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Summary: Tom Clancy and Jack Ryan: The Seinfeld Years
Review: Tom Clancy's faults as a writer are legion, including repetition, mangled grammar, upside down syntax and endless rhetorical questions ("But I was a bad writer... wasn't I?"). For the most part, though, there have been compensating pleasures, not the least of which are intriguing, multiple story lines that eventually (often too eventually) join somewhere in the middle of the book, at which point the reader, happily surprised, is hopelessly hooked. There are the insights into military technology, "spook" procedures and Weltpolitik, no matter how simplified. And, of course, there is the often compelling character of Jack Ryan.In "Red Rabbit," Clancy has managed to emphatically display all of his faults and none of his virtues (clearly there was no editing of Clancy's effort, but that is a problem common to all best-selling authors). I confess I read the book voraciously, waiting for the "good parts" (there were none) that are the inevitable reward for the patient Clancy reader -- even the lamentable "Rainbow Six" at least had John Clark and more than one good shoot 'em up). If "Seinfeld" is a show about nothing, but really isn't, "Red Rabbit" is a book about nothing, and really is. Ryan, the bedrock of Clancy's fiction (though we might sometimes wish Clark had that role), is vapid (can we care about any character who calls his wife "babe"?). The Foleys, so impressive in "Cardinal of the Kremlin," among other books, here have an invisible child addicted to "Transformer" video tapes (they're so proud) and are able to speak to one another via sign language in a dark bedroom (told you they were impressive). Our view of the demigods of the CIA -- Moore, Greer, Ritter -- make us wonder how quickly they can cash in on their pensions and leave the Agency to the tender mercies of those who are at least mildly incompetent. What is remarkable is that all of these characters have had proud moments in previous Clancy books -- no matter what the chronology of the "Adventures of Jack Ryan." Clancy's decision to return to Ryan's beginnings (minus "Patriot Games") was a good one. The demise of the Soviet Union has left him grasping for story lines, so why not go back to the future? But while he went back, he did not move forward. When Ian Fleming (who is frequently disrespected by Clancy) faced the same problem for James Bond, he replaced SMERSH with SPECTRE. Fleming was successful. Perhaps Clancy needs to revisit the Fleming books.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to the usual Clancy standards
Review: At his best, Tom Clancy has written impossible-to-put down novels like 'Cardinal of the Kremlin', 'Clear and Present Danger', and 'Sum of All Fears'. These books showcased Clancy's ability to juggle multiple, often disparate plot threads, before bringing them together in an edge-of-your-seat denouement. Unfortunately for Clancy fans, 'Red Rabbit' represents a nadir in Clancy's career. Taking its plot from the loopy right-wing notion that the KGB conspired in the attempted assassination of the Pope in the early '80s, is the novel's major flaw. Since we already know how that turned out, much of the suspense that is a hallmark of Clancy's writing is absent. The story is told in four closely related plot threads: the Politburo's scheming, the defection of a KGB insider, the assistance of the Foleys in the defection, and Jack Ryan's behind the scenes analysis of the situation. Previous Clancy novels have built suspense and anticipation on Burns's principle of the best laid plans going astray. A tiny flaw in the plans of the Good Guys or the Bad Guys leads to major consequences. In 'Red Rabbit', this suspense never materializes. What should have been an exciting, final hundred pages describing the exfiltration of the KGB agent is instead a straightforward read in which everything goes according to plan. Apart from the agent, none of the principle characters are ever in danger; it's a bit like playing a video game in "god mode." Compounding this is a repetitiveness in Clancy's prose that quickly becomes annoying. We are told innumerable times that Jack's wife's job is "cutting eyeballs." Mary Pat's cover as a ditzy blonde is explained again and again. The bizarreness of the Hungarian language is discussed ad nauseum. The overall effect is that Clancy sketched out a plot, and had a team of ghost writers flesh out the details. Clearly a heavy-handed editor was needed to reign in this project. Alas, doing so would probably have cut a 618 page novel down to a concise, nonrepetitive 300-page effort that would be too atypical of the standard Clancy tome. Despite its repetitiveness, and a needless digression into the horrors of socialized medicine, it's still a good read. Clancy at his worst still exceeds lesser espionage writers. His descriptions of spy "tradecraft" are excellent, expanding on many of the descriptions of the superior 'Cardinal of the Kremlin'. Hard-core Clancy fans are sure to enjoy it, but for those new to Clancy's writing, one of his earlier novels would be a better choice.
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Summary: A great 250-page novel - too bad this one is 600 pages!
Review: Tom Clancy had it all. His first four novels were terrific, and I literally stood in line to buy each new volume. Then, Mr. Clancy somehow made the grave mistake of believing he was above editing. His last four or five books are readable, but barely. Red Rabbit is unquestionably the most overwritten book I've ever read--which is to say Clancy could have used ten words when he used 40. Red Rabbit is WAY too long, and the plot drags along in places in a way I've never seen in a book from a major publishing company. The backstory on Jack Ryan should have been interesting, but this boring manuscript makes me seriously wonder why I would ever buy another Tom Clancy book again. If you love this author's early work, avoid this book--it will singlehandedly destroy the Jack Ryan franchise for you forever.
Rating: 
Summary: Great read
Review: I have to disagree with all these reviewers. I love this book. Filling in the blanks of what happened between Patriot Games and Hunt for Red October was a great idea, given that Jack Ryan in the present Clancy Universe is President. I find this book to be imaginitive, and a page turner. I just hope he gets back to John Clark again, I would love to read on some of his adventures in the cold war.
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Summary: Don't Bother
Review: Tom Clancy missed the target on this one. It was slow, dull, predictable and too religeous. This book is one that, once you put it down, you don't want to pick it up again. Disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Red Rabbit
Review: Tom Clancy is past his prime. The character of Jack Ryan has only one place to go, and that is godhood. In the future, I'll wait a very long time before I jump into another Clancy novel.
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Summary: First Clancy Novel I Can't Finish
Review: Let me start by saying that I am normally a big fan of Tom Clancy's fiction - in fact, since "Hunt for Red October" I am usually one of the first in line to buy his books when they're released, and then proceed to read the book cover to cover immediately. That said, this one seems like he was writing it to fulfill his quota to the publisher (i.e. "we'll pay you $xx millions to come out with four books and this is the fourth). As noted above, nothing happens for the first 600 or so pages, except repeated references to "I think this (Cal) Ripken kid is going to be OK" and other tongue in cheek historical references (Ryan deciding to buy stock in Starbucks for example). There is simply put, no action at all in this book of the kind we've come to expect from Clancy. While it purports to be a techno-political thriller, it's missing the techno, and even the political part is humdrum at best. Tom, if you're reading this and you're out of ideas, how's about a Ding Chavez adventure, or Robbie Jackson for that matter? Like many of your readers, I love the way you weave the same characters into many of your stories - you've got so much to work with! In my humble opinion Jack Ryan has become a dry well as far as plot lines are concerned, and if nothing else this book makes that obvious. By the way, there's a reference midway through where one character remarks that his NY Yankees are headed for another year in the "stovepipe league" and how that "new owner" has done nothing, and "How can rich people be so stupid" - most self respecting baseball fans would know that 1) Far from doing nothing, The Yankees won back to back World Series in 77 & 78, and would lose the 1981 (the year this story takes place) World Series to the Dodgers & 2) Anyway, Steinbrenner bought had owned the Yankees for eight years already by 1981...
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Summary: What's with the all the venom this book has been getting?
Review: Although this is not as good as the Hunt for Red October or the Cardinal of the Kremlin, and is a bit slow, it is far from Tom Clancy's worst. Sure the Cold War may be history, but this doesn't make the book any less enjoyable. Actually, it reminded me of The Day of the Jackal (though The Day of the Jackal is a better book)
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Summary: An awful lot of pages for very little story
Review: When you buy a Tom Clancy book, you can usually expect 2 things: #1 - An awful lot of pages, and #2 - Jack Ryan saves the USA from some bad guys (communists, terrorists, politicians, etc.). This book delivers #1, but not #2. This book is something of a prequel to earlier Jack Ryan books, and focuses quite a bit on the Foleys in Russia. Most of the Jack Ryan prose has to do with his adjusting to living in England. And another Clancy staple, the unrealistic dialog, is also annoyingly present. In one *brief* phone conversation towards the end of the book, Jack Ryan calls his wife "babe" 5 times, "honey" once, and "Cath" another time. And in just about every private conversation in Clancy books, each person has to mention the other person's name in at least every other sentence. I find it very annoying, especially with the Russian 3-word names. As other reviewers have noted, the "action" in this book really doesn't start until near the end. I found this book to be relatively lifeless & disappointing, especially at 600+ pages.
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Summary: Waving the White Flag
Review: Like most of the other reviewers here, I used to be a big Clancy fan. As usual, I bought this book the day it came out and hoped that the last novel (The Bear and the Dragon) was an aberration. Wrong! This book proves (at least to me) that Tom Clancy's interest isn't in writing good books anymore, but rather collecting his royalty checks. He's given up. Put a fork in him. Believe the reviewers here who say that nothing happens in this book-- it's true. This is a 100 page novel stretched into 600+. Even as a 100 page novel, it wouldn't be very good. The plot is simple-- The Soviets want to kill the Pope; a Russian defects and tells the Americans/British; Jack Ryan tries to prevent the assassination, but fails. While the defection had possibilities of being exiting (remember The Cardinal of the Kremlin?), Clancy makes it boring (get in the back of a truck, drive accross the border and board an airplane for London). As for the assassination attempt, let's just say that for drama, it's no Day of the Jackel. But no one pays $$$ for 100 page novels (especially those with Clancy's name on the cover). So Clancy needed to provide the fill. A typical chapter is as follows: Person wakes up. Person eats breakfast. Person goes to work on a train/subway. Person has deep philosophical thoughts. Person goes home. Person talks with wife. Person goes to bed. Next chapter, same thing, but with a different person (although for some reason, the deep philosophical thoughts remain the same). This goes on and on and on WITHOUT ANYTHING HAPPENING! In addition, for a guy who supposively is into detail, Clancy drops the ball here as well. The novel takes place in 1981 (easily verified because that's when the Pope was actually shot), but Clancy has Ryan bragging about the Starbucks IPO (which didn't take place until 1992). The Foley's (who I found kind of dull) apparently got out of Iran just before the embassy was taken over in November 1979 because they were about to have a baby. In Red Rabbit, the baby should be about 18 months old, but instead is 4 and is constantly watching the Transformers, a cartoon show that didn't debute until September 1984. Clancy has Baltimore and Philadelphia playing in the World Series (it was actually the Dodgers and the Yankees in 1981; Baltimore and Philadelphia played each other in 1983). Adm. Greer keeps talking about the Orioles' rookie shortstop being something special. (Well, I guess you could call Cal Ripken's .128 batting average (over 39 at-bats) in 1981 special.) All of this stuff was easy to figure out, which begs the question-- if Tom's not trying, why should we? Please save your money and your time-- they are better used elsewhere, I promise.
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