The Teeth of the Tiger

Rating:
Summary: Clancy's efforts to carry on the Ryan series don't pay off.
Review: The Teeth of the Tiger represents Clancy's effort to get himself out the corner into which he has painted himself in the Jack Ryan novels. By making Ryan the President, Clancy made it impossible for the character to move around and pull of the heroics of the earlier books. In Rainbow Six, Clancy turned to John Clark and kept Ryan offstge. Here, he swtiches the focus to a new generation of characters -- two nephews of Jack Ryan and Ryan's son, Jack Jr. While this a good idea -- none of the original characters were getting any younger -- the plot of The Teeth of the Tiger strains plausibility, even for a thriller.

In his earlier books, Clancy portrayed the CIA as highly capable. Now it is described as bureaucratic nightmare, incapable of fighting terrorism. Instead, now former President Jack Ryan (before he resigned the Presidency for reasons that aren't clearly explained) created a self-supporting, very small organization designed to identify and kill terrorists. Ollie North testified that William Casey actually considered the same idea -- he thought that by taking the profits from Iran-contra, he could create a version of the CIA that got no federal funds and thus could function without Congressional oversight. Here, the organization that is created is so small that it is ludicrous to conclude that it could accomplish anything. The organization gets its information by evesdropping on NSA-CIA traffic. Somehow, two or three people (most of the time one person, Jack Ryan, Jr.) is able to ferret out of this immense amount of information the names and location of terrorists. And then the organization's two (yes, two) field agents are able to quickly find them and kill them.

The book is filled with other implausibilities -- to get Jack Ryan Jr. involved in the action, it is suddenly decided the two agents need backup, although they've had no problems up to that point. Junior is sent to back them up even though he has absolutely no field training.

Readers should be aware that this book appears to be the first in a series; much of the first third is spent setting up plots for which there is no resolution, and the main villain has not been identified by Ryan Jr. and company by the end of the book.

There are a few set pieces that Clancy will enjoy -- a shootout in a mall, the details of how people can be smuggled in the U.S. and other examples of Clancy's research. But if this had been Clancy's first book, I don't think he would have had much of a career.

Rating:
Summary: less than gripping
Review: This is not a very believable tale and the Jack Ryan Jr. character is not very exciting. The plot is thin and predictable. Clancy does a lot of name dropping, with characters from previous books in the Ryan series, but this one just doesn't have much of a story to tell.

Rating:
Summary: setting the stage
Review: This book is not the usual Tom Clancy read...he is just setting the stage for future books, with the introduction of a few new characters and very little action....I was disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, even by recent Clancy standards
Review: Clancy made a name for himself with bold, imaginative plots and excellent pacing. Even as his recent books have become loaded down with political commentary and the author's ruminations on faith, they at least retained some of this original spark (think of some of the scarily visionary elements of Debt of Honor or Executive Orders).

Teeth of the Tiger has none of that. The plot is bland and workmanlike. The somewhat promising idea of an alliance between terrorists and drug cartels is never really explored. Having exhausted the possibilities of his first crop of characters (where is there to go after being President?), Clancy now brings us the even more incredible son of Jack Ryan, who has all the makings of a future Dirk Pitt. Clancy's socio-religious musings are present and accounted for, but offer little insight beyond the standard blandishments that "all religions can be twisted" and "Islam and Christianity are fundamentally the same."

Most disappointing, though, is the fact that this book is so obviously intended as the first of a series. There's no resolution of key plot elements, and after enduring a lengthy set-up of Ryan Jr., his assassin cousins, and the clandestine outfit that they all work for, the book ends just as it's starting to get mildly interesting.

If you're hungry for Clancy, re-read "The Hunt for Red October." Even the 5th time through it's better than "Teeth of the Tiger."

Rating:
Summary: Sadly disappointed
Review: I never thought I would say this about a Clancy book but I feel ripped off by this book. This one should be called "Teeth of the Tiger, Part 1" since it obviously stops in the middle of the story. If I didn't know better, I would swear that Clancy wanted to get the book on the market but just didn't know how to bring it to a close.
I have every one of his other books & have enjoyed them immensely (I've read each of them at least 3 times each). I don't expect to be re-reading this one anytime soon.
Will I buy the next Clancy book? At this point, I really don't know. Maybe I'll read a copy from the library & before spending my money since I don't feel that this one was worth it.
Sorry, Tom, but you'll have to try harder next time.

Rating:
Summary: Not destine to be a classic.
Review: While this book was an easy but interesting read, it lacks the multi-dimensional character that I appreciate in a Clancy novel. This book reads more line an "Op-Center" or "Net Force" than full-blown, classic, Clancy. There was nothing really surprising in the plot or ending.

I appreciate the characters and the background. I hope this is an introduction to a cast that we will see in the future, embroiled is some great global conspiracies.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to his standards
Review: I was dissapointed by this book. The characters (especially Jack Jr.) are not very sympathetic and the plot seems like a retread of some of the better Clark stories. The ending was not only abrupt but also unsatisfying; it reminded me of the stories that used to be serialized in newspapers, when I read the last page I turned it over looking for the next chapter. All in all I would say get it from the library or wait until it shows up in a used bookstore.

Rating:
Summary: First in a series?
Review: I love Tom Clancy books, and this one was excellent. It appears that it may be the first in a series about the next generation of the Ryan family. I hope so. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it ends rather abruptly. I suspect a sequel is planned. If you like Clancy, read this one.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent action
Review: Tom Clancy fans will certainly enjoy his latest installment and those who have never read Clancy before will be drawn in by his always timely "what-if" plot. You don't need to have read a Clancy book in the past to enjoy this action thriller, although characters and events from past novels are referenced now and then, this novel stands on its own. Not nearly as dense as past novels nor as difficult to get into. This novel has fewer complicated characters to keep track of and begins in mid-action. The plot deals with the idea of fighting back against terrorists in an unconvential manner. Interesting and entertainig both.

Rating:
Summary: Clearly the first part of a series
Review: This book is a very typical Clancy work. If you like his past work, you will enjoy this one.

One prime difference is the length. It is only about 430 pages, which is about half the length of his typical novels. And the length is indicative of the story, it works like a book that has already been completely written and this is just the first part.

In addition, this book is about Jack Jr. not President Ryan. The backstory (as told in the other books) is referenced in this book, but even that back story seems ineffective at building Jack Jr. I think the reader is expected to assume that Junior is a younger version of Jack Sr. And as such, there is not a serious attempt at building this character separately from his father.

I probably have been overly critical in this review. Clancy's works are full of suspense and intrigue, and generally written well. This one is also, but it could have been better.