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Summary: Clancy's best developed character-the submarine
Review: Beginner's luck. This is Clancy's first book and probably his best. This book features Clancy's best developed and most realistic character, the submarine. The story is well constructed and moves right along. As I started reading this book, I was afraid that the story would drag on with it taking forever for the Americans to figure out the Soviets secret. But that issue is resolved at the right time and the story moves right on to the next stage. In this book, Clancy concentrates on the action and the technology without getting bogged down too much with character development. The characters are developed just enough for the requirements of the story. It is when Clancy tries to expand these characters in later books that he falls on his face. Even Jack Ryan seems like an interesting, well rounded and realistic character. He is smart, but not too smart and he has real flaws. In later books, he is a one dimensional superhero. The only other Clancy book that is nearly this good is Clear and Present Danger. That one also sticks to the action with the characters just rounded off enough to support the story.
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Summary: The Kursk disaster brings it all back.
Review: The atmosphere created by Clancy in the Hunt for Red October seems to have come alive in the last week with the Kursk disaster. It is incredibly like the final scene in his book. The soviet denials, the submarine disaster, the co-incidence is phenomenal. There has never been a better time to read the Hunt for Red October. It is as relevant today as it was during the cold war days. Recent events show that things haven't changed at all in the meantime!
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Summary: Awesome, exciting, and very realistic
Review: This is a fanstastic book. Although I saw the movie before I read the book, I could not put this down. After finishing the book, I arrived at the conclusion that the book was loads better than the movie. I'd recommend the entire Jack Ryan series to anyone who enjoys reading. This book is great!
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Summary: benchmark for cold war thrillers
Review: Very simply put, this book will forever be the benchmark for cold war action thrillers. Clancy's first book still remains his best, (and considering his strong resume, that says a lot). A very difficult book to put down. Although the movie with Alec Baldwin is a strong adaptation, the book is still better. It is a classic.
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Summary: Best of them all.
Review: I must admit, I've read all of the Jack Ryan novels, and this is the only one that I continue to read every December. Clancy's first work is the best of them all. Fantastic plot, non stop suspense, and engaging characters. Possibly the best of the techno-thriller genre.
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Summary: The first and best.
Review: Clancy (like Michael Crichton with "Andromeda Strain") peaked with his first book. Although most of Clancy's book are far superior to those of his many imitators, the sequels to HFRO have been a failed effort to capture the magic of his early masterpiece. If you've enjoyed Clancy's books over the years, I highly recommend you re-read HFRO, his magnum opus. [Note: one of the many ways in which HFRO is superior to the sequels: Jack Ryan is presented as a very smart and courageous agent -- but not as the superman (if not demigod) he became in later books!]
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Summary: Enthralling . . .
Review: The Hunt for Red October is a great piece of military literature. It is full of suspense (unless you've seen the movie and know what will happen) and shocking detail. It's difficult to catch all of it if you try to go through it too fast. If you will just take your time and concentrate on it, it is exceptional. There are a few parts where the techincal detail gets a bit too involved, and it can get a bit boring, but just read through it and more action will arrive. It is a bit hard to understand since Tom Clancy tries to make sure that no one knows what is going on until it happens, hoping to build the suspense (and succeeding) but making it a bit tedious to keep reading and not know what's going on. I'd only recommend this to serious readers, because it is an intelligent book. If you just want the action, watch the movie.
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Summary: Clancy's Breakthrough Novel
Review: 'The Hunt For Red October' is without a doubt one of the most suspencful adventure stories in modern literature. The plot involves a Russian nuclear submarine captian who defects, with the boat, to the USA during the height of the cold war. I had seen the movie before reading the book and was surprised at just how much more complex the novel is. In addition to it being Clancy's first novel, it is the first appearence of Jack Ryan. This Clancy character is the backbone of nearly all his novels and is a hero that you can't help but root for. A wonderful introduction into the novels of Tom Clancy.
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Summary: EXTREMELY GOOD BOOK
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was well written,intriguing, and was impossible to put down. Before I go on about howgood this book was I have to say a couple things. First, I read this book only becasue I was told that the movie was good. Second, normally I do NOT like action books such as this. I prefer the historical fiction or real life fiction, not action. However, this book was fantastic. It was impossible to put down, the characters were real, and the plot was original. I could go on and on about how wonderful this book was, but I am sure some other people have already done that. Therefore, I am going to give you what I believe is an even stronger reccomendation. After reading this book I thought, maybe action books aren't so bad after all and decided to read some of his other books (Red Storm Rising, Cardinal of Kremlin, Sum of All Fears, and some by other authors) and they were not nearly as good. Now, I did read them, and couldn't put them down (especially Red Storm Rising) until I was finished. However, they just weren't as good. I finished them becasue they were suspenseful and I wanted to know what happened. But after I was done the other books were no where near as good as Hunt for Red October. So after reading other suspense-action books I have made a conclusion, not so different to what I thought beforehand, action-suspense books are not that while written and are generally bad books, with the exception of Hunt for Red October which is fabulous, and should be read by everybody, whether you are a fan of action or not. I personnaly have gone back to reading my real life fiction and are enjoying it much more. To end this long review I have one last thing to say, read Hunt for Red October, it is a FANTASTIC BOOK that should be read by all, and I HIGHLY RECCOMEND IT!
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Summary: hard to put down
Review: great story..clancys way of putting naval jargon in laymens terms is wonderful..interesting later cold war chess match, with the US weary of Russia and vice versa..i look forward to reading the whole saga in order
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