copyright 1996; G.P. Putnam's Sons publishers, New York; larger hardbound in blue and black boards with silver signature of Tom Clancy embedded on cover; very good condition with unmarked pages; dust jacket very good.
Description -
Executive Orders is a techno-thriller, written by Tom Clancy and released on July 1, 1996. It picks up immediately where the final events of Debt of Honor (1994) left off, and features now-U.S. President Jack Ryan as he tries to deal with foreign and domestic threats. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
Plot -
Following the conclusion of Debt of Honor, previously confirmed Vice President Jack Ryan is sworn in as President of the United States. With nearly every executive, legislative, and judicial figure deceased, Ryan is left to represent the United States by himself. He must deal with multiple crises: reconstituting his own Cabinet, the House, the Senate and the entire Supreme Court; a challenge to the legitimacy of his succession to the Presidency by former Vice President Ed Kealty, leading to press hazing; and a war brewing in the Middle East.
When the Iraqi president (implied to be Saddam Hussein) is assassinated by an Iranian deep cover agent, Iranian leader Ayatollah Mahmoud Haji Daryaei takes advantage of the power vacuum by launching an unopposed invasion of Iraq and later uniting it with his country, calling the new entity the "United Islamic Republic" (or 'UIR'). Daryaei then secretly unleashes a master plan of “weakening” the United States through a series of terrorist attacks: a biological attack in the country using a weaponized strain of Ebola virus, a kidnapping attempt on Ryan’s youngest daughter Katie from her school, and an assassination attempt on the President himself by a Secret Service bodyguard who is actually an Iranian sleeper agent.
China and India secretly assist Daryaei, first by causing a diplomatic crisis between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan when a PLAAF anti-aircraft unit "accidentally" shoots down a Taiwanese airliner...