True Faith and Allegiance (stylized as Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance, Tom Clancy: True Faith and Allegiance, or Tom Clancy's True Faith and Allegiance in the United Kingdom[1]) is a political thriller, written by Mark Greaney and released on December 6, 2016. In the book, President Jack Ryan and The Campus must contain a massive intelligence breach that has been responsible for a series of terrorist attacks on American military and intelligence personnel. True Faith and Allegiance is Greaney's last book in the Jack Ryan series, which is part of the Tom Clancy universe. It debuted at number three on the New York Times bestseller list.[2]
Plot
Romanian hacker Alexandru Dalca obtains an old copy of the e-QIP database, which contains personal information on millions of U.S. military and intelligence personnel. The Chinese originally hire him to use the stolen information in order to locate U.S. spies in their country. However, Dalca uses this treasure trove of information to make a profit by building targeting packages on specific individuals. This attracts the attention of Saudi technocrat Sami bin Rashid, who wanted to provoke the United States into a quagmire in the Middle East fighting ISIS, which would then recoup the loss of profit in Saudi oil.
After making contact with Dalca through the dark web, Bin Rashid meets with ISIS operative Abu Musa al Matari and formulates a plan to attack U.S. military and intelligence personnel, using the targeting packages compiled by Dalca himself, in order to further his plan. Al Matari then recruits cleanskins and assigns them into cells to carry out the attacks. The video recordings of the assaults are then uploaded to the Islamic State's propaganda site, promoting the terror organization, garnering new followers, and inspiring a series of copycat attacks.
The intelligence community quickly becomes concerned about the wave of attacks on U.S. intelligence and military personnel, and scramble to find the source. President Jack Ryan is then pressured by the media and elements in his own government to deploy troops into the Middle East to battle the Islamic State, but persistently refuses to do so by gathering intelligence, knowing that Islamic State is provoking him.
Meanwhile The Campus, currently understaffed, recruits two new members: previously director of transportation Adara Sherman and ex-Delta Force operator Bartosz “Midas” Jankowski. They also investigate the attacks, and later deduce that the e-QIP database may have been compromised. Jack Ryan Jr. looks into a particular, seemingly unrelated attack on Scott Hagen, who is the commander of the guided missile destroyer USS James Greer, from the brother of a Russian submarine crew killed by Hagen in a recent battle in the Baltic Sea (depicted in Commander in Chief). After looking into the assailant's social media, he finds out that Dalca provided information on Hagen prior to the attack. With this information on hand, The Campus heads to Romania.
In the meantime, the Chinese get suspicious about Dalca not following their orders. The hacker assumes the same thing, and when the Chinese come looking for him in his place of work, he escapes, intending to leave Romania. The Campus, who are surveilling the Romanian nearby, joins in the chase and get involved in a shootout with the Chinese, killing them, but Dalca is nowhere to be found. The Campus later finds out about Dalca's plans to leave the country, and abduct him at an airport. He decides to cooperate in stopping al Matari; Ryan Jr presents himself as a target, staying in an isolated cabin in a Maryland forest. Simultaneously, Olivia "Sally" Ryan accepts an engagement proposal from her Turkish boyfriend Dr. Davi Kartal. Al Matari takes the bait and is easily captured, while the rest of his henchmen are killed in the ensuing firefight, with Davi injuring the ringleader.
The headquarters of the Islamic State's propaganda wing was later destroyed in an airstrike. The U.S. betrays Dalca to Chinese security agents, but his fate is left unknown. Meanwhile, Bin Rashid was killed by The Campus in a plane headed for Australia.
Reception
Commercial
True Faith and Allegiance debuted at number three at the Combined Print & E-Book Fiction and Hardcover Fiction[3] categories of the New York Times bestseller list for the week of December 25, 2016. In addition, it debuted at number nine on the USA Today Best Selling Books list for the week of December 15, 2016.[4]
Critical
The book received generally positive reviews. Associated Press praised Greaney, who "handles the tech side with grace and has fleshed out the cast and given them depth."[5] In a featured review, thriller novel reviewer The Real Book Spy praised the novel as "a fantastic, timely political thriller that has everything fans of the genre are looking for" and concluded that it is "A must-read for anyone who considers themselves a fan of thrillers."[6]
