Rating: 
Summary: This is still the father of the genre!
Review: Clancy's Hunt for Red October remains the father of the
techno-thriller. It is an absolute delight for all closet submariners, and a real rush for anyone who loves
adventure novels. Clancy is a master of the gadgetry and
it shows. It is reassuring to see that he has recently brought his attention back to submarines, stating "ya
dance with the one who brung ya!"
Rating:
Summary: Best Tom Clancy Book to Date
Review: Hunt for Red October is the best novel written by Tom Clancy, far and away. If you only want to read one of his, this is the one. I read the last half of the book during one sitting because I couldn't put it down. As soon as I finished the last page, I started reading the book over a second time
Rating:
Summary: A good book, you will love it!
Review: A very good book, started out great but went down hill
Rating:
Summary: One of the best spy novels around!
Review: Tom Clancy makes the reader feel that they are living the part of the main character
Rating:
Summary: amazing techno-thriller
Review: I've read the book for many times. You simply must do that
because of enormous quantity of facts you find about sub-
marines, computers, sonars, planes, ships and, of course
intelligence. It's hard to believe for me that mr. Clancy
was not a memeber of any Intelligence organization when
he wrote this book. One more thing: it's definately better
to read the book first and then to see the movie. Otherwise,
one could be very dissapointed with movie and decide to skip this great book.
Rating:
Summary: Read before you see the movie!
Review: You really must read this short book (by Clancy standards) before you watch the movie. For me, this was the book that hooked me on Clancy. This is the definition of "a page-turner". I can see how seeing the movie might put some people off, but the entertainment from the book is just like being in the intelligence community
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting but fundamentally flawed
Review: I don't want to trash a really good book, but one aspect of this book is really off the mark. Tom Clancy's research is legendary so I don't know how this got by him. Captain Marko Ramius is the Lithuanian-born commanding officer on the Soviet nuclear submarine Red October. That's the problem right there. The Soviets would never, ever, ever, ever, ever let a Lithuanian (even a half Lithuanian) be captian of anything....ever. It never happened, it never would. So that ruined the beginning of the book for me.
Rating:
Summary: Taut, engaging, classic Tom Clancy debut
Review: If you want to know why Tom Clancy can get away with pushing off bloated, jingoistic right wing propaganda like "The Bear and the Dragon" off on the public, look no further than "The Hunt for Red October," Clancy's smashing debut. It was this novel that made Clancy a must-read.Whereas some of Clancy's latest works feel fat, flabby, and opinionated, "Red October" is a lean, mean thrill machine that goes heavy on the action (and the techo-details that would become a Clancy standard), and light on the right wing drum beating. Yes, Clancy comes down pretty hard on the Soviet system, but he doesn't beat us about the head and face with it (as he does with the Chinese in later novels). You all probably know the plot (who hasn't read this book or seen the excellent film adaptation?), but if anything, the concept of a rogue nuclear sub commander seems far more relevant after the death of the Soviet Union than it did during the depths of the Cold War, when this book was published. Along with "The Sum of All Fears," this book is my favorite Clancy novel. I only wish he'd go back to this brand of lean, exciting storytelling and give up the Limbaugh-wannabee schmaltz that characterizes his later novels.
Rating:
Summary: I did this for an English class so shoot me.
Review: The Hunt for Red October is Tom Clancy's first novel to gain major national attention. Its popularity has grown to such that it has even been used as the basis of a major motion picture starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. In addition there has also been sequels to the novel, involving the main character of Jack Ryan. What is it about this setup that seems so odd? Not many readers are excited by the technical gibberish that is so common in novels such as The Hunt for Red October. The confusion that usually associates itself with major modern science fiction novels deters many readers, but Clancy is able to make the reader not only understand, but feel comfortable with complexities that are present in the everyday lives of the characters in his novels.
Clancy demonstrates his tactic of reader comprehension by giving the reader a detailed and yet sketchy version of events. For instance, when the caterpillar drive on the Red October is first engaged, Clancy starts at the stem of the vessel and describes the system by following the path of the water. This simple yet effective method allows for the reader to imagine him or self being sucked through the pipes and moved through the labyrinth that makes up the Red October. Then in the next chapter the Americans learn about the caterpillar from Captain Skip Tyler, although the reader already is aware of that fact in a sort of dramatic irony.
In addition to the use of descriptive writing, Clancy also has many different situations in the novel, when a main character has to explain the facts of a problem in order to come to a workable solution. Ryan's meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff is crucial in the novel in order to convince the American Government to go after the Red October, but it also serves as an opportunity to inform the reader on the history of Ramius Markus, the Russian commander. Further briefings of this sort allow Ryan access to the British carrier task force and the Los Angeles class submarine U.S.S. Dallas.
Finally there is the fact that Clancy did not use fanciful designs of his own making in the telling of his story. Clancy used what was available and technologically feasible to the navies and the world of the day. He did not write a James Bond type novel with little gadgets that look like postage stamps, but really act as liquid explosive or anything like that. Even the revolutionary design of the Red October was entirely feasible during that time period. The Red October is a member of the Typhoon class of Soviet submarine, which during the 1980s threatened to wipe out the American way of life. Reader of The Hunt for Red October should realize that Tom Clancy is not only a fiction writer; he has written many books on the real life nature of warfare, Submarine and Aircraft Carrier coming immediately to mind.
So while maybe not the most exciting of a subject, Tom Clancy does a very superb job of making the reader feel as if he is right in the conning tower of a nuclear submarine, or the cockpit of a Harrier VTOL aircraft. Clancy's attempt to make all of his readers feel at home with warfare is a quality that will keep not only military historians and enthusiasts but, those of the civilian world coming back for more.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy's Best
Review: Tom Clancy has turned out some of the greatest military fiction ever written. This book sits on the throne at the top of the heap. Red October the very finest work of an undisputed master.
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