Rating: 
Summary: Ugh!
Review: I haven't sat down to write a review on Amazon.com for quite some time. "Red Rabbit" has motivated me to end my silence.I look forward every other August to a new Tom Clancy novel -- not the supermarket checkout ghost written "Ops" books or his non-fiction. To say the least, "Red Rabbit" is the most disappointing Clancy novel to date. The story is a decent one -- KGB's plot to silence the Pope -- but Clancy constantly repeats information about his characters, mostly Ryan. How many times do we have to be reminded that Ryan was in the Marines? A history professor at the Naval Academy? Or that his perfect wife Kathy disapproves of his smoking? How many times do we need to be reminded of the "Patriot Games" plot -- to kill Ryan and the Prince of Wales at Ryan's home? The constant reminders distract a reader -- even the newest readers of Clancy's work. Also, a some inconsistences: the "Rabbit" is referred to as a Captain of KGB as well as a Major. Unless KGB has a peculiar ranking system, Mr. Clancy's editors should have weeded that sort of error out. My advice: Go back and read Red Storm Rising!
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood may be disappointed, but I certainly wasn't
Review: Only one gun is fired in the whole book. The only explosion is a single case of arson. Hollywood is probably extremely disappointed. But this one of the best Clancy book I've read to date. If you've only see the movie adaptations of Tom Clancy's books, this is probably not the book for you (look to the 'Net Force' or 'Op Center' series instead). However, if you've enjoyed his books like 'Hunt for Red October' or 'Cardinal of the Kremlin', this book is pure espionage, a stimulating page-turner. The principal character of Jack Ryan spends much of his time waiting in the wings, but Clancy breathes life into the character of a Russian Captian (RABBIT) who's conscience compells him to defect in order to prevent a KGB murder plot. Familar characters from the Ryan series abound in this book (some only by name), but by far the most interesting is RABBIT - one of Clancy's talents that is so enjoyable in his books is how well fleshed-out his charcters are (maybe that's one of the reasons the movie-versions are always so disappointing to me). Set in the early 80's, some of the 'predictions' of the future can be hard to swallow at times (hindsight being 20/20), but Clancy did a nice job of taking a point in history where we already know the outcome, and still making it interesting enough to want keep flipping pages. For me, the end lost a little momentum (loose ends - not as exciting, but the audience still wants to know what happens), but all-in-all, a good read. I am only wishing now that I hadn't given my copy of 'Cardinal' to a friend moving to eastern Europe - that would make a good follow-up read.
Rating:
Summary: ??? ! ! !
Review: This a major let down on Clancy's part. I wont waste my time on this book any longer than i have to. There are only 2 or 3 shots fired in the entire book. None of which are of any consequence. I am 14 and have read all of Clancy's books except for "Red Storm Rising". This is obviously the worst yet. I reccomend that you borrow this book from a friend. Dont bother wasting your own money on it. I love all of his books. The only one I hadn't liked so far was "The Bear And The Dragon", But this is going way too far.If you want to buy his best book of all time, buy "Rainbow Six". I hope this sends you a very clear message.
Rating: 
Summary: HUGE FAN...WORST CLANCY BOOK EVER
Review: This was ther first Clancy book (written by him) that I can honestly say [was bad]. Usually I end up taking a whole day to finish a book because I become engrossed. This book was laborious and at times I was tempted not to finish it at all. The pseudo-revisionist history should be left to authors like WEB Griffin as Clancy has proven that he can not take a historical precedent and weave them into his tail. The characters were never fully developed yet the ending was pretty much assured from the first time you heard about the pope. DISAPPOINTING with a capital D.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: As a diehard Clancy fan, this was easily the most poorly written of all of his books. I was eagerly looking forward to reading his newest installment, but it did not take long to realize that completing this epic would be challenging, at best. The pages and pages of forced dialogue from the Ryans and the Foleys were excruciating. The conversations between these married couples seemed to have been written by a 13 year old girl. Does anyone really talk like that? And the constant references to Cathy's times at Johns Hopkins and Jack's at Merrill Lynch were not only repetitive, but lame as well. There was little excitement or suspense throughout, and the historical references and timeline seemed to be entirely out of accurate context. Overall, an extremely disappointing read.
Rating: 
Summary: From an American who lived in Moscow
Review: I heartily disagree with the majority of the reviewers. Tom Clancy's "Red Rabbit" seemed so real to me. It readily brought back to me the time when I attended a semester of college in Moscow. I was one of the relatively few Americans living in the Soviet Union when Brezhnev died. The Russians could not believe that their motherland was being described as 'the evil empire.' Although warm and friendly in their own homes, Russians didn't smile out in public--and I rarely do now. For me "Red Rabbit" was a gripping--and so very believable--tale of intrigue. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Red Rabbit
Review: After reading Red Rabbit I thought about Tom Clancy's first book and why for the past 17 years I have purchased and read his stories. Red Rabbit does not live up to any of the reasons I began reading Clancy novels. The story is long and takes forever to get going and when you finally think something interesting is going to happen it doesn't. His dates are incorrect. (He has the Falklands War happening before the Pope being shot, just one of the many) He reviews old Soviet & Russian history over and over again. Enough! No one cares anymore about the Soviet Union. It's DEAD! Move on, the Russians have Thank God!
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Reminder of History
Review: This is one of Clancy's best novels. I like it for three major reasons: First, it gives us a human scale story of people trying to change history by specific actions. Second, it reminds us that the Pope, President Reagan, and Prime Minister Thatcher showed real courage and real determination in taking on the evil empire of the Soviet Union. Third, it may reach a younger generation who has grown up since the fall of the Soviet Union and for whom this is unknown ground (certainly their news media and their academic experience will have done nothing to teach them about an evil empire, a brave pope, or a heroic President and Prime Minister). The story is straightforward. The Pope, the first Polish Pope in history, sends a letter to the Polish Communist dictatorship warning that if it continues to repress his people, he will step down as Pope and come home to suffer with them as their bishop-this from a man who had suffered under both Nazis and Communists before being elevated to Rome. Anyone who saw the Pope's recent pilgrimage home to Poland will appreciate his love of his home country and his people. Andropov, the last decisive leader of the aging Soviet oligarchy decides that killing the Pope is the best way to deal with the threat. A young Soviet communications clerk cannot stand the crisis of conscience that the idea of killing the Pope creates for him and decides to defect. Then the race is on. The story never slows, the people never cease to interest, and the sense of how history unfolded in this critical moment is powerful. It is worth remembering: no Pope, no President Reagan, no Prime Minister Thatcher, no end to detente, no end to coexistence, no end to the Soviet Empire. This book is a nice reminder of that fact.
Rating:
Summary: I will wait for more reviews next time!
Review: This should have been a sub-one star book. With all of the advances Tom Clancy gets for his books, It is obvious he is counting on sales history to get a dud through. With only three shots fired in the whole book, (and none at or by Ryan) I was dissapointed with the action level. This was a sub-parr effort for Mr Clancy. I'm not ready to give up on him, but I won't be so anxious next time. This one was a total waste of time and money!
Rating:
Summary: Needed to Fulfill Contract
Review: Tom must have owed the publisher another book by a certain time. I'm a big fan but this was a joke. Read the other reviews. It's not worth it for me to repeat what this book was NOT.
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