Chapter By Chapter> Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image chapters 73-74

Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapters 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.

Closer and closer to being done.

Last time we lost a member of the cast. I hope this isn’t something that happens in every novel. It’s already difficult getting used to the regular Op-Center cast, though this book has presented them in better light…mostly because they’ve barely shown up outside of Paul, who was always good, and Mike, who is better in this novel than the original. All of the interesting cast tends to be outside the Center, the agents and soldiers in the field. I’d be okay with this but the book isn’t Tom Clancy’s Striker or Those Local Agents or something. The focus should be on the Center itself, and it only happens rarely. At least this time I’m not annoyed when it does, unlike the first novel, when I basically hated everyone beside Paul.

Two chapters today, both coming in at four pages, with an asterix for the one chapter that has three pages and four lines of text. So let’s see how everyone handles what happened in the previous chapter.

Chapter 73: Tuesday, 9:10 AM, Washington, DC

At least they give a good showing here. Paul and Mike learn about Squires’ death, and Mike is clearly hurt by it. Squires had a family whose patriarch is not never coming home. Mike lost a colleague and subordinate if not a friend. Paul manages to get him focused on the clean-up operation since Nikita is aboard the helicopter. Nobody realizes they have to tell Orlov Sr his boy is okay and what happened to the train. This could have been avoided if Orlov had gotten word to Nikita before Striker made their move, or if Op-Center could have told them in time to change the mission to getting on the train and getting the coup evidence. However, I can’t blame this on incompetency or father/son issues with the Orlovs, or anything other than fate and bad timing. That’s how a good story operates, and at least this chapter is part of a good story. There is one in these books. They just keep getting buried by useless padding and unlikable allegedly main characters.

Bob comes in and is told about Squires. Apparently he knew the man as well, and gets mad when Paul tries to get things going. Mike convinces him they can mourn later. Right now there’s still crisis control work to do, and that’s what Op-Center is supposed to be for. Bob is understandably annoyed given his history, the one that put him in the wheelchair, but he has to begrudgingly admit they’re right. Like I said, the characters are getting a better showing in this novel than in the first one.

Chapter 74: Tuesday, 4:15 PM, Moscow

I thought we were going to check in with Orlov getting the news about his son, but instead we go to Moscow and Dogin. This is the first time he’s been an active character in the book since the early chapters outside of one phone call. Dogin is told about the train crash and how it was utterly destroyed, meaning so was the money. Now the Russian mob will be after him, and then Orlov calls to unintentionally twist the knife, letting him know that two of his people are out of commission. It’s all over, and Dogin knows it.

He’s surprisingly casual about telling Orlov everything, about wanting to restore the Soviet Union. From what he says, apparently Nikita did know, wanting to see, as Dogin put it, the old Soviet life in person instead of just history books. Orlov tells him that sometimes you can’t go back. He can’t return to space, and the old days of the USSR are over. It’s all very cordial. Then Dogin hangs up the phone, pulls out his gun and I think you can guess what does with it. Dogin’s out of this story for good.

The presentation is well done. The calm manner and conversation as Dogin spills the beans, Orlov suggesting Dogin ask for protection, the discussion about Russia’s past, Dogin admitting this was the wrong way to bring back what he considers the good old days of Russian dominance in science and culture…it’s a great character moment. It seem like these Op-Center novels only really stay good near the end of the book, when they’re out of unnecessary worldbuilding and history.

We’re doing the two chapter thing again next time, and the time after that. We may actually finish this novel at the start of November, and considering we’ve been reading this since…AUGUST OF LAST YEAR????????? Has it really been that long? I really have been distracted this year! Crud! Well, it will be nice to read something else.