Rating: 
Summary: Red Rabbit not too bad!
Review: Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit is quite an interesting read. It tell's a bit more about Ryan's early years as a spook with the CIA, though he's not the only star of this book.
The plot is simple; A KGB communications agent gets a conscience when he learns about Russia's plan to kill the pope, so he decides to defect and spill the beans before it's too late.
It's not as action packed as say 'The Sum Of All Fears' or 'Rainbow Six'. A good portion of the story deals with the CIA and it's British counterpart SIS in getting the Rabbit and his family out and it does tend to drag a bit.
But, for all that, you do get an interesting history lesson about Russia and it's neighbors and why they're so different from the West.
Clancy also deftly describes (Acronym's abounding) all the behind the scenes play of counter intelligence and espionage and every other spy scenario you could imagine.
It's been suggested over the years that Russia did in fact arrange for the attempt on the pope's life, and Clancy explains clearly why Russia was so afraid of him, and the story is quite plausible.
I recommend this book simply because it is extremely well written. Whether the subject matter appeals to you or not is irrelevant. I get the impression that this is the story that Clancy's wanted to write for years and it shows in his superior handling of the task.
Mission Accomplished!!
Rating:
Summary: MORE HISTORY THAN BULLETS
Review: I finally gave in and read this one after I had sworn off Clncy's books and I'm glad I did! The suspense is not heart pounding but the workings of the CIA and British Intelligence to prevent the assassination of Pope John Paul IImakes interesting reading. TheRussian plot to get some other national to do the shooting with another national doing the hiring is good planning to prevent the blame on them. But a trusted encoder in Moscow becomes upset when he realizes what the plan is.He decides to contact Ed Foley who he thinks may be CIA livng in Moscow.Indeed Ed and his wife areCIA and thru their work plans are made to notify headquarters and help plan the safe passage out of Russia for the informant. Meantime Jack Ryan and amily are enjoying the good life in London. And who starts to whine when he is to go to Prague to facilitate the safety of the defector? None other than our dauntless hero of action, Ryan himself! With all te moves and countermoves this book turns out to be an interesting read. Sure we knew the Pope was going to be shot and live to continue his mission before buying the book but the intrigue and history and deceptions are what make this one a good read. Borrow it from a friend or librarybut give this one a try.....and then wonder what would have happened if the Pope had not survived???
Rating:
Summary: Not the best but still interesting.
Review: It's about the early day of Jack Ryan. Now most people don't care about US vs Russia in past. We're talking about hi-tech war ( wargame? ). So I mentioned readers usually gave 2 or 3 stars ranking. Mr. Clancy made Jack Ryan, a hero with courage and charm, in series of fiction. The recent books ,such as Exective Orders, Debt of Honor is a climax of Jack's career as well as they made people image the real life. And Red Rabbit bring you back to 1990's. That why readers thought it's boring. But as fans of Jack Ryan, I am pleased to read some Jack's stories which fill gap of journey from CIA to President. It's not the best but still interesting. I hope we need not to wait too long for new Tom Clancy's fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as I thought
Review: I cringed at the side of yet another doorstopper, with memories of Bore that Dragged On (the bear and the draggon) painfully fresh.Not as bad as I thought. Many things from Ryan's past explained - in painful detal, I might add. It is, thought, a bit unnerving to read stories - plot-wise - backwards, but still, the book fills the missing bits. Could've been 100-150 pages shorter, without major loss of plot. Hopefully, NEXT Ryan novel will be spot on.
Rating:
Summary: A bit flopsy.
Review: Okay, so this wasn't everyone's favorite Clancy book. For those still interested, the book falls between Patriot Games and the Hunt for Red October. To classify this novel as a techno-thriller would be an injustice. This is more of a historical thriller based around the Soviet operation to assassinate the Pope. Clancy develops an intriguing back story that includes Jack Ryan, the SIS and the CIA. Along the way we get to meet a younger version of the Foleys, Admiral Greer and Bob Ritter. At first blush, this should have been a plot line that Clancy excels at--the old Soviet Union vs. the allied American/British intelligence services. However, before you write it off, you need to consider what Clancy has accomplished. While the gun play and the technology aspects of his other novels does not occur, there is the cat and mouse interplay between the KGB and the CIA. This a book better compared to John le Carre's THE CONSTANT GARDENER or the TAILOR OF PANAMA. Yes, we know the Pope will be shot, and Clancy (in some ways) fails to enrich the drama, but knowing the Pope will be shot and wondering why the good guys are going to fail is the other side of the novel--and it is an important side. There is a wealth of history in the information brought out by a defector from inside Moscow Centre's communicatiions area. There are the historical fingers pointing at well known spy cases (both here and in England). There is triumph in this book, it just doesn't go bang and boom all the time. Don't dismiss RED RABBIT, because there is a lot going on in this novel and there is a lot to think about why we spent trillions of dollars and 40 years defeating the Soviet Union. Douglas De Bono...
Rating:
Summary: Classic Clancy
Review: THE end of the Cold War made life difficult for writers such as Tom Clancy, taking with it much of his material.
While Clancy did turn to the new bad guys - terrorists - for a few books, in Red Rabbit he has turned back the clock and returned main character Jack Ryan to his days as a CIA analyst during the height of the Cold War.
Living in England, Ryan is asked to join the British SIS as a freelance analyst, with one of his first assignments being to debrief a high level Soviet defector.
The defector tells an amazing tale: top Soviet officials, including Yuri Andropov, are planning to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
While the Cold War once was quite frightening, it now seems tame in comparison to today's woes - at least no shots were fired.
Red Rabbit is comforting in a way, taking the reader back to a world that is further removed from today's harsh reality, as opposed to Clancy' later novels such as Executive Orders, which details an America after its president and half of Congress has been wiped out by a terrorist flying a plane into the Capitol building (a story told pre-September 11).
Red Rabbit is classic Clancy, but it doesn't have the complexity of some of his later novels.
For Clancy fans it will hold no surprises. The plot is reasonably paced but it turns out as you would expect.
If you're looking for a novel that holds some insights into the way today's bad guys operate - usually a Clancy trademark - you won't find it here.
However, if you enjoy a good read with enough action to keep you satisifed - and miss the days of dead drops and Russian border crossings - Red Rabbit is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Tom Clancy writes novel no one wants.
Review: I have been a big Tom Clancy fan. Since I first read "Hunt for Red October", I have loved the multiple strong characters and story lines that he blends together to make thrilling, compelling reading. That said, this book was BORING! The action in this book didn't start until around pg. 500 and wasn't in high gear until pg. 580. By that time, I just wanted to finish. Since I normally read paperbacks, I was even more disappointed by a book that I'd paid so much for. This book was a lot like "Star Wars 2". You already knew the start (of the "Jack and his friends" saga) and had seen the journey to its conclusion at the White House. Now Mr. Clancy has tried to fill in the blanks about his CIA characters that I really didn't care about. Trying to fit a story around details that have been told many times before doesn't make for easy writing. Mr. Clancy wasn't any more successful that George Lucas. The only thing positive I can say about this novel is that in carrying it around, I improved my muscle tone.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Rabbit
Review: For fans of Jack Ryan's escapades (of whom I am one) this novel gives some interesting background on his earier history. But I must confess to getting pretty overdosed on Jack Ryan's overload of accolades. Man he's got every honor and a "babe" (as he himself says) of a wife. I think I like Clancy better when he writes non-fictionally about war, cold or hot.
This was a page turner, but, like Micheal Crichton, Clancy missed a chance to connect with a younger generation of readers. This book, like his others and those of Crichton, seem to me to be aimed at Baby Boomers. Apparently, even when young, Ryan had it made. I recently discovered some more youthful military fiction in a strange place: Dinosaur Wars, by Thomas Hopp. In this book and its sequel, Counterattack, there is some great military action where our tanks and planes battle a force of space invaders. But the military is quite well researched and deals with younger, more modern soldiers: a tank commander named Vic Suarez, an Apache helicopter pilot and others. Quite realistic action, and the heroes are young soldiers yet to prove themselves. That makes for some great page-turning excitement. Clancy ought to read Hopp before trying another politico-military thriller. He might deliver more thrills then, with more relevance to younger, non-Boomer readers.
Rating:
Summary: Been There, Done That...
Review: How dissapointing. It seems as though our esteemed Mr. Clancy has given up writing about current events or even relevant topics. This book revisits the "Cold War Era" in what appears to be nothing more than a money grab by realizing that the story line of the hero, Mr. Ryan, as President of the United States, was just a little too far fetched. So, through the magic of print, he continues the Ryan sagas by setting this book mere months after the "Patriot Games" shenanigans.
It is time, I believe, to retire the Ryan stories, as well as the maddingly overused phrases "Been There, Done That..." (Once is too many for that gem),or "Get the Hell Out of Dodge City...", and lastly, the infuriating use of the word "Babe" after every second line of dialogue by Jack Ryan towards his wife. No one talks like that. Ever. It is these phrases and words that have done the most damage regarding my opinion of Clancy as a writer. That, and his penchant for using his books to slag Ian Fleming and the 007 series continuously. If this fellow wants me to shell out good money for another of his books, he'd be well advised to show more effort than just mailing in garbage like this. I would hazard a guess that it took me longer to read this rerun that it did for him to write it. Don't waste your time or money.
P.S.- Those giant aviator sunglasses Clancy wears in all his jacket photos...Been and Done, Tommy boy!
Rating:
Summary: Red Dog
Review: This book should have been titled "Red Dog", because it was a real barker. In his last two books, Clancy has become a boring, plodding writer who often strays into lengthy discussions by his characters that have nothing to do with the plot he is trying to develop. I have read all of his books, but "Red Rabbit" took me longer to read than all the others combined. I will not read another Clancy book unless he somehow returns to his old form.
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