Chapter By Chapter> Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image chapter 16

Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapter for this one) of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

Well, last time Mike actually showed there’s a brain in that muscle head of his. Could this lead to a better showing for him than last time? One can only hope.

This chapter focuses on what Paul Hood is up to, though I have not read it yet going into the intro. Paul was the only likable and competent person in the series cast while everyone else were exclusive to that story, unlikable, or not so much incompetent as not being able to get along and thus weakening their ability to solve the situation. This is the issue with some origin stories. Sometimes I really do just want to jump to them full-formed, or at least mostly formed. You can still challenge them. Just because they have skills doesn’t mean you can’t push those skills and challenge them, or have fiction among members of the team that form the personal drama. Origins have their importance, but so does seeing the characters as able to do the job instead of fumbling in the dark.

The last book was Op-Center’s second mission, admitting their first one was a disaster. Would you really want to read that story? That’s usually the backstory for the comedic goofballs who manage to come together. This is a serious political drama with the occasional action moment. I expect to see my heroes as worthy of the task in front of them without it being too easy and killing the drama. I’ve seen it done, but not so much in the first book. I’m hoping for better here as we get back to our adventure.

Sunday, 8:00 PM, Los Angeles

Indeed we do catch up with Paul on vacation, but because he’s who he is he’s sitting by the pool listening to the news on his Walkman (remember those, kids?) while his wife and kids are swimming. He gets an update from Mike, nothing we don’t already know, but Mike just gives the highlights. Basically it’s what Paul needs to know and not what the reader already does. They could have just had the narrator say “Mike told Paul about recent events…” but instead we know what Paul knows along with stuff he doesn’t and even Op-Center doesn’t. It’s a good way to get a character up to speed without losing the audience when you don’t need the exposition to bring the reader up to where the characters are.

Paul could stay. Mike tells him to stay and that if he’s needed they can grab him easily, with a plan to do so quickly. His wife wants him to stay. The kids probably want him to stay but seem a lot more accepting, especially his 10-year-old son. His 12-year-old daughter is more accepting, but his wife points out he’ll be missed and should make time for his family. Paul has every reason to stay, and maybe Mike does have things in hand. (I don’t want to get out of hand in my ragging on these characters. Credit where it’s due and all…though ragging on them is more fun.) But Paul still decides he needs to be there. It’s in his nature to be on top of the situation instead of watching from the sidelines, even when his family wants him around. Paul Hood is the hero we need and may even deserve. This does mean that Mike won’t get to show off everything he can do, and he’s already showing more brains and less ego than he did in the first book, but Paul is in charge for a reason and I hope he does find a way to make it up to his family.

Next time we’ll have two chapters. The first is only a couple pages long and both take place in Washington, so it feels like the right way to go about it. See if I’m right next time.