: lots of interesting "techno-war" stuff, with plenty of conservative political philosophy mixed in, but not much else. Despite being unrealisatic to the point of absurdity, the book's plot is well crafted and actually quite exciting. It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the chain of events that Clancy creates, even though you, the reader, will probably have a pretty fair idea of where the book is headed by the halfway point…
…Or will you?
One of the major reasons for the tremendous popularity of Tom Clancy’s novels over the years has been their almost uncanny ability to foreshadow future events, as well as future trends in military technology and geopolitical thinking. One of Clancy’s greatest strengths as a writer of fiction is the meticulous research he does before ever setting pen to paper (or, in modern parlance, before cranking up the ol’ word processor and "inputting data.") Even with their frequently fantastic plots and subplots, Clancy’s novels always have a realistic feel to them. I suppose that’s why I continue reading and enjoying them, even though their plots are wearing thin and seem to reach further and further into the realm of impossibility. That feeling of realism renders the impossible distinctly possible.
"Spoiler" Alert: Normally I don’t include "spoilers" in my book reviews. I’m making an exception in this case, so if you don’t want to find out what happens at the end of the book, please skip the discussion that follows.
"Rendering the impossible distinctly possible" is exactly what happened with Debt of Honor; for this seemingly incredible plot foreshadowed last week’s terrorist attacks in a truly chilling fashion.
Consider the parallels: A former ally turns into a fanatically bitter foe; the central issue: American foreign policy. Financial market manipulation by this new foe causes a worldwide economic slowdown; a conspiracy between rogue nations and fanatic zealots leads to war with the United States.
At the end of Debt of Honor, the fictional war between the United States and Japan is all but over, with victory assured to the Americans. As a semblance of normalcy settles over a world once again at peace, a Japanese airline pilot with an almost pathological hatred of the United States is at the controls of a hijacked Boeing 747. The fuel-laden jetliner (with no passengers aboard) flies from Japan to Washington, DC… and straight into the US Capitol building, just as a joint session of Congress is being called to order. Attempts by U.S. Air Force fighter pilots to intercept the renegade jetliner are too late. Casualties are horrific… the entire government of the United States – executive, legislative, and judicial branches alike – are nearly wiped out… Life in America seems irreparably damaged as a new President is sworn in…
Last week, life really did tragically imitate art. And, in light of last week’s catastrophic events, the plot of Debt of Honor doesn’t seem quite so far-fetched after all.
Give Tom Clancy his due. He did his homework, drew from his research some pretty sobering conclusions as to what could possibly happen, and concocted a plot that really should have served as a warning to all of us: "America, let’s get our act together… the next time we’re attacked, it will be in the least expected manner. It will involve what our government euphemistically calls ‘asymmetrical warfare.’ And we, as a nation, are not prepared to defend ourselves against what is surely coming."
Because I pooh-poohed Debt of Honor as so much "Clancy fancy," judging it "too outrageous," I dismissed the author’s vitally important message. I suspect a lot of people who read this book did the same.
In hindsight, it’s scary to think of just how accurate a prediction Clancy made in Debt of Honor. What’s even scarier is that he continued sounding the same message in the sequel to this book, entitled Executive Orders. Its premise: biological weapons in the hands of state-sponsored middle eastern terrorists.
Maybe we all should go back and re-read Debt of Honor and Executive Orders. And this time, heed the message contained therein.
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