Tom Clancy Point of Contact by Mike Maden

A Book Report by Bobby Everett Smith

Spoiler Alert

November 20, 2017

Setting

Ex-Senator Weston Rhodes, now a defense contractor, needs someone to look over the books of Dalfan Technologies located in Singapore. The senator turns to old friends at The Campus, a Top-Secret intelligence organization of the United States. Jack Ryan Jr. is son of the president of the United States but also a top operative of The Campus. In the modern day, Paul Brown, a mild-mannered forensic accountant is chosen to go with Jack Jr. to Singapore to conduct a quick audit.

Characters

Jack Ryan, Jr., Operative for The Campus, a Top-Secret Intelligence organization which works for the U.S. Government most of the time. Also, the son of the president of the United States.

Gerry Hendley, Director of The Campus and Hendley Associates, a cover organization for The Campus.

John Clark, Director of Operations of The Campus

Gavin Biery, Director of Information Technology at The Campus

Jack Ryan, President of the United States

Scott Adler, Secretary of State

Mary Pat Foley, Director of National Intelligence

Jay Canfield, Director of CIA

Arnold Van Damm, Chief of Staff to Jack Ryan

Adara Sherman, Operations Officer of The Campus

Paul Brown, Forensic accountant for Hendley and Associates

Dr. Gordon Fairchild, CEO Dalfan Technologies

Lian Fairchild, Head of Security for Dalfan Technologies

Yong Fairchild, CFO Dalfan Technologies and son of Gordon Fairchild

Weston Rhodes, ex-U.S. Senator, board member of Marin Aerospace.

Zvezdev, a Bulgarian operative working in the U.S. to manipulate the stock market

The Story

The President and his closest advisors meet in the Situation Room of the White House. The North Koreans have launched an intercontinental missile as a test. They have become a real threat.

Hendley Associates in Alexandria, Virginia, is a cover organization for The Campus, a Top-Secret Intelligence organization that works for the Defense Department of the United States. Paul Brown is a forensic accountant for Hendley and he is summoned to the CEO’s office where he is introduced to Weston Rhodes, an ex-U. S. Senator and now a defense contractor for the U.S. government.

Weston is on the board of Marin Aerospace, a large defense contractor, which is in the throes of acquiring a company in Singapore, Dalfan Technologies. Marin needs a quick audit of Dalfan books and they want Paul to go to Singapore to conduct that audit.

Jack Ryan, Jr. is introduced to the meeting and Gerry Hendley explains that he will be going to Singapore with Paul and his job will be to observe more subjectively the personnel and general attitude at Dalfan.

“We want you both to leave tonight and it’s a 21-hour flight.”

Rhodes pulls Paul Brown aside and gives him a flash drive. “We need this installed on the Dalfan network and you have six days, midnight, to get it installed. Finally, you cannot let Jack or Gerry know that you are doing this.” Paul agreed to accept this extra assignment and to keep it secret.

Paul and Jack fly to Singapore and are met by Lian Fairchild and her bodyguard. She takes them to the Dalfan guest cottage which is nicely furnished and will be their quarters during the stay in Singapore.

Paul is assigned an assistant, Bai, and Jack was informed that Lian would be his assistant. They are assigned computer equipment, and each has a private office. Dalfan works on electronic software focused on virtual reality under tight security. “All USB ports are pass code encrypted so you would not be able to insert any of your own equipment in our machines.” This is a problem for Paul as he needs to insert the USB drive that Weston Rhodes had given him into the Dalfan network.

Paul calls Rhodes to inform him that the USB flash drive insertion is not going well. Rhodes accepts the information poorly and reviews why this job is so important to him. Two weeks ago, Zvezdev came to him at his condo in D.C. and threatened him with death and final destruction if Rhodes did not cooperate. The Bulgarian needed to get the flash drive which contains a program designed to disrupt the value to Dalfan’s stock price. Rhodes could benefit financially if he is successful, but his life would be in danger if he were not successful. Rhodes thought of Paul Brown and The Campus to help him covertly achieve his goal.

Lian and Jack go out on the town; Paul stays behind, bushed. At dinner, three men send a Mai Tai to Lian which she refuses. The three men attack the pair in the parking lot and Jack takes care of them with a bit of help on one from Lian.

Back at the Dalfan guest cottage, Paul has invented a way to get the USB file into the Dalfan servers. He plans to copy the file to his laptop and then copy it again to a Dalfan encrypted USB drive. His problem now is to get an encrpted Dalfan USB drive.

Jack toured the Dalfan facilities escorted by Lian and the owners of the applications they were inspecting. Jack was impressed with the level of expertise demonstrated with the Dalfan Virtual Reality software. Paul simultaneously is inspecting accounting files and trying to figure a way to get his flash drive installed on the Dalfan network.

Jack discovers a warehouse across down from Dalfan headquarters and he strikes out alone to inspect it without Lean’s escort. When he gets to the warehouse, he is turned away by security guards who say that he is not allowed in. On his return to Dalfan, Lian denies that the warehouse belongs to Dalfan, but Jack is not convinced.

He makes a second trip ti the warehouse at night. The typhoon is approaching, and heavy rains have already arrived. He steals a van from Dalfan to make the covert trip. Unknown to Jack, he is being watched by Yong, the CFO. On his way to the warehouse he is hit from behind by a large truck. He manages to get out of the van and walk to the warehouse where he uses his operative skills to break in.

A group of four Chinese men are playing Mahjong and they invite him to join them. When he gets to the group, they attack him, and a big fight begins. Jack overcomes all four of the men who are left dead. The warehouse contains DVD’s that it appears Dalfan is selling to the Chinese.

The North Koreans are behind the work that Paul is trying to do with the Flash Drive. They have hired the Bulgarian operative who has blackmailed Rhodes to get the job done.

Yong and others inside Dalfan are opposed to the sale of the company to Marin Aerospace and they are doing everything possible to get rid of Paul and Jack and prevent the transaction.

Jack returns to Dalfan headquarters and discovers that Paul has gone missing. After searching headquarters, Jack goes back to the guest house. Still no Paul but evidence of a fight in Paul’s bedroom alarms Jack even more. Where’s Paul?

Jack calls Gavin, the IT director back in Virginia, to solicit his support in finding Paul.

Gavin tracks Paul to the Pink Lady, a brothel in the seediest part of Singapore. Jack heads that way but it’s slow going as the typhoon strengthens. Two Bulgarians are also tracking Paul and they arrive at the Pink Lady at the same time as Jack. Another fight ensues when they get to Paul’s room in the brothel. Jack kills the two intruders giving him a body count of six adversaries in the last 24 hours. Paul is astounded at Jack’s abilities and knows that he is not just “another auditor.”

“Who are you, Jack?’ Paul asks.

Paul tells Jack for the first time that he has a secret mission for Rhodes to install the flash drive onto the Dalfan network. Paul discloses that the software on the USB drive is designed to bring down the Hong Kong stock market and thus start a worldwide economic disaster. Senator Rhode is behind the covert mission, but he is working for the Bulgarians. They all will benefit financially if Paul can get the flash drive installed on the Dalfan network by midnight tonight.

Kidnappers show up at the Dalfan guesthouse and they take Lian and Jack out with flash grenades. Paul disappears, and when they revive, Jack explains to Lian that he thinks Paul has been taken to the Dalfan headquarters to install the flash drive which only Paul has the password for.

Jack and Lian discover that they are on the same side and that they can trust each other. They head back, through the storm, to headquarters. The power is out all over town except the headquarters which is operating on an emergency generator.

They find Paul and discover that the flash drive has been loaded. The stock market is now at risk. The market does not open until morning and the only way to get access to the market software is by going to Kuala Lampur. All the roads are closed due to the typhoon.

Jack, Paul, and Lian head for Kuala Lampur; they have four hours to make it in heavy rain and wind.

At the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lampur, their intelligence group is informed that three spies are enroute to their location and they must be stopped at any cost. Their orders are to kill two of the spies but to capture Jack Ryan, Jr., the president of the United States’ son. The four North Korean operatives head out in the storm, knowing that the biggest danger was failure to accomplish their mission even in the face of a raging typhoon over the causeway between Kuala Lampur and Singapore.

Jack, Paul and Lian are pressing forward but their car swamps and they can only walk, continuing across the causeway. They now need new transportation which will be difficult to find in the storm. It’s 3:30 a.m. and they only have four more hours to get across to where they can stop the failure of the Hong Kong Stock market.

The North Koreans catch up to Paul and the others. A gun battle breaks out and Paul stops them. But not soon enough. Paul is hit and killed.

The next scene is back in Virginia at Weston Rhode’s office. Jack explained to the senator that Paul was the real hero. He had taken out three of the North Korean agents before the fourth one killed him. Rhodes explained to Jack how he had gotten in contact with the Bulgarian leader of the stock market scheme.

The FBI comes into Rhode’s office and arrests him. He later receives  a seven to 15-year sentence in federal prison for fraud and money laundering. Zvezdev, the Bulgarian operative, is dead and his remains are found in Croatia.

With the help of Lian’s father, the CEO of Dalfan, Jack is cleared of all charges that might be leveled against him in Singapore. The acquisition of Dalfan is cancelled.

Rating

Two stars out of four

This is another exciting novel that features the characters invented by Tom Clancy in his books like Red October. It is entertaining and fun to read but the achievement that Jack Jr, Paul, and some of the others achieve is sometimes hard to believe. I recommend reading the book for fun but not for too much educational value.