Red Rabbit

Rating:
Summary: red rabbit not too swift
Review: what a disappointment! seems TC is in a downward spiral, going from futuristic westerns (rainbow 6) to lackluster manuals on how NOT to write a spy novel. red rabbit has all the buildup of TC's novels of yesteryear, but unlike his older books does not materialize into an exciting climax. goes out with a whimper ...

and frankly, the writing style drove me bananas! how many times can he mention that ryan is a wuss, but his MARINE training makes him a man? and how many times can his wife (supposedly and intelligent woman) keep asking him about his work only to get the same answer - "honey, i can't tell you"? how many times can TC emphasize just how much ryan hates flying? christ, the book is full of clichés and redundancies, the characters and flat and boring, the plot is unsurprising and dull.

seems to me TC ran out of ideas but was pressured to produce yet another book ...

Rating:
Summary: not bad...not great
Review: No doubt- Clancy is a bit tired of writing Jack Ryan novels. Evidence includes his involvement in the myriad of paperback serials with his name on them and his string of non-fiction military books. But the biggest hint has been the continued downturn in the quality of his novels. "Rainbow Six" was good, but not really a Ryan novel. The "Bear and Dragon" was a cumbersome read and "Debt of Honor" was more a lesson on economics than anything else, despite it's eerie ending. His last gripping book was "Executive Orders", but is last great book may have been "Without Remorse", again not a Ryan story.

All this is to say that despite Clancy's apparent disinterest in Ryan and the book's non-action, the writer finds spots of intense interest. Clancy continues to write a characters mind very well and the tension does build at certain points. But without another world crisis for Jack to fix, the tension can only get so far. The book is long but reads quickly.

If Clancy wants to explore other characters (Mary Pat, etc), it would be better to do something like "Without Remorse" or "Rainbow Six", and leave Jack out of it. "Red Rabbit was not really a Jack Ryan story.

Complaints about anachronisms and historical accuracy are true, but they do not distract from the story, unless one is looking for another thing to complain about. Others have taken real historical events and turned them into excellent spy novels and other fiction. See William F. Buckley's Blackford Oaks series as evidence it can be done. Remember, that despite any author's attempt at social commentary, if they are writing a spy story it is meant to be fun.

Probably not worth the cost of a hardcover, so wait for the paperback or go to the library. For Clancy fan's it is a must, and the story does provide some additional back story to many characters in Clancy's world.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry Tom, Disappointed in Red Rabbit
Review: Don't get me wrong, I was hooked on TC since I first read "Red October" (and even own a first edition!), but "Red Rabbit" was too analytical, too political, and even had some unforgiveable errors: (lamenting Jack's lack of field experience, while referencing the Patriot Games events), it would seem that in the RED RABBIT world there was no Red October!

Also, Jack uses an awful lot of 1981 slang that I doubt a well-educated professor would use. His language skills clearly has devolved in this book, and it rings hollow (Jack's a smart guy, not some 20-something "dude".

Question: many references in "RR" to fax machines. Did they even exist in 1981?

All in all, I think Jack Ryan has been played out, but I suspect that the sequel to "RR" is already in the works, picking up where
RR ends; a plan to use oil prices (and star wars) to bankrupt the Soviet economy and usher in the era of Gorbachav.

I gotta say, the whole Soviet-era has become dull to me,

let's have more John Clark!

Rating:
Summary: If Newt gives It 5 stars...?
Review: Newt-ster. Come on!! This was not Clancy's best work. It's a pale reflection of the man's work. Cardinal of The Kremlin was 5 stars. Patriot Games was 5 stars. But this? Is dredging up the Cold War with a boring scenario the best he can do when the world of spying and intrigue has so much fodder to offer today?
To think they might make a movie of this. Groan. This one even Clancy's rabid fans have to shudder with.

Rating:
Summary: major disappointment
Review: As a huge Clancy fan, this is by far the worst. No suspense, forced dialogues and a feeling that Clancy needed to somehow fill 700 pages. Look at the large letters as a means to make it look "big".
If Clancy does not come back on track with his next book, he will loose lots of - still - loyal readers.

Rating:
Summary: Red Rabbit - latest Jack Ryan adventure.
Review: This book is out of sequence with the others, going back to the time just after the scenario of Patriot Games. Jack Ryan, after having burned down PIRA terrorists in the earlier book, is gun-shy in the field, totally out of character at this point in his "life". It is almost as if Clancy had left most of the work to a ghost-writer, collaborator, or editor, as in his series of Power Center books. The plots are good, as are the characters in snapshot. Unfortunately, few of them are recognizably developed, including Jack Ryan.
Overall, an interesting read with a good twist to the plot. I just wish Clancy had written it.

Rating:
Summary: The Young Jack Ryan
Review: Tom Clancy takes us back to the early days of Jack Ryans life. He is married and has a daughter and apparantly has saved the life of a member of the royal family of England but has not yet begun his political career. This book is based on the attempted assassination of the Pope but Clancy presents the reasoning and thinking of the perpetrators and the interceders. It very well could have happened as Clancy writes. Of course, as he lived to become the President, Ryan perseveres but how he does it makes interesting and true Clancy reading!

Rating:
Summary: Rather Tepid, Predictable and Unexciting
Review: This book was quite a dissapointment. Not that it is bad, but it was not up to Tom Clancy's usual standards.
There was no primary character or sense of danger, no real twists or turns, no excitement. Just a Ho-Hum narrative.
The book concerns Jack Ryan just after "Patriot Games" but before "Red October".
I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It never did.
The book is worth reading, but check it out from the library.
If this is your first Tom Clancy book, you will feel cheated, and wonder what all the excitement is about.
Any of the following would be a better choice for a first timer: "Patriot Games", "The Hunt for Red October", or "The Sum of All Fears".

Rating:
Summary: Not the best but still worth it
Review: This is by far not Tom Clancys best book. It followed an extremely linear storyline without much interest to continue reading the book. Many of the charcter descriptions were extremely repetive especailly the fact that Ryan used to be a Marine, which Clancy feels that is necessary to repeat every chapter.

But this is a book that you must read. The ending leaves itself open for a sequel that Clancy is undoubtbly already working on. I just hope that he fixes some of the many problems that plagued Red Rabbit.

Rating:
Summary: Zero stars for the rabbit
Review: Someone saw I was reading this and asked me how it was. I replied, "America GOOD! Russia BAD! Capitalism GOOD! Communism BAD!" I am a member of the 'read 'em all since Red October' club and I, too, am wishing I had read some reviews first. Stunningly bad dialogue. Heavy-handed jingoism. Blustering machismo, we've got it all. The Starbucks reference was when I almost stopped but I hung in there. Why I don't know. Really feels like Clancy phoned this one in.