Tom Clancy Shadow State

Jack Ryan, Jr. is in Vietnam on behalf of Hendley Associates, the financial firm where he works as an analyst. The country's booming economy has Western investors hunting for the next big opportunity, and Jack thinks he has spotted one in GeoTech, a rare earth mining company. Hendley wants to move before its competitors do, so he travels out to see the business for himself.

The visit to GeoTech's operations in the Highlands goes wrong when the helicopter carrying Jack and a Hendley colleague is shot down. Surviving the crash is only the beginning. Jack is stranded in rough jungle country with an injured friend to protect, and someone clearly wants them stopped before they learn more.

The trail leads to an isolated factory and the question of what is really being processed there. Chinese interests are determined to keep Jack from finding out, and Vietnam, as so often in its history, is caught under the influence of stronger neighbors. A pack of killers is closing in, and Jack cannot count on any official help. Out in the jungle, the real power belongs to a hidden network operating beyond the government's reach.

This is a Jack Ryan, Jr. thriller in the Tom Clancy series, written by M.P. Woodward.