The Hunt for Red October

Rating:
Summary: His Best
Review: Other reviewers have said it: This is Clancy's best novel. In my own opinion, they are correct. Never again would the pace be so good, the right-wing jingoism so absent and obviously he couldnt plagerize his previous novels for plot points and entire lines of dialogue (Red Storm Rising/Bear And The Dragon anyone?)
The smaller subplots were absolutely delightful. My particular favorites are basically any of the couple of scenes with the battleship USS New Jersey and the mock-attack on one of the Soviet fleets by the Air National Guard A-10 Warthogs.

One side comment to JediMack from Valrico, FL who posted a review earlier. He writes: "Seems that there is debate as to which is the first Jack ryan Book. If Jack is single here and he is married in patriot games, so PG can't be first."
OK, in the chronological world of Jack Ryan, there are 2 books that take place BEFORE Hunt For Red October. First is Without Remorse (a young Jack Ryan has a cameo). After Without Remorse comes Patriot Games. After Patriot Games, comes Hunt, wherein Jack Ryan is indeed (Still!) a married man. Read closely my young Padawan!
In terms of the 'real' world, Hunt of course was published first.

Rating:
Summary: Great writing, compelling story with a sympathetic character
Review: I picked up this book a while back and worried that I would get bored by technical details and such. I had heard that Clancy gets deep into the jargon and technical aspects of war and war machines. I was quite pleasantly surprised!
The book immediately captures the attention with somewhat enigmatic but very engaging Marko Ramius. We want to know what he is doing and are very interested in his motivations.
Then we meet the now famous Jack Ryan. Clancy portrays his intelligence convincingly and he is a well rounded character. I wanted to get to know him better in the book, but that is not so necessary.
The details are well woven into the story, with plot events paced remarkably well. The book keeps our interest wonderfully and builds to a spectacular conclusion with the tension built almost perfectly as we root for Jack to get the sub commander straight before WWIII happens.
This is a speedy, engaging read; a nice intro to the rest of the Clancy novels.

Rating:
Summary: The Hunt for Red October
Review: I found this to be one of the best books i have ever read. if you are in to books about war type scenario's especially the Cold War this is definatly the book for you. I give my highest recommendations to The Hunt for Red October.

During the heart of the cold war the U.S.S.R launches a revolutionary state of the art submarine that surpasses anything the United States has engineered. It goes by the name of The Red October. Its headed by the renowned Russian sub commander Marco Ramius. U.S. Government Intel has shown the launch of the sub and has sent a fleet to try to intercept the Russian juggernaut. All of this leads up to a suspenseful thriller that keeps your heart pounding, and leads up to an explosive ending.

Rating:
Summary: A Work of Fiction for a Non-Fiction Reader
Review: As a reader of non-fiction, this was an excellent book to transition into fiction works. Clancy did an excellent job incorporating a lot of technical info into a great storyline. He develops the plot well and keeps the reader's attention by cleverly omitting the detail of what's happening until later in the novel. In contrary to what others have said, I feel that he does an excellent job capturing the thoughts and feelings of the characters and provides insight into the political struggles going on behind-the-scenes. Not only does he give the perspective of the American characters, but he also provides insight into the minds of the Russians. What would you be feeling if you were a Russian general giving up a good life in Russia for your own beliefs? Or how would a Russian ambassador handle a situation where he is forced to cover up what is really going on? Although I will concede that this book is not for everyone, if you enjoy reading about technology or politics/military (I include them together because they are very much intertwined), then I suggest giving this book a try. Hope this helps with your decision . . . .

Rating:
Summary: A Work of Fiction for a Non-Fiction Reader . . . 10-Years-Ol
Review: As a reader of non-fiction, this was an excellent book to transition into fiction works. Clancy did an excellent job incorporating a lot of technical info into a great story. He develops the plot well and keeps the reader's attention by cleverly omitting the detail of what's happening until later in the novel. In contrary to what others have said, I feel that he does an excellent job capturing the thoughts and feelings of the characters and provides insight into the political struggles going on behind-the-scenes. Not only does he give the perspective of the American characters, but he also provides insight into the minds of the Russians. What would you be feeling if you were a Russian general giving up a good life in Russia for your own beliefs? Or how would a Russian ambassador handle a situation where he is forced to cover up what is really going on? Although I will concede that this book is not for everyone, if you enjoy reading about technology or politics/military (I include them together because they are very much intertwined), then I suggest giving this book a try.

Rating:
Summary: The Hunt For Red October
Review: The Book The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy is one of my favorite books. I like it because it keeps me on the edge of my seat. I would recommend this book to people from 14 to 21 years of age.

A rogue Russian sub named the Red October starts to sail to the U.S. heading for Cuba. The whole Russian fleet is looking for it. When the U.S. sees this send ships and subs to capture the sub. The Red October was captured by the U.S. or was it?

In the beginning of the book everything goes by so fast that it is hard to understand at times. The book gives many details and explanations of what the codes are in the book. I was always wondering how the U.S. was going to find and capture the Red October.

Rating:
Summary: The Hunt for Red October
Review: Intensfully suspenseful, Tom Clancy has done some of his best work. He starts out by introducing a highly respectable submarine captain known as Marko Ramius, the son of a respectable Party member. Marko seems to be a loyal member until he decides to defect. Tom unveils this decion as one in the captains early years, as he was ridiculed by his classmates for "Informing," then when he meets an ex-salior(Sasha) who teaches him all he should know about the sea and from then on Marko knew he was destined for a life at sea. Clancy adds alot of intreging scenerios like when Marko decides to Kill another salior to get his defect plan on the way. Marko's reason for defedt was the unessicery death of his wife( Natalia) and the many failings of the soviet Union in his opinion. The book would be more entertaining for people if Clancy didn't tend to use his emmense knowledge of millitary weapondry and stategy. Eventhough thats what i found to be the best part about his the great detail he goes into.

Rating:
Summary: tom clancy is a jerk
Review: Too bad Clancy never learned to think or write. Check the latest edition of Smithsonian Magazine for his thoughts on the death of JFK. He was upset about missing the Colts game on TV! And we're supposed to pay for his books?

Rating:
Summary: one great book
Review: The Hunt For Red October was an excellent book. this was the first Tom Clancy book that I have read . i decided to read it because i like playing his video games and watching the movies that are made from his books. I thought this book was great except for the beginning it started off kind of slow but since it was his first Jack Ryan Novel He had to give his readers a little background info on him. The action packed end makes up for the slow begining. I don't know much about the military but clancy sure sounds like he knows what he is talking about I mean he uses the military lingo he knows about allof the different subd.This may have been my first Clancy novel but it definitely won't be my last. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read abook that is action packed anvery detailed.

Rating:
Summary: Great story and A Great foundation for Clancy's followups...
Review: I first read this book back in 1994. And it was the very first Clancy book for me. I simply got hooked on his work from then on. Since then I have read several of his later works on the "Jack Ryan" series. And the more I read his "Jack Ryan" books, the more apreciation I feel about his earlier works like "The Hunt for the Red October". This laid a great foundation for the follow ups. I didn't give it full 5 stars since I thought that the story sometimes became a little slow. Other than that it is a great read.