Rating: 
Summary: Why Did You Write This?!?
Review: I buy your books, Tom, because of the largeness of scope, and plot complications, and close calls, and snazzy spyworks, and worldwide intrigue, and tens of thousands of lives on the line. But "Red Rabbit" felt small and plodding and there weren't any plot twists and nothing really ever went wrong. And where was the payoff? When I finished it, I just went, "So?"There's a reason I buy your books, and this wasn't it.
Rating:
Summary: By far, Clancy's worst
Review: A very large disappointment. The extent to which this novel is
padded out to it's 600+ pages by meaningless repetition of
mundane facts, observations, and personal preferences; is
surely a signal that Clancy has far too many irons in the
fire. None of the tension of his other Jack Ryan books exists
here. Even the hope that by setting this 20+ years in the
past, he could have some fun with the 20/20 hindsight, is
almost entirely wasted. Main prophesy? That Ripken kid sure
looks like he's going places. Yes, the baseball Ripken.
That's how exciting this book is. For me, this is 2 in a row,
I finished Bear & Dragon wondering what had happened to the
usually very entertaining imagination of Mr. Clancy. I finished
this one thinking it must either be all used up, or the fall
of the "Evil Empire" has just left him without a proper foil.
Rating:
Summary: weakest Clancy novel to date
Review: "Red Rabbit" may be the last Clancy novel that this former fan ever reads. When I picked up the book, I expected the usual attention to detail, but this is simply excruciating. People talk. They decide to send a message. Somebody encrypts the message. The message is sent. The message is received. Somebody else decrypts the message. The message is delivered. Other people talk. Repeat every 40 pages. Arrgh! This book would be very difficult to enjoy, even for the most enthusiastic Clancy fan. Casual readers of Clancy have no chance. Skip it and read "Red October" again.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been called "Hunt for a Red Editor"
Review: One third the story, three times the words of Clancy's best. The plot: It's 1982. Russia is the Evil Empire. A KGB defector reveals a Soviet plot to kill the Pope. The Pope is shot but lives and Jack Ryan is somewhat involved. That's the story. Period. The other 620 pages delve into the fascinating details of Jack's preference for coffee over tea, the quality of Russian fur hats, the incompetence of British eye surgeons and why English faucets have both hot and cold handles, plus a million other pointless musings. After every journey down a new stream of consciousness, Clancy throws in a flashback to Patriot Games, Jack's helicopter crash, his career on Wall Street or his Jesuit education. Then it's time to repeat some other opinions of English beer, Russian architecture or what's for dinner. This could have been a fairly entertaining 200-pager but instead Clancy's bloated prose is as boring a 20-year old history lesson.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time and money
Review: This book, like one reviewer has already stated, MUST have been written to fill a contract. It was a waste of my time & $$.
I have all of Tom Clancy's other books, but this one I sold after reading....
Rating:
Summary: I'm Done with Clancy
Review: Shame on me. I bought another one of his ponderous novels. Another snooze fest from the godfather of same. This guy is obviously a stream of consciousness writer with no editing. Jack Ryan is brilliant, Jack Ryan is a great investor, Jack Ryan can make his own coffee and on and on and on... This book is just awful. Clancy should be arrested for stealing the reading public's money.
Rating:
Summary: boring
Review: I expected more from Clancy. I had to really struggle to get through this one, and I really like his other books!
Rating: 
Summary: Red Rabbit not too bad!
Review: Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit is quite an interesting read. It tell's a bit more about Ryan's early years as a spook with the CIA, though he's not the only star of this book.
The plot is simple; A KGB communications agent gets a conscience when he learns about Russia's plan to kill the pope, so he decides to defect and spill the beans before it's too late.
It's not as action packed as say 'The Sum Of All Fears' or 'Rainbow Six'. A good portion of the story deals with the CIA and it's British counterpart SIS in getting the Rabbit and his family out and it does tend to drag a bit.
But, for all that, you do get an interesting history lesson about Russia and it's neighbors and why they're so different from the West.
Clancy also deftly describes (Acronym's abounding) all the behind the scenes play of counter intelligence and espionage and every other spy scenario you could imagine.
It's been suggested over the years that Russia did in fact arrange for the attempt on the pope's life, and Clancy explains clearly why Russia was so afraid of him, and the story is quite plausible.
I recommend this book simply because it is extremely well written. Whether the subject matter appeals to you or not is irrelevant. I get the impression that this is the story that Clancy's wanted to write for years and it shows in his superior handling of the task.
Mission Accomplished!!
Rating:
Summary: MORE HISTORY THAN BULLETS
Review: I finally gave in and read this one after I had sworn off Clncy's books and I'm glad I did! The suspense is not heart pounding but the workings of the CIA and British Intelligence to prevent the assassination of Pope John Paul IImakes interesting reading. TheRussian plot to get some other national to do the shooting with another national doing the hiring is good planning to prevent the blame on them. But a trusted encoder in Moscow becomes upset when he realizes what the plan is.He decides to contact Ed Foley who he thinks may be CIA livng in Moscow.Indeed Ed and his wife areCIA and thru their work plans are made to notify headquarters and help plan the safe passage out of Russia for the informant. Meantime Jack Ryan and amily are enjoying the good life in London. And who starts to whine when he is to go to Prague to facilitate the safety of the defector? None other than our dauntless hero of action, Ryan himself! With all te moves and countermoves this book turns out to be an interesting read. Sure we knew the Pope was going to be shot and live to continue his mission before buying the book but the intrigue and history and deceptions are what make this one a good read. Borrow it from a friend or librarybut give this one a try.....and then wonder what would have happened if the Pope had not survived???
Rating:
Summary: Not the best but still interesting.
Review: It's about the early day of Jack Ryan. Now most people don't care about US vs Russia in past. We're talking about hi-tech war ( wargame? ). So I mentioned readers usually gave 2 or 3 stars ranking. Mr. Clancy made Jack Ryan, a hero with courage and charm, in series of fiction. The recent books ,such as Exective Orders, Debt of Honor is a climax of Jack's career as well as they made people image the real life. And Red Rabbit bring you back to 1990's. That why readers thought it's boring. But as fans of Jack Ryan, I am pleased to read some Jack's stories which fill gap of journey from CIA to President. It's not the best but still interesting. I hope we need not to wait too long for new Tom Clancy's fiction.
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