The President is dead--and the weight, literally, of the world falls onJack Ryan's shoulders, in Tom Clancy's newest and most extraordinary novel. I don't know what to do. Where's the manual, the training course, for thisjob? Whom do I ask? Where do I go? Debt of Honor ended with Tom Clancy's mostshocking conclusion ever; a joint session of Congress destroyed, the President dead,most of the Cabinet and the Congress dead, the Supreme Court and the Joint Chiefslikewise. Dazed and confused, the man who only minutes before had been confirmedas the new Vice-President of the United States is told that he is now President. President John Patrick Ryan. And that is where Executive Orders begins. Ryan hadagreed to accept the vice-presidency only as a caretaker for a year, and now, suddenlyan incalculable weight has fallen on his shoulders. How do you run a governmentwithout a government? Where do you even begin? With stunning force, Ryan'sresponsibilities crush on him. He must calm an anxious and grieving nation, allay theskepticism of the world's leaders, conduct a swift investigation of the tragedy, andarrange a massive state funeral--all while attempting to reconstitute a Cabinet and aCongress with the greatest possible speed. But that is not all. Many eyes are on him now, and many of them are unfriendly.In Beijing, Tehran, and other world capitals, including Washington D.C., there arethose eager to take advantage where they may, some of whom bear a deep animustoward the United States--some of whom, from Ryan's past, harbor intense animositytoward the new President himself. Soon they will begin to move on theiropportunities; soon they will present Jack Ryan with a crisis so big even he cannotimagine it. Tom Clancy has written remarkable novels before, but nothing comparable tothe timeliness and drama of Executive Orders. Filled with the exceptionalrealism and intricate plotting that are his hallmarks, it attests to the words of theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch: "This man can tell a story."