Weapons Grade, a Tom Clancy novel by Don Bentley

 It has been more than four years since I’ve read a Tom Clancy novel, and that one was written by Mike Maden and I thought Line of Sight was a pretty decent story. I picked up this one, Weapons Grade by Don Bentley because I couldn’t find another book that was available on Libby in audiobook format. It’s a story about the discovery that I ran had a secret uranium enrichment process going in tunnels far below the surface of the land. Once again, it was a Jack Jr. novel with his dad, the President of the U.S. The book started out like a Lee Child novel with the protagonist just stumbling into someone else who clearly needed his help. I kept waiting for the book to grab me as I walked about listening and giving my dog some exercise. It’s unusual for me to give up on a story when I’m two-thirds of the way into it, but that’s what happened here. I found myself put off by the over-the-top ultimate machismo characters, and the plot just did not seem real enough to get me to suspend reality testing as is often required with any good international intrigue. I was just uninterested in where this story was headed, so I quit. Weapons Grade does not get a solid recommendation from me. Now, I’m tempted not to pick up another Tom Clancy novel for at least another 10 years.