Book Review: Tom Clancy Code of Honor by Marc Cameron

Published in 2019. Thriller. Although this is a Jack Ryan novel, it doesn’t open with him. Instead, it opens with the sale of a new AI computer program called Calliope. The program was developed by a couple of American gamers who sell the program to the highest bidder, the Chinese. In turn, the Chinese want to ensure no one else has the program and kill the gamer selling the program, but not before he relays vital clues to a Catholic priest in Indonesia where the sale took place. The police come after the priest, but he prepares to send an emergency text message to his friend, President Jack Ryan. The priest is arrested and his phone confiscated, but as the local police sort through his phone, the text is sent. When President Jack Ryan finally reads the message, he relies on a covert team from Campus, a quasi-government organization like the CIA but without the strings attached, to recover the program, while he uses his position and influence to save the Catholic priest from the death penalty. Meanwhile, the Chinese have examined the program, and they realize its potential because it can adapt, change, and modify its situation to complete the mission, whatever mission that is. They promote it to the Chinese leadership, who authorize its use against the American interests.

This was a complicated story with a lot of different storylines going at the same time; in fact, I only presented about half of the plotlines. It took me longer than normal to get through the book. It also brings up an interesting point. Is there any way to limit the impact of AI, especially when it’s used as a weapon? Do we need more manual back-up systems that don’t rely on a computer?