Rating: 
Summary: the bear and the dragon
Review: I have read most of what clancy has written and in this case, feel he has out done himself in delaying the action in order to provide himself with a forum for his conservative views.Of the 1024 odd pages, the action didn't start until I had fought my way through at least 720 pages of really boring dialogue dealing with issues such as Jack Ryan's views on Roe V Wade. To me ,everything has a place and clancy's views on that subject do not belong in an adventure novel, fiction at that. Whether I agree with clancy's views or not I bought the book for pleasure not to listen to his political opinions. Once the action started , I don't feel he was writing at the level of "A RED STORM RISING" OR "RED OCTOBER". Those stories had you right in the action racing to the next page.it didn't happen here.
Rating:
Summary: Losing It
Review: Sadly, this latest effort is well below the standard of the Jack Ryan series. Briefly.... - It is overlong but then has a rushed conclusion. - Clancy has taken to using characters as little more than mouthpieces for his own political opinions. Come on Tom, if that's what you think then have the guts to say it yourself. A Clancy book on his opinions of modern american politics may offend many readers but at least it would be more honest than doing things this way. - If you are going to refer to the British PM as 'Tony' then don't have him speak like some member of the aristocracy...."I say, old chap, time we sorted out those damn Chinease." - I'm intrigued...having read all the Ryan novels I dont recall one of his predecessors getting up to the alleged horizontal activities to which Ryan frequently refers; did i miss book somewhere or is someone opinionising again??? - And finally, unless i am totally stupid the Euro does not exist as a tangible currency in Europe yet. There are no Euro notes or coins and won't be until next year. Someone should tell all those Russians who seem to be spending it quite happily.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, not great, but still to Clancy's high standards
Review: Not as technical or as in depth as his previous novels, this book still kept me entranced and I couldn't put it down. The action is fast-paced (mostly), but as is usual for a Clancy book, it takes a while to get going. However, the first pages that other reviewers found could be tossed really build up the story. Not everything can be canned into quick and short bites. Sometimes things take a while to develop. In this case, one seemingly small event keeps snowballing into bigger and more serious problems and I feel Clancy does this well.Jack Ryan is the President (or Prime Minister) that every country should have - a real person, and not a politician who has never worked a real day in his life. Bravo to Clancy for creating a leader that real people can identify with. Keep 'em coming Tom! Eventually, Jack is going to have to retire - who's the next big character?
Rating:
Summary: Not quite up to the previous standards
Review: I will be the first one to admit that I am a huge Clancy fan, I buy all of his books the day they come out. While doing a great job of manipulating the readers emotions over the happenings in Communist China, the book does seem overly long, with a rushed ending. I would have liked to see some of the loose ends wrapped up better. There were a lot of typos in this book. With as much money as Putnam is going to make off of this book at $28.95 per copy, pay an editor (or run spell check for God's sake) before printing hundreds of thousands of them. The scenes with the Rainbow troopers were covered too lightly, and the bedroom scenes were covered too heavily. I can't complain about Clancy's political posturing, because I happen to share most of his views on politics. I really enjoyed this book, but it is not as good as his previous efforts.
Rating: 
Summary: Tom! What Happened?
Review: I was there the first day this book was avaliable, bought it 10 minutes after the bookstore opened, and 600 pages into it on my vacation..... I wish I was at the dentist, or something less painful than reading something that is NOT up to his typical quality of writing. This book plot has some good ideas, but with VERY POOR editing and an obnoxios obsession to try and make Jack Ryan a "President of The People" the book fizzles and dies. The racist and obnoxious actions in the White House around Ryan turns you off to the book instantly and the slow pace at which the plot unfolds really makes it difficult to get to what Clancy does best. Talk about Tanks, Guns, Blood, Guts, and Glory. Unfortuately when you get to it, It doesn't compare to previous works like Red Storm Rising, which after reading 10 times is STILL a page turner for me. This book drags and dies, although I finished it I would be hard pressed, even as a die hard Clancy fan to recommend this book to anyone. I think it's time to move on to a new set of characters or to something similar to what he did in the Red Storm Rising. PLEASE TOM! HELP US!
Rating:
Summary: The Bear and the Dragon
Review: I thought this was a good book. If I can read a 1028 page book in three weeks it has to be pretty good. I'd like to see more action with Ding and Clark though. They are two of his best characters. Ryan's choice for a VP was excellent and any true Clancy would agree. This isn't the greatest book he's ever written but it wasn't a bad one. Another good book is The Lion's Game by Nelson DeMille.
Rating:
Summary: Did not meet my expectations
Review: I am a die-hard Clancy fan, so it's difficult to write a weak review. In short (and it wasn't) I should have read the last 200 pages where Clancy is at his best - classic "on the spot, feel's like you are there" battlefield tale. Engaging, realistic, detailed - first rate stuff.This "grande novella" took forever to pick up steam - about 800 pages of background is just too much for this fan. I kept waiting for the action...I liked the Ryan persona, and the CIA spy thread, but the rest of the detail and character development was lost on me. John Clark and Rainbow Six's appearance on scene was contrived and didn't feel right to me.I expected better quality from TC...but I will, of course, be signed up for his next one. Guess you can't do a gold medal every time.
Rating:
Summary: Need more cussing
Review: Hey Tom I think you need to use the F word or GD a little more. Every other sentence was just not enough. Normally I can read a Clancy book in 3 days. The last 2 I have had to make myself finish. This one should have gone straight to paper back.......
Rating:
Summary: if a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters...
Review: A rambling, incoherent, confusing jumble of racist cliches. This is what happens when someone is paid by the line and their VISA bill is due.
Rating:
Summary: If you can get through the first 900 pages it ain't bad
Review: Just finished it and threw it on the stack of the rest of my clancy collection. Looks to be the thickest one yet, although the stories have changed from "techno-thrillers" to Tom Clancy's view of the politicians of the world. He devotes hundreds of pages to setting up a storyline which is blown through in just a few pages. All and I found it disapointing, longing for the days where Jack Ryan was a small character and Jon Clark wasn't an old grandfather. I think there needs to be a new story line, his first books weren't so closely sequenced, and quite frankly a lot more enjoyable to read.
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