Rating: 
Summary: the weakest offering in the Ryanverse.
Review: This book was a step backwards for Tom Clancy in several ways. With the exception of Without Remorse (which detailed the origins of John Clark), Clancy's novels have been fairly chronological. Red Rabbit takes to a time shortly after Patriot Games but still before the events in Red October. Jack Ryan has only recently joined the CIA (instead of being President as he was in Bear and the Dragon). He is assigned a job in London working as an analyst and assisting the British Intelligence Agency (MI-6). Much of Ryan's part in Red Rabbit involves what is little more than an introduction to his character....a character that we are already well familiar with by this point. I suppose Clancy is showing us how Ryan became the man we meet in later books, but to me it felt like unnecessary exposition. The main thrust of the story involves a Soviet (because we are now back in the early 80's during the Reagan administration) plot to kill the Pope. This links up with the true life attempt of the life of the pontiff and since none of the other Jack Ryan novels references an assassination of the Pope, we know from the start what the end is. This removes most, if not all, of the dramatic tension in the novel. What is interesting about this book is not the plotting to kill the Pope, or even Jack Ryan's section of the novel, but rather with the tension involved with the conscience of a Soviet KGB Communications Officer who learns of the plot. This ties in with Ed and Mary Pat Foley, who are the only interesting American characters in the book. Readers will recognize the Foleys from previous Clancy novels. As they are active participants in the novel (unlike Jack Ryan), their part is interesting both as narrative as well as for the characters themselves. To be perfectly honest, this is a very weak offering from Tom Clancy. I expect more from him because he has raised the bar awfully high. I can only recommend this book to fans of Clancy who wish to read the entire Jack Ryan series, but even for these people I must recommend that they go in with low expectations...maybe they will be surprised. As for me, I look forward to reading Teeth of the Tiger and hope that it is a return to form for Tom Clancy.
Rating:
Summary: Good premise, poor execution, no editing
Review: Nobody can fault Tom Clancy for his plot ideas. Red Rabbit takes the real life shooting of the Pope in 1981 by the enigmatic (read weird!) Mehmet Ali Agca and poses an interesting question - what if this was actually an attempt by the USSR to silence the pope on the issue of Poland? A cypher clerk within the KGB pieces together various messages and realizes what the target is. At this point his conscience sounds an alarm; can he allow this to continue? Must he defect so as to warn the Western world? Should he run - in CIA parlance, become a Rabbit? Meanwhile Jack Ryan has been seconded to work with the British in London for a couple of years. He's right in place to work issues requiring cooperation between the US and the UK governments. Although he's an analyst at heart, he has seen action before and surely he'll see it again? Using this as a basis, a tight, gripping, suspenseful thriller could have emerged as the CIA and MI6 attempt to get their Rabbit out of the USSR and try to protect the Pope's life. Alternatively we could have had an intriguing insight into the motivations of a defector. Unfortunately Tom Clancy succeeds with neither. There is practically no suspense in this book. In fact at times I threw my hands up in the air and wondered why on earth Clancy hadn't introduced a problem, a conflict at key points that seemed to be crying out for one. An example: We are told about the randomness of searches on the workers leaking the KGB HQ - great, that sets us up for a thrilling sequence where our Rabbit might get caught. Nope, we get absolutely nothing along these lines. No tension, no signs that it might happen, no fretting. Nada! It's almost as if Clancy was trying to write a novel where nothing really happens - that he wanted to show a more random nature to the spy game. Well, it didn't work for me. He also wants to dig into the psyche of these individuals, I feel; unfortunately he's no John Le Carre and what we get is repetitive, boring, rambling. The repetition in this book is almost unbelievable - there seems to have been zero editing even of the basic kind, let alone the more brutal editing that was necessary. Some parts of the book let us in on the lives of the families but, for the most part, they are just irrelevant. Cathy Ryan has started a new job in London too at a prestigious hospital - great, but I don't need to hear about it unless it actually ties into the story! Clancy uses his setting in England to display his knowledge of British phrases - he actually uses the word "loo" without explanation at one point! ;) For the most part this is OK but there were a few things he got wrong that jarred me, a Brit who's lived in the US for a few years. One thing that really annoyed me was that he seems to think that the problem with Britain's National Health Service is due to lazy doctors who run out to the pub in mid operation. There's plenty of problems with the NHS but it's not lazy, incompetent doctors that are the issue! On the plus side the book is relatively easy to read. Although it's overly long and repetitive, the pages go by quickly and it would be perfect for it's target location - the airplane! It was also interesting seeing a book set in the early 80s but written today. You could tell that it wasn't written at the time it was set but, on the other hand, it's not long enough ago that it seems historical. In conclusion, I wouldn't get this book unless you are a huge Tom Clancy fan or have read everything else in the airport's bookstore!
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst books I've ever struggled through.
Review: I like Tom Clancy. With the exception of the new hardcover now out, I've read all of the books he alone has written. One of my favorite books by any author is his "Red Storm Rising." However, this one, by far, is his worst. It is also one of the worst books I've ever completed reading. I wonder if Clancy was really the author. He (or his characters) drone on and on endlessly discussing the same internal questions over and over. Was this book ever reviewed by an editor? I suspect it wasn't. If the fluff could have been removed from this junk it would have been at least 25% shorter. Even if you're a Clancy fan, skip this one. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: It's not Bad. Not Intelligent Enough?
Review: The reason people don't like this is because it doesn't follow the standard Clancy formula, which is written for the impatient reader - Big Bang, Bit of story (always entirely predictable - but rightly so), aversion of a bigger bang. It's unfair - This is a good book Don't get me wrong, the Jack Ryan Clancy series are some of my favourite books because they are interesting. This book has taken a real hammering by the critics for not following the norm - which to me is unfair. I applaud this book for being different to the series. It's not as good a read as the other Ryan books, but it's by no means bad. The more intelligent of you will like this book. Those who only like action should read this book and try to understand the real world. I hate prequels but this book was only supposed to show more to the story of Jack Ryan.... Perhaps it should never have been done, but it's too late to change that now and hey it's not bad as long as you can understand that books don't need all action. Look at Fredrick Forsyth - His books are almost totally preparation for an event. They are (in my opinion) much better than any of the Clancy series (not including Forsyth's terrible short stories). Quite simply this book could not have been slated the way it should. It's not the best of the Ryan series, but it is good and is worthy of its place on the shelf. If your reading the entire series - you have to read this book, and try to be intelligent enough to understand why it was written. Read it, understand it and enjoy it. Form your own opinions. In mine It's not bad.
Rating:
Summary: I would give it Zero Stars
Review: Don't waste your money. If Tom Clancy has to push out this rubbish to make a living then it's time to give up. The story is so weak - anyone living through the time can figure out what'll happen. Ryan spend more time complaining about British food, drinking British beer, worrying about the world series and being afraid of flying than actually progressing the story! And the wife! Why waste our time reading about plot-less narrative? She plays no part in moving the story forward. With a little more imagination she could have been placed outside the story altogether. Instead we have mundane conversations on railway trains and concerns about surgeons drinking at lunchtime. So, if you want to read this, go to the library and not reward the author. While you're there, have a look at Len Deighton's "Game, Set and Match" series - you'll see what a good story about that era really is.
Rating:
Summary: Not as much action, but still an enjoying read
Review: This book was fairly good, overall. I do think that Tom Clancy should have put some more action in it, because there wasn't anywhere near as much in Red Rabbit as there was in The Bear and the Dragon or Rainbow Six, (which is one of my top two favorite Clancy books. The other book is Without Remorse. If you haven't read either of these, I highly recommend them). The suspense in Red Rabbit comes not from action, but from the details of espionage. Yes, if you read the whole book, the details become quite overwhelming, but that's what audiobooks are for. They give you the condensed, managable version of the story without bombarding you with unncessary details. I got the book from the library, and started to read it, but soon lost interest in it. So I got the audio version of the story and listened to it once. It was a bit confusing, but I went back and actually read the whole book, and I got much more out of it the second time through. The concept of re-reading is important for books like this. Probably the most suspenseful part of the story is how and when they plan on rescuing the "Rabbit family". It's gruesome and sad, in a way, but it is probably the high point of the story. After that, the rest is pretty much self-explanitory, because it's basically an 'Okay, what do we do to stop the Pope from being assainated' thing on the part of the CIA and the Brits. The end was disappointing, because if you know anything about the Pope being shot, you know that he survived. If only he picked a different plot, instead of using one everyone knows the outcome to. Overall, it was ok, but as I said, the suspense doesn't come from action. It really doesn't live up to Clancy's previous works, but if you try to consider it as a story by itself, instead of comparing it to his other books, it's pretty good.
If only he'd write another book that focused only John Clark and Rainbow...
Rating:
Summary: I won't blindly buy a Clancy book again!
Review: Normally, if I see a book written by Tom Clancy, I buy it. That won't happen again! I was very disappointed with this book. It plodded along for the first 300 pages before it got mildly interesting and once the Pope was shot, it ended with many questions unanswered. One was left to wonder what happened to the Rabbit family in America, who are the Minister, Neptune, and Cassius. What is the "Masque of the Red Death"? Sounds like a cliffhanger sequel to me! Other things I did not care for were some of the slang that wasn't right for what might have been used in 1981. I.e.: sh..burger, wimp out. Also, I wish I'd counted how many times "Getting the Rabbit out of Dodge City" was used! All in all, not the "Tom Clancy" of old. I was extremely underwhelmed.
Rating: 
Summary: Who wrote this?
Review: After reading the first 50 pages, I couldn't help but post the question here that had been nagging me since I started Red Rabbit. Who wrote this? Is this the real Tom Clancy? Did someone else write the earlier and decently written books? Or did he write those and this is yet another ghost written book, only unattributed? Has Tom Clancy grown so sellable that editing is unecessary? Is he arrogant and uneditable? I search for an explanation because this book is miserable. It is poor writing, plain and simple. I can't finish it and wish that I hadn't spent the five bucks in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Foleys!
Review: I just reread it couple weeks ago. I agree with some of the previous reviewers about the profanities, one of the main reasons that it's lost a star. However, I still enjoyed my visit with the Ryans and Foleys. I confess to not having picked up one the World Series, since I'm not a baseball fan. Maybe such things are why I didn't seem to get as annoyed with the book as others have.
Actually, I found the book to be a bit easier to read without as much of the techno-babble as in the previous books. Not that I couldn't understand them, but sometimes I just got tired of reading about the technology. People's thoughts are interesting in a different way to me. I liked the Zaitzevs.
The strength of Mr. Clancy's work, for me, is that the details make the Ryan universe very real. Usually his novels are well researched and accurate, and that's what we've come to expect from him. I gather from reading some of the comments that there were some errors this time I've not picked up on. Just as well for me, I guess. But somebody definitely dropped the ball then. A writer needs his editor, even if he is Mr. Clancy. But I'll say this much in Mr. Clancy's defense - and judging from most the comments, he needs one - how many people do remember off the top of their heads when Terminal 4 was built? Or who played whom in a particular World series? I'm sort of a fan of certain sports, but I'd be hard pressed to name from year to year who was in the finals of even the sports I do follow. On the other hand, there is another book I just read recently where mathematical facts were wrong, and the reader could calculate for himself or herself that it was so based on the information given in the very book. (Simple division.) So there you go. It's a different level of error, in my eyes. Although, yes, Clancy should have checked up even on those two errors I just mentioned. If he wants to hire me as a fact checker, I'd gladly do it..... :-)
All in all, I found the book enjoyable enough, if a little rushed at the end. I think it's an improvement over Bear and Dragon, anyway. If we could give half stars, I'd probably give this three and half, but being forced to use whole numbers, I'm rounding up for this one.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book
Review: I have never been so annoyed by a book as to wish to write a review of it. This book is not worth buying. it is truely atrocious. It has no tension, it is inconsistent and is a total waste of time. I have already wasted enought time on this. Enough said
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