Rating: 
Summary: All political agenda, no action
Review: I used to wait with baited breath for the publication of a new Tom Clancy novel. I read most of Mr. Clancy's first novels in an almost sleepless period of two or three days. Often sleeping only a few hours, working, and then returning to the book-much to the displeasure of my wife. That is no longer the case. The first 700 pages of this novel are so boring it actually took me three attempts to get through them. Twice I quit the book, read another book, and then returned to Clancy's novel. If the first 700 pages were condensed to 100 pages, the reading would be much better. In addition, the book is fraught with typographical errors. The rush to get to press must have been more important than finding the numerous errors. Most are just annoying, but one in particular, a reference to the old F-111 should have been to the newer F-117. It breaks the readers thought pattern to have to contemplate what was really intended in these cases. Finally, Clancy's desire to trumpet his anti-abortion stance and to promote cigarette smoking gets in the way of the story. There are continual references to Ryan's anti-abortion stance. And, it seems at times that President Jack Ryan can't go five minutes (or the reader a page) without Ryan needing to bum a cigarette from someone. Usually the cigarette brand is mentioned. I wonder if the Tobacco Institute now pays writers to incorporate such messages into books? In summary, I may have read my last Tom Clancy novel. Certainly I will wait for the reviews before purchasing others. This is truly a pity since Mr. Clancy is so talented.
Rating:
Summary: unimpressive to say the least.
Review: This was a very frustrating read - the book is poorly written and has numerous problems, but somewhere in this mess is a good story, and Clancy does occasionally show flashes of his previous brilliance. The book is too long, ends too abruptly and really needs a good editor. Among the problems is that Jack Ryan has become a whiner. The Jack Ryan from "The Hunt for Red October" and "Clear and Present Danger" is no more. The new Jack Ryan can not go more than a few minutes without complaining about being president, even though he ran for the office and was elected to it. Ryan has surrounded himself with yes-men and -women. Only his Chief of Staff will provide any sort of counterargument, which is usually only token and couched in terms of practical politics. Ryan also seems to be inclined to use emotional arguments or his own personal beliefs as a basis for decision making - something which is at odds with his persona in the earlier books. One example: when the Really Bad Thing is about to happen near the end of the book, Ryan and company react in an emotional manner not unlike the hated President Fowler does in "The Sum of All Fears". Clancy is not shy about sharing his political views with the reader. Of course he has always done this, and the reader is free to agree or disagree. My objection is that these political interruptions have become so numerous and shrill that they impede the flow of the plot without providing any benefit. Many lines of thought or expressions are repeated verbatim in different places in the book. How many times do we need to read the same story about Chairman Mao's sex life? How many times does someone refer to the Chinese leadership as Klingons? There are many small errors of fact in the book - though not nearly so many as in "Rainbow Six". These should have been caught in the editing process - if Clancy can get the date wrong for the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, how reliable is the rest of the material? I rate "The Bear and the Dragon" as slightly better than "Rainbow Six" but a long way below the earlier Jack Ryan novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but it goes on forever
Review: My favorite Clancy novel is "Clear and Present Danger." His new book "The Bear and the Dragon" doesn't come close. In fact I didn't like the excessive foul language throughout the book. The story is still interesting, but it goes on forever. If Clancy would have used more contemporary locations for this thriller and not the traditional surroundings, it would have been a much better book. I'm sure this book is going to make a good movie, if they cut out the bad language. Based on a friend's recommendation I just read through another brand new thriller in this genre and I highly recommend it as it is fast paced, loaded with action, excellent plot, info and research and plausible scenarios, which is the explosive megathriller "THE CONSULTANT" by Alec Donzi.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy needs to stick with what he does best
Review: Ok, the book was long and the plot was slow to develop. Clancy is a master of writing military techno thrillers, and he retains the title with this work. There is a good bit of this in the book, and it tends to make the reader wonder if our military really has these capabilities. The sex parts are what led me to give this book 3 stars. All that sausage crap is just lame as hell. President Jack Ryan getting drunk in the White House is a little far fetched. So is the part about him bumming Virginia Slims off his secretary. Judging from the past Ryan novels I just wouldn't have expected this type of behavior from Ryan. This book also shows what kinds of views Clancy holds. He is very conservative, pro-religion, anti-abortion, and he hates the treehuggers with a passion. Basically I'm pretty sure Clancy did not vote for Gore. I have no problems with this but then again I could care less what his views are. It also probably would have shortened the book by about a hundred pages. The people who have a problem with the racial slurs need to wake up. Face it our political leaders are not all politically correct. People use racial slurs and the politicians are no exception. This adds a certain amount of realism to the book. Clancy might have overdone it a little bit but does it really matter? The military sure as hell isn't politically correct and it would make the book less realistic if they were. Calling people chinks, gooks, or ragheads might not right, but that's the way it really is. If you have a problem with that sort of thing then this book is not for you. Actually the book would probably offend the hell out of you. The first five-hundred pages tended to be a little boring but then the reading gets better. I thought it was a worthwhile read, but don't count on it being made into a movie. I also wonder if Clancy can take the Ryan character any farther. I seem to doubt it. Not as the main character anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: The worst Jack Ryan book
Review: I used to enjoy Clancy books for its engaging plot and ability to make you wonder if something like that could really happen. This new book is nothing but trash and while most of his writing has been fiction, it would appear that Clancy has delved into the realms of fantasy. While he has always stereotyped to a pointdifferent race and nations, this book is basically a list of his perceived problems that people who are not red blooded American have. His racism is evident and his story is lacking. While I the basic plot of China invading Russia for resources follows from his earlier book and could have been a very interesting story, it appears Clancy just didn't try. I use to really enjoy his books, but this will probably be the last one I buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing international thriller
Review: When it comes to international intrigue, Tom Clancy is a master of making the inconceivable plausible. Here he conjures a fascinating conflict between China and Russia in an imaginary world where only China has nukes. Though far fetched, the scenario contains just enough facts and credible premises to be dangerously entertaining. As always, Clancy loads the book with high tech weapons and an inside look at espionage and military decision making. The book sometimes gets bogged down in minutia, but it has enough suspense and twists to keep the pages turning. Jack Ryan is back again as POTUS, but he is marginalized in this story, taking a back seat to characters in Russia and China. In fact, Ryan is probably one of the least important characters in the story. To make matters worse, Ryan is beginning to get a little flaky. For instance, at one point while Washington is under threat of nuclear attack he decides that the best place for the President of the United States to be would be aboard an Aegis Cruiser at ground zero. Some time later, he transports the entire crew of that same Cruiser to the White House for drinks as if it were some kind of frat party. For a writer who concentrates so much on realistic details, Clancy really warped out in this segment. All in all this is a very engaging book. While probably not Clancy's best work, it is certainly a strong addition to a genre that has lost a good deal of horsepower with the end of the cold war. I rated it a 7/10. Modern warfare lovers won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Neither a Bear nor Dragon Be
Review: I intended to write a lengthy diatribe but had second thoughts as I would be saying nothing more than is contained in the other reviews on this site. Yet I am compelled to add a few thoughts, it appears to me that this book was hastily assembeled from a collection of disparate short stories and then clumbsily woven together. Making matters worse is incredibly poor job of editing the material for example in one passage one reads "tax" where its obvious that Fax was intended- Was anything more than "SpellCheck" used? In "The Hunt for Red October",Tom Clancy was justifiably praised for his research, yet in "The B & D" it is claimed that Jack Ryan brought out a security with the symbol SALC as an IPO out on the Big Board. The problem with this is that stock symbols on the Big Board are limited to a maximum of three characters. Four character symbols are used in the OTC market, NASDAQ. So much for research!
Rating:
Summary: Laughably bad
Review: OK, I admit that I've read every novel Clancy has written. (God help me.) But they have gotten progressively worse, and this latest, Bear and the Dragon, is so bad it is insulting to the reader. It is monumentally ignorant, and the only thing worse than the writing is the editing. (Was there any editing?) All of the characters -- regardless of nationality or position -- speak in the same tiresome, moralistic, pseudo-chummy voice. The same phrases (...."that fellow"...) must appear in the book at least a hundred times. The cartoonish quality of the characters and the dialogue is nothing new, but there is little to none of the military/espionage nitty-gritty detail that made his earliest novels a success. The book is a complete waste of time, and the only reason its on the best-seller list is because of the sheer momentum of Clancy's name. It won't be lasting much longer if he puts out more like this. If you have to have a Clancy fix, go back and read Red October.
Rating:
Summary: Too ponderous for words
Review: This book was much too ponderous. It was a chore to read it all the way through. I've read all of Clancy's novels, and this was the worst, even exceeding Rainbow Six. It was as if he cut and pasted dialog and scenes from his other novels to make up the first 700 pages of this one. It was deja vu, with all the same characters, and all their same viewpoints. I don't recommend it for anyone, and I won't suckered into buying the next one. Goodbye Tom.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time.
Review: Was this book worth 2 1/2 months of my time. No way! If I had no other books to read or nothing else to do, then this book was pretty good. But it does not compare to previous Clancy novels nor does it stand on its own as a high quality novel. Where is the action? Where is the suspense? Looking back, what exactly happened the first six hundred pages since there was no action or suspense. I guess it was filled with events leading up to the climactic battle between China and Russia, an event we all knew was going to happen based on the title. This novel had no suspense. We all knew what was going to happen in the end. Also, having the same characters in every novel gets kind of old. Clancy needs to create a new line of refreshing characters because he often assumes we remember these characters from previous novels and the characters are turning into cardboard cutouts that are just there to further the action. Not a good effort from Clancy. I used to like his books because they were long enough to be worth the money I pay for them. I hope he does better next time.
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