Mike Maden. Tom Clancy: Enemy Contact. Putnam, 2019.

Enemy Contact continues the tale of the Iron Syndicate, the international crime organization introduced in Line of Sight. There are really two plots in the story, and unlike many Tom Clancy stories, there is no clear overlap of the plots.

First, there is CHIBI, named after the Chi Bi, the Red Cliffs (or Copper Cliffs), a famous Chinese battle recorded in the tale of the Three Kingdoms. It is possibly the bloodiest battle in the history of the world if we assume certain details about the casualties. CHIBI is the screen name for someone who has virtually unlimited access to international intelligence. CHIBI is trying to sell services to the highest bidder and demonstrates its proof of concept to representatives of governments of Iran, Russia, and China.

It is up to cybersecurity expert Gavin Biery and intelligence chief Mary Pat Foley to nail this one down. They create a very clever scenario in the final act.

Then there is plot #2.

A leading Republican senator surprises U. S. President Jack Ryan by voting against a proposed NATO base in Poland. Senator Dixon dismisses any threat from Russia. Dixon is also considering tossing her hat into the ring for the presidency to succeed Ryan when his term expires.

Dixon’s husband and stepson operate an international financial business, and a number of people think her vote may have to do with their affairs. Financial analyst (and trained intelligence operative) Jack Ryan, Jr., is dispatched to Poland to find out what gives.

A Polish agent named Lilliana accompanies him and acts a translator. Ryan thinks this will be a break from spycraft and violence. He figures that it will be a time of interviewing bankers and reading spreadsheets. But this is Jack Ryan, Jr., in a Tom Clancy world—it does not take long for the action to start. Without going into too much detail, the Iron Syndicate does have its hand in things.

Enemy Contact takes us all over the world: Poland, China, Angola, Syria, Peru, Czechia, Libya, Afghanistan, and I am sure I left a few places out. It is typical Clancy fun with cogent observations about law, politics, and human nature.

This reviewer did have one quibble. Remember the T.V. show 24? There was an article in USA Today back when that show was popular that claimed that no one could survive the different injuries that Jack Bauer suffered in a twenty-four-hour period. I confess I was beginning to feel that way about Jack Ryan, Jr., this time. He gets roughed up a lot in this one. I had to willingly suspend a certain amount of disbelief to imagine him surviving as well as he did. Still, Enemy Contact is another exciting novel worth taking a look at.