Reviews

The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy

mistyfall's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

serjango's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

saustin28's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Characters lack realism. The 'good' guys are all the archetype of good. The 'bad' guys are all either dumb or evil, with very little in between. 

Also, the amount of patriotic dialogs in the book seem less about the viewpoints of the characters themselves and more about an attempt by the author to induce patriotism in the reader. 

The plot is exciting and fast paced, especially towards the end of the book. The technical details are very well researched and provide an extra layer to the book for those who decide to delve into them. Clancy is also really good at developing a large cast of seemingly unrelated characters and slowly coalescing the different storylines into one penultimate event. 

Overall, a very good story, but one that could have used a little more gray-area in the morality of the characters, and one that felt a little preachy at times.

tagoreketabkhane31's review against another edition

5.0

Having completed the book, I can see why this is listed as among the best that Clancy wrote in the Jack Ryan universe, and why it’s listed as one of the American novels to read. Not gonna lie, it took a bit to really get its pace - since the story plays out across the Atlantic and you bounce between multiple POVs across seventeen days for the submarine hunt between three navies, but once you get about 100 pages or so in, the book gets you hooked. Leave it to Clancy to make a book about submarine and sonar skills interesting for a plethora of readers. Onwards to the next adventure in the Ryanverse!

themspeterson's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

noellyh's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

j_cb5757's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.25

crustypatriot's review against another edition

4.0

Such a great first book from such a well known author in Tom Clancy. One of the most well researched books about technical details of the navy, submarine warfare and the cold war in general.

While this book has its issues, including way too many characters to keep track of and the great assortment of technical details about submarine warfare that went over my head, it was still such an enjoyable experience. I understand why Tom Clancy is a household name. And such a great debut novel at that. 4.0 out of 5 stars.

noahreadsome's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

dvornik575's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0