Marc Cameron. Tom Clancy: Code of Honor. Putnam, 2019.

Tom Clancy passed away six years ago, but his estate keeps producing about two novels a year, most of them enjoyable tales continuing the Jack Ryan mythos. Code of Honor most closely resembles something Clancy himself might have written.

Marc Cameron may have picked up on the Clancy style, though all the new writers have done all right on that account, but Code of Honor actually focuses on Jack Ryan, the main character in most of Clancy’s own novels.

The title is actually a play on the word code. Yes, part of the story is that President Ryan has to act honorably and respectfully in dealing with a Muslim ally and head of state. But code also refers to a new computer algorithm—an artificial intelligence (AI) program devised by two gamers. The original purpose was to develop code to create a real decision-making personalities for characters in multiplayer games that do not have a human acting behind them. This independently acting AI could act as a virus or a spy under the right circumstances.

Father Pat West, an old friend of President Ryan’s, has been working for a Catholic charity in Indonesia. Two computer programmers have secretly sold that AI code to a gaming company in Indonesia. The Chinese have gotten wind of the program’s features and have tried to steal it by fingering one of the two American programmers to Indonesian authorities. They take care of the other programmer directly.

Noonan, the programmer remaining in Indonesia, realizes what is happening and seeks out Father West for confession. Noonan is arrested for smuggling and Fr. West is arrested as well. When it is clear that Fr. West knows little or nothing about the computer code, Indonesian authorities charge him with blasphemy.

Retired Navy Admiral Peter Li, now residing in a Chicago suburb, staves off a home invasion by Chinese agents. It seems they have gotten wind of a new weapons program which the AI code may work with. Li is an old friend of John Clark—readers of Clancy novels need no introduction to this master undercover worker—so Clark and some others from Hendley Associates (a.k.a. the Campus) get involved.

Oh, yes, the Chinese have tried honey traps on a few different Americans to try to get information on these activities. They were able to co-opt Noonan and an American Senator. They tried with a couple of fighter pilots and Admiral Li with a little less success. After that, they decided to go after him directly.

Like some of the earlier Clancy plots such as The Bear and the Dragon, the reader gets to see some high level political intrigue in China. A computer-savvy General Bai seems to have the ear of the Premier, but other generals fear what is happening as a result. Without going into too much detail, the facial recognition software which China is famous for using to spy on its own citizens can also be used to work against Chinese spies. Since it appears that the goal of all Communist governments is to learn everything about everyone, what if personnel files are compromised and foreign powers learn everything about certain Chinese citizens?

Code of Honor has lots of action, cool technology, and some clever ironic twists. President Ryan has to make some tough decisions. Will the American Senator who has a visceral hatred for him do him in with the help of foreign agents? How can he help Fr. West without the President of Indonesia losing face? Is it possible for anyone to corral the AI program? Are we reaching the point where, to borrow from a nineties book title, machines that think become machines who think? Great stuff!