Rating: 
Summary: Too long
Review: I have read all of the previous Tom Clancy Jack Ryan novels, and I found this to be the most disappointing. It took him 500 pages to describe to us that the US had an agent in China and that agent was getting laid, and that someone tried to kill the former KGB head. Does Clancy get paid by the word??? By the time I got to the actual battle portion of the novel (about page 850) I just wanted this damn novel to end. And the ending was rushed and much too quick. Clearly all of those early pages of writing wore Mr. Clancy out.
Rating:
Summary: Shoot the Editor!!
Review: Tom, what the heck happened here? Whether or not you put out an interesting novel anymore is up for discussion. However, please don't insult your incredibly loyal and fanatically devoted readers with multiple typos and other editorial nonsense. We deserve a refund or at least an explanation
Rating:
Summary: Shoot the editor!!!
Review: Tom, what the heck happened here? Whether or not you put out an interesting novel, please don't insult your devoted fans with typos and other editing nonsense (virtually the same sentence 2x in the same paragraph). I think we deserve a refund or an explanation.
Rating: 
Summary: I LIKED IT A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: SUE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I liked this book!!!! I bet more then half of the people that gave this book negative reviews did not even finish the book! There were times when i was getting bored or discouraged BUT i kept with and and after I was done I WAS VERY SATISFIED!!!! i liked the ending! Some of the subplots are annoying but I didnt mind it that much. This book was 100 times better than "Rainbow Six" A must buy BUY IT NOW
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: As not only a Clancy fan but a Jack Ryan fan, I held out 48 hours before buying the book despite the fussing by my wife's "wait for the paperback." I am sorry that I did and I want my money back. The book fails on several points most of which are terminal for me as a Clancy and Jack Ryan fan. The first and the least of Clancy's errors is overuse of the F-word. Yes, yes, I was a sailor and can swear like one, but the gratuitous use of that word diminished the story, the Presidency, and Jack Ryan. Jack, ol' buddy, you are better than that. The work was used in the wrong places as well as overdone. Next, Clancy has Ryan drone on and on about how he hates this ******* job as President. Alright already! We knew that from "Executive Orders"--which BTW, this book is a re-dressed version. Has Clancy gone into a serial of President Jack Ryan like a cheap detective novel? We fans of that "Everyman we'd like to be" Jack Ryan are getting the first of many hints that our hero is breaking down into a terminal case of Character Dissolution. The use of sex and sexual language in this novel was inappropriate and dirty. While no prude, I was offended by its prurient handling and overuse to *no purpose*. There was nothing sexy or macho at all; it did not further story. Where it was found, bespoke of a wanker at the word processor. The old gang of supporting players were shallowly used and often out of character. These characters we have grown to like or dislike were used as simple props for gimmicks or quickly contrived devices. There was more depth of character in a kindergarten play for some of them. I liked Jackson, Ryan's best friend. I did not like him either by the end of the book. The character of Jack Ryan is broken. Clancy so poorly portrayed (is it "thoroughly betrayed") the character and with each passing page, Ryan was written more and more out of character. In the end of the book, he's a jackass and a fool. [...] There is a lot of cut and paste in in the book. You'll read several sentences and a paragraph or two twice or thrice. This book was rushed and poorly edited. There are errors of grammar and spelling through out. There are so many loose threads, we need to get Clancy over to Goodwill for another suit. He left Clark and Chavez out in the field. Then the story just ends. The novel begs for a longer ending, but it is just rushed. Poor story. [...]
Rating:
Summary: Only the techno-babble convinces me that Clancy wrote this
Review: Having read all of Clancy's "Ryan" novels, I have come to expect certains things from his storys: Much techno-babble, intrigue, impossible to pronounce Russian names, and Jack Ryan to the rescue. I also expect to enjoy the book. In "The Bear and the Dragon", we get the techno babble to the Nth degree(do we need the workings of an encrypted phone explained every time it is mentioned?),the Russian names and Jack Ryan. We also get is a story of marginal entertainment value, a large dose of Clancy's personal political views on everything from Clinton to abortion,story lines that seem to meander along and sputter, and very little reading enjoyment. Of course the ending has been commented on many times, with its screeching halt " I am tired of writing this story" ending that stretches believability to the limit. Aint it amazing where the last remaining missile is targeted? Overall, very disappointing, and ranks poorly when compared to any of the other Ryan novels."Oh writer of Patriot Games, hath though foresaken us?"
Rating: 
Summary: The Boring and the Draggin
Review: And I like Tom Clancy, BUT. Too long, too repetitious,too little editing, too many lectures, ...and yet you hang in to read about the new weapons and details of war. Jack Ryan is only in an action scene because he does something irresponsible. Who is left to be the enemy? The next one will be fascinating or forgetable. We'll see.
Rating:
Summary: Cardinal of the Crap-lin
Review: "Not his best work" is being generous. I've been a Tom Clancy fan since I first read "Red Storm Rising" while deployed along the Inner-German Border at the height of the Cold War. But this is easily the worst Clancy I've ever read. The editing is horrendous, if there was editing at all. The sexual innuendo is laughable at best, and totally unnecessary. The plot lines drag along with no apparent direction or cohesion. To top it off, it appears that Clancy's main goal was to include every character that had ever appeared in a Ryan novel - except Marko Ramius, I think. And the abrupt ending just left me cold. Bottom line - it's not worth the effort to read. I struggled through it, hoping to see the Clancy of old. He's not there. Don't waste your time. Better to pick up a Dirk Pitt novel by Clive Cussler - at least there's some excitement.
Rating:
Summary: The Clancy Formula Finally Fails to Produce
Review: Another country, another senseless conflict. In the past three "Jack Ryan" books, we have seen the US fight battles between Japan, a fictitious union of Iraq and Iran, and in Clancy's latest book, China. The formula that Clancy has dreamed up is getting increasingly boring. He is having to dream up insane courses of events that cause the US to do battle with a yet another enemy, thus allowing him to write another marathon, over-detailed, I-skip-ever-other-page kinda book. Clancy must think really poorly of the political ideologies and cultures of these countries in order to have the nerve to dream up some of the dialog that goes on in these books. Either that or he is cocky enough to believe that America is top-dog in every way, shape, and form. Jack Ryan, a once enjoyable and well respected character, was taken to previously unapproached levels in The Bear and The Dragon. Clancy has turned a once decisive hero into a bumbling weenie who whines about being President, and relies on the his underlings to perform his presidential duties for him. The only dialog spewed from Ryan's mouth falls along the lines of "I didn't ask to be put in this position" or "Why is being President so hard, Arnie?" What people learned to love about Jack Ryan in Red October and Patriot Games (and all books since) has been ruined. In my humble (and often stupid) opinion, Clancy should hang up his hat as far as the Jack Ryan chronicles are concerned. The formula is tired, and the latest books are a challenge to read. A little less pointless detail and a lot more plot couldn't hurt either. Man, I'm disappointed....
Rating:
Summary: Fiction or Reality ???
Review: I have been a Tom Clancy fan for years, and am half way finished with this book. I anxiously awaited a new "Jack Ryan" story. However I feel this book moves very slow and is hard to keep track of the characters. I think the basic premise is interesting especially since Congress is considering giving the PRC a favorite trade status. I wonder where fiction ends and reality begins. The book finally started taking off after I had read a third of the book
| 
