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Summary: is clancy a has been?
Review: There is no question Clancy sees himself as a patriotic american. he has proselytised the great american values in all of his works. and I agreed with them in most occassions. I have always thought he makes a legitimate point weather I agreed with him or not. the latter is simply because he uses facts to back up all this points. this book, however, strays from his usual facts based arguments. I find his points on international free trade to be shallow and inaccurate and his knowledge of China next to nothing. I have not finished reading this book and I must say deviations from facts make this a very daunting task. as a result, I must ask, is clancy a has been?
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Summary: Keep it up Jack Ryan!
Review: Clancy does it again! While certainly not his best work, this one is in-line with not only the technology of the times, but also with the politics of the time. China breaks out as the real villain in this continuing saga of Jack Ryan and one thread of potential history. Like every Clancy novel, this can be read cover to cover at least once, then reread as an abridged version - just picking out the action parts.
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Summary: Tom: Find a good editor -- SOON!
Review: This is an example of a good first draft. TC needs to find a good editor and streamline the story. B&G is at least 200 pages too long. The dialog is trite and adolescent...not worthy of the adults in the story. If TC wants to advance his political agenda, he should involve himself in politics. But to make his characters his voice is boring after awhile, and ultimately useless, because I skip over those parts. The Jack Ryan of Red October would slap Jack Ryan of B&G for whining so much.It would serve a better purpose to write 200-300 pages of an encyclopedia of characters and events. I didn't have the luxury of re-reading the last five TC books to prepare for B&G, so I missed out on some of the references. At the very least, use a few pages of the current novel to tell us where and how we first met these characters. The last 200 pages -- the battle -- are standard, enjoyable, Clancy. If you can survive the first 800 pages, then you have earned your treat.
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Summary: Where's Tom Clancy and Who's This Guy
Review: I've been a big fan of Tom Clancy ever since Hunt For Red October and I have to say that this is by far his worst book ever. The plot was so predictable I knew the end before I'd gotten halfway thru. The characters are beginning to resemble cardboard cutouts, without anything to make them human. Maybe Tom just needs to take a break, much like he had Jack Ryan do between Sum Of All Fears and Debt Of Honor. A couple of years to recharge his mental batteries and regain his edge.
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Summary: Bomb
Review: I am a long time Clancy reader and a former fan. The story line was excellent. But first, the reader must get by all the profanity, bigoted, racist, and chauvanistic remarks and action. The right wing "whining" by Jack Ryan became very tiresome very early. Give me a break. Yes, the whole world knows the extreme Republican Right Wing knows what is right for EVERYONE. And the rest of the public is too stupid to know what is best for all concerned. Clancy has great story ideas. I hope he can catch a clue and go back to writing great books and forget his extremist right wing tendencies.
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Summary: How the mighty have fallen
Review: Tom Clancy used to write really good books but his last few have been on a downhill trend. I gave up on this at page 196!
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Summary: The first Tom Clancy book I couldn't pick up...
Review: As a person who studied foreign policy and military affairs in college, I always found Tom Clancy's books extremely interesting and factually accurate. Unfortunately, while he's keeping up with technological changes, this book was incredibly slow and much more overtly political. I agree with other reviewers about the unkind view of the Chinese in this one too. If you are new to Clancy's work, skip this book and go back to read the Cold War classics. I never did read the last 30 pages of the book -- I simply stopped caring what happened.
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Summary: Clancy has been better.
Review: I have read all of Clancey's books starting with The Hunt for Red October. Unfortunately, this is not one of his better works. It is slow to develop, makes too many references to previous books, and asks the reader to believe a quite preposterous notion of the our Chinese friends. If I had to rank the Clancy books: 1) Hunt for Red October, 2) Patriot Games, 3) all of the rest, Last) Bear and the Dragon.
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Summary: Not Red Storm Rising but not bad
Review: Mr. Clancy has published yet another example of why he is the king of the technothriller. Filled with military minutae, it delivers an enjoyable, if not smooth, read. At 1028 pages, it may me overlong, but Clancy is able to use that length to put you in the heads of those who make the decisions and those who pull the trigger. I've heard people complain that Clancy shouldn't keep bringing back the same characters, but I appreciate the continued presence of characters like Robby Jackson, Dan Murray, and the Foleys. Even the recurrence of Gennady Bondarenko is fitting. Clancy has created his own universe, and keeping the same characters adds continuity. As far as this being a racist book, some people need to lighten up. Was Debt of Honor a racist book when the military characters referred to the Japanese as Japs? Or was Red Storm Rising a racist book when it referred to Russians as Russkies, or Reds, or Ivan? In short, it was a solid effort by Clancy. He needs to step out of the box some more, as he did with Rainbow Six and Without Remorse, but the book delivered an enjoyable read, bad parts aside. I gave up looking for the perfect book long ago, but I still appreciate a good read.
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Summary: I get a pat on the back just for finishing it...............
Review: The plot was good as usual. Nobody knows more technical stuff than Clancy and his assistants. But this book is just too damned long. He could have whacked about 300 pages from this book and the reader wouldn't have missed a thing. If you've read all of Clancy's novels to date, you'll have to read this on too just because it's Clancy.
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