From Second String to Main Event
New Tom Clancy, Elizabeth George
Books Feature Series Sidekicks

Romance writers have done it forever. After the guy and the gal get together there's not much plot left, so the writer populates his or her next book with the first book's secondary characters. But mystery/adventure writers?

Tom Clancy's done it twice now. John Clark, the faithful secondary character who joined the CIA in a most spectacular fashion in Without Remorse, now heads a new anti-terrorist military unit headquartered in England. Enroute to his new posting, curiously inept terrorists hijack Clark, his wife, pregnant daughter and his CIA partner/son-in-law. Soon Clark finds himself pitted against the lethal machinations of eco-extremists who threaten all human life on earth.

Rainbow Six is typical Clancy: long (740 pages), convoluted and action-packed. Expect to be reading too long into the night, popping into bed for a short nap, then mainlining coffee, ignoring the Sunday paper and the kids, as your heart races and anxiety builds.

Elizabeth George's Deception on his Mind features Sergeant Barbara Havers, New Scotland Yard Detective Inspector (DI) Thomas Lynley's partner and frequent cross to bear. Lynley's off on his honeymoon -- an occasion eagerly awaited by all his fans. Lynley leaves orders for Havers to heal, rest and recreate, three things she seldom does well.

Panicked by the thought of free time, Havers decides her Pakastani neighbor and his young daughter need her help when a young Pakastani is found murdered. Learning that the DI in charge of this case is a woman and an old pal, Havers insinuates herself into the official inquiry.

George builds wonderfully real characters by revealing them from the inside out. Here George provides a running commentary on Havers's thoughts and doubts. Havers wonders if she's using her friend. Is Havers romantically attracted to her handsome Pakastani neighbor, or is she reacting to her fast-ticking biological clock?

George paints a seaside town ready to explode. Racism, bigotry, self deception, plain old evilness and greed will burn the town down if the investigation isn't handled just right and the murderer found fast. George's ending sent me scrambling to find out when the next book in the series is due. It had better be soon.

Although different in scope and theme, Deception on his Mind and Rainbow Six share a number of similarities. Both Havers and Clark bring a barrow full of baggage with them into the spotlight. The different ways they react to their separate pasts defines both their characters and their authors.

Clark carries his dark history like luggage. A talented, well-trained "spook," Clark responds to personal tragedy by crusading for individual justice. "The evil that men do" happens outside of him. He experiences, analyzes, solves and overcomes. Then Clark stores the information away in the carry-all of his mind, because bitter experience taught him he'll need it again.

Clark can kill and accept it. He can also play the diplomat. His human skills are good enough to inspire a pair of high-ranking military officers to risk life, limb and medals in a small boat on the Chesapeake Bay to save Clark from the Baltimore Metropolitan Police.

Havers accepts nothing.

In a sense her partnership with Lynley is her last chance. She screwed up her working relationships with all other inspectors she's been assigned to. Her partnership with the rich, handsome, successful Lynley, a.k.a. Lord Asherton, also seemed destined to fail. Havers, poor slob extraordinaire, child and sole caregiver of mentally unstable parents, despises everything Lynley represents.

But over time, Lynley has rubbed and sanded Havers's rough edges, shaping her into a better adjusted person and potentially brilliant investigator. But it's not easy living the role of Eliza Doolittle, no matter how generous and sensitive your Professor Higgins happens to be. In Deception on his Mind, Havers finally wins by finally, graciously accepting some of Lynley's spiritual gifts and giving him some long overdue credit in return.

Not that Clark or Havers will ever be sanded completely smooth. Nor should they be. Secondary characters provide the grit that highlights and counterpoints the virtues of a series hero. We respond to them because of their darkness, their "difficultness." We identify with them because we know the limits of our own characters.

In their respective novels, Clancy and George preserved these aspects of their series foils. We can eagerly await the next adventure of Jack Ryan and Lynley secure that Clark and Havers will be there when the hero needs them, exactly as the hero needs them. Rainbow Six and Deception on his Mind let us peer a little deeper into Clark and Havers' heads but instead of satisfying our curiosity, leave us hungry to learn more.

Suzanne Frisbee

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