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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh boy.
My dad lent me this when I asked him what his favorite book was. He said, "I don't know if it's my favorite or the best, but I want you to know I was reading this book when 9/11 happened." And then handed me the seventh Jack Ryan book. I've never read, seen, or engaged with any Tom Clancy stuff, not even the video games. So I came in a little blind.
I can appreciate life imitating art and art imitating life in ways that make your blood run cold. There's my dad's synchronistic experience of reading a book that ends with a 747 flying into the capitol building, during 9/11's immediate wake, and I wrote about DC getting swarmed and overrun on January 04th of 2021, just to watch it happen in real life two days later.
But this book is bad. It's a good ol' boys club book that doesn't make sense most of the time. It's silly. It's misogynistic. It's often confusing for no reason. There are some DOOZIE bad sentences within that made me pause to wonder if anyone had edited it. I could spend time deconstructing it, but that isn't worth it.
It's 766 pages, and it shouldn't have been more than 300. I loathe big books. They have to justify their heft and time commitment, and so few do.
My dad lent me this when I asked him what his favorite book was. He said, "I don't know if it's my favorite or the best, but I want you to know I was reading this book when 9/11 happened." And then handed me the seventh Jack Ryan book. I've never read, seen, or engaged with any Tom Clancy stuff, not even the video games. So I came in a little blind.
I can appreciate life imitating art and art imitating life in ways that make your blood run cold. There's my dad's synchronistic experience of reading a book that ends with a 747 flying into the capitol building, during 9/11's immediate wake, and I wrote about DC getting swarmed and overrun on January 04th of 2021, just to watch it happen in real life two days later.
But this book is bad. It's a good ol' boys club book that doesn't make sense most of the time. It's silly. It's misogynistic. It's often confusing for no reason. There are some DOOZIE bad sentences within that made me pause to wonder if anyone had edited it. I could spend time deconstructing it, but that isn't worth it.
It's 766 pages, and it shouldn't have been more than 300. I loathe big books. They have to justify their heft and time commitment, and so few do.
I am reluctant to read. Lance books due to their length, but having been an inspiration for just about every author I read religiously, I feel I need to do so.
Although I am reading this book 25 years after publication, it still is so well written and researched that I have trouble putting it down.
With that being said…..I HATED the ending to this book. HATED. I found it unbelievable and somewhat ridiculous.
Although I am reading this book 25 years after publication, it still is so well written and researched that I have trouble putting it down.
With that being said…..I HATED the ending to this book. HATED. I found it unbelievable and somewhat ridiculous.
Too many characters, too much tech, too convoluted, too contrived. This isn't his best book. A failed epic.
A 3.5, but for the ending. After Hunt for Red October, I'll admit I wasn't too excited to get into another Clancy. I enjoyed Rainbow Six, but my attention to detail can only be held so long. Nice of Clancy to shift from Russian-bashing (though his stereotypes still grate on me- in this book, he managed to insult the Russians, Japanese, Arabs, and women from what I remember). The submarine/plane details again get a little heavy, particularly around the 600-700 page mark when you just want someone to attack already. But in general, I appreciated the multiple storylines Clancy crafted and linked together. And despite partially guessing what would happen with Jack in the end (come on, what other reason for the rape case?), the way it played out was captivating, if not a little too close to home. When you feel energized by the end of a 1000-page brick, the book warrants an extra half star.
Did anyone who read this book pre-9/11 NOT think about it in the days that followed? And how do you think Clancy felt?
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Tom Clancy's novels decline pretty quickly in quality beyond The Hunt For Red October. The good guys become too invulnerable, the villains too mustache twirling, the thrills less thrilling.
This is the last good one. Rather than be confronted with a problem that can be solved through direct military action, the US must deal with asymmetric attacks on its economy, navy, and some allied islands. No essential US interest is at stake from the overt attacks, and the enemy claims to have a nuclear deterrent. This is the kind of situation you could see the US having to deal with from North Korea or Iran someday. How would you, the reader, deal with this crisis?
Of course, but did he really? Consider the ending of the novel . Perhaps, unintentionally, Clancy makes a case for pacifism after all.
This is the last good one. Rather than be confronted with a problem that can be solved through direct military action, the US must deal with asymmetric attacks on its economy, navy, and some allied islands. No essential US interest is at stake from the overt attacks, and the enemy claims to have a nuclear deterrent. This is the kind of situation you could see the US having to deal with from North Korea or Iran someday. How would you, the reader, deal with this crisis?
Of course