Rating:  Summary: Technical Problems Review: If you like Clancy as I do, you will like this book. But, it is not Clancy at his best. It is essentially a "Jack Ryan and friends" novel overlaid onto actual historical events. At times it seemed rather contrived. There are some technical glitches that were distracting, e.g., Page 1 describes the PX as selling groceries when in fact it is the Commissary that does that. Clancy I believe should have known better. Elsewhere, Clancy stretches credulity when he has Ryan picking up Starbucks coffee stock in 1981 when in fact Starbucks wasn't a publicly traded company until a few years later. I am familiar with the history of the period and the whole book seemed to me like it was constantly trying to fit Jack Ryan into the events of 1980-1981 but that may be one of the hazards of overlaying fiction onto historical fact.
Rating:  Summary: Not up to his standards Review: Wow, I was looking forward to this book, and it was quite a disappointment. Poor editing results in deja vu - you'll swear you have already read sections of the book, and you will be right, just turn back a few chapters. I don't know what the ditty about mad dogs and englishmen is, but I certainly don't need the reference at the beginning _and_ end of the book. The technical details that drive ( or bog down depending on your point of view) his other books are not present in this one. He needs to stop writing for the sake of movie plots (ie young Jack ala Affleck) and return to President Jack.
Rating:  Summary: Red Rabbit - audio version Review: I love to listen to audio recordings of thrillers while I exercise - but this production was a terrible disappointment. The performance is monotonous and the character portrayal lacks distinct colors, tones and nuances. I look forward to reading the book - but would dissuade anyone from purchasing the audio version.
Rating:  Summary: Clancy's Formula Getting Stale? Review: Having read all of Clancy's previous Jack Ryan books, I was very disappointed in his latest effort. It stuck me that Clancy's formula is getting stale, he is getting lazy, or he finished writing this book in a hurry in order to meet a publishing deadline. The first 500 pages of this 600 page book resemble a typical Clancy effort with multiple plot lines and heavy detail. However, at about the 500 page mark it is as if Clancy decided he had to wrap this book up in a hurry. Anticipation and suspense disappear, and plot developments become predictable because of the known history about the attempt on Pope John Paul II's life. As a result, the story falls flat. Like many other authors that have sought to wring every possible story out of characters that have captured readers imaginations, Clancy's imagination seems to have reached the bottom of the barrel with Jack Ryan in Red Rabbit.
Rating:  Summary: Giant Yawn Review: Just echoing the reviews before me, but this was a giant yawn and a waste of time. Clancy is the master of the techno-thriller. However, Red Rabbit is a spy "procedural" in the genre of John LeCarre, but Clancy ain't no LeCarre. All the previous war, military, combat, technology, special forces emphasis covered up the fact that Clancy is a bore. Take away all that, as he's done in Red Rabbit, and you have nothing.
Rating:  Summary: Two words - nothing happens! Review: A techno-thriller when the most exciting part is a shopping spree? C'mon Tom, it's dog-track time. This is the one that killed the franchise for me. The last one had some action, at least, despite its obnoxiously racist tone. This one has NOTHING going for it...
Rating:  Summary: Only for the money ----- Review: Tom Clancy was on the local TV station recently promoting a book signing. I was going to go, but after seeing this interview, I don't think I'll buy any of his books again. He was arrogant, insulting, and if you read between the lines, he now writes only for the money, he "doesn't like to write."
Rating:  Summary: A Hard One To Digest Review: RED RABBIT, loosely based on real-world events, revisits Jack Ryan's early CIA days in London, prior to his meteoric rise within the government ranks. He is debriefing KGB defector Oleg Zaitzev, who reveals a high-level Soviet plot to assassinate the Pope. This revelation pits Ryan against political enemies and allies which test his fortitude and put the balance of world power at stake. True to form, Clancy hands us heavy doses of technical information, evidence of his genius for laborious research. I found this "regurgitation of knowledge" a bit hard to digest, considering that the fast-paced dialogue and relentless action he is known for is all but devoid from this book. RED RABBIT is a valuable source of information, but can prove to be a formidable challenge, even for the most die-hard Clancy fan. It tends to read more like a 618-page documentary rather than a work of fiction.
Rating:  Summary: TOM IS BACK Review: Yeah, after going off into never land with Jack Ryan as president, Tom is finially back to writting about our favorite characters doing what they do best. Definately a book that will keep you up late at night...:)
Rating:  Summary: Rabbit retread Review: Tom Clancy needs a sabbatical - and a fresh idea. Fans of Jack Ryan might like this one, but only if they want to read for the umpteenth time about a broken back from a helicopter crash, fear of flying, and Dr. Catherine Ryan, M.D., FACS, and world's greatest wife. Clancy has few original thoughts in this "retracing" of Jack Ryan's early years. Basing his story line on a long known theory about the Soviet and Bulgarian governments' involvement in the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, Clancy goes to even greater lengths than usual to stretch a 200 page story into about 650 pages. The story itself is predictable, as is the outcome of Mary Pat and Ed Foley's extraction of a KGB defector with critical information regarding the attempt on the Pope. John LeCarre left George Smiley alone after three books. It is time for Clancy to move on to something more fresh and to a new character. Retire Mr. Clark, Domingo, the Foleys, and, yes, Jack Ryan, and come up with something relevant in these post-September 11 times.
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