Author Description

Product Description The sixth volume in the fast-selling series of high-tech, high-action thrillers created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik.Tom Clancy's Op-Centre, the series of international thrillers centred on the National Crisis Management Centre in Washington, is now firmly established as a bestselling phenomenon - a must for technothriller fans around the world.The previous volume in the series, Balance of Power, was yet another Sunday Times top-ten bestseller. Now that remarkable record is set to continue, with a spectacular new story - State of Siege.After years of handling some of the world's most dangerous international crises, Paul Hood is about to step down from his position as Director of the Op-Centre - only for the latest crisis to erupt much too close to home.A disgruntled group of ex-members of the UN peackeeping force have banded together and pulled off a series of daring robberies. Now they have devised a plan to make $100,000,000. Armed with nerve gas, they enter the UN building in New York and take ten ambassadors hostage, threatening to kill one every half-hour.The international crisis that ensues is beyond anything that Paul Hood has ever faced before... From Publishers Weekly The Op-Center series, created by Clancy and television producer Pieczenik, contains a large cast of characters that runs the U.S. government's elite crisis management team. This sixth and latest installment twists three seemingly unrelated plots into an engrossing, albeit contrived, story. A multinational terrorist group called the Peacekeepers, comprised of former U.N. soldiers, plans an attack on the U.N. during a private Saturday-night party in the Security Council chambers. Meanwhile, an angry Cambodian couple seeks revenge for a murder committed long ago. And Paul Hood, the center's recently retired head, is trying to piece everything together, but his troubled personal life only hinders his job. As the story lines converge, readers are taken deep inside the heart of America's defense, intelligence and crisis management networks. Stilted dialogue and unfortunate stabs at sentimentality, however, diminish the overall suspense. (July)Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Tom Clancy's novels include The Hunt for Red October, Red Storm Rising, Patriot Games, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, Clear and PresentDanger, The Sum of All Fears, Without Remorse, Debt of Honour and Executive Orders, Red Rabbit and Teeth of the Tiger. Steve Pieczenik served as principal hostage negotiator and international crisis manager while Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance and James Baker. He is also the author of the psycho-political thrillers The Mind Palace, Blood Heat, Maximum Vigilance and Pax Pacifica.