Can Hood Save His Daughter in Tom Clancy’s State of Siege?

A group of terrorists breaks into a U.N. building. They hold everyone hostage, and Paul Hood happens to be there with his family for an event at which his daughter. Although he resigned from the Op-Center, Hood’s daughter is one of the hostages, and her life is at stake.

Hood turns to his former colleagues at the Op-Center to help save her. Since he is no longer the Op-Center’s head, he has to stay on the sidelines as events unfold—until people start dying and he begins to take action.

It turns out that some of the terrorists are ex-U.N. soldiers who decided to take a group of diplomats, children, and others hostage with the hope of getting a considerable sum of money as ransom.

Agents, Terrorists, and Family

Clancy’s books have great characterization; each character has a well-researched and thought-out back story, and the author developed their personalities well.

This novel has a huge cast, and it races from person to person. The narrative explains what’s going on in the story while also talking about the characters and their lives. It delves into the CIA agent who is in cahoots with the terrorists, and on the opposite end, angry Cambodians who are trying to terminate them.

The U.N. Secretary-General also features in the story, and of course, Paul Hood and his family are the book’s stars. Hood’s family is involved with the crisis this time, so a lot of focus is placed on them. The book makes it clear that he is significantly more successful at work-life than home life. His wife is not painted in a great light, but some readers may wonder if her behavior is justified considering Hood was married to his work.

Electric Pace, Lots of Suspense

As the story develops, readers get an insight into the United States intelligence, defense, and crisis management teams. The narrative here is convincing and fires up the imagination.

What makes this book more suspenseful is that, like so many other Clancy novels, it touches on the real world, making the reader experience a lot of “what if’s” from the start to the end. The plot holds tight, Hood is well characterized, and his mixed feelings about his work and personal life are made clear.

The descriptions of the inner workings of the U.N. make realistic sense, which is not surprising. As always, Tom Clancy’s novels are exceptionally well-researched. Even though a lot is going on, the action sequences and the dynamics between the characters are well-written. Everything is clearly portrayed from different points of view (even from the terrorists), which slows it down considerably but in a good way.

This Op-Center book is a bit different from the others in characterization, with the author conveying the terrorists’ perspective as much as the other characters and really exploring the circumstances that lead up to the critical events.