Rating: 
Summary: I love this writer !
Review: Anything by Tom Clancy gets two-thumbs up from me. Mr. Clancy has a style all his own and I admire that. His plots are always exciting and unpredictable and his characters are always thrilling. Red Rabbit is no different. I liked the characters and the plot in this story was thrilling.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, could be a decent movie (if made into one)
Review: The latest book has similarities to the attempt on Pope John Paul II (from which Mr. Clancy obviously drew some of the story).
Mr. Dennis Boutsikaris does a fair job of reading the text and keeping the story moving. He's better with the Russian accents than the British (but not as bad as some readers who sound "forced" when they try to do them). Better than most of Mr. Clancy's books. I'd also recommend his older The Hunt For Red October. Overall, could be a decent movie (as metioned in the title of this review). The story lends itself to be a made-for-TV movie, I think, rather than a theatrical release.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Concept
Review: I found this book to be an interesting mix of history and fiction. I always enjoy Clancy's analysis of politics, economics, and society in general. So his thoughts on the real life assassination attempt of the pope are rather intriguing. He takes what is historically known, and gives a series of possible events to fill in the blanks. The book may not be up to the super high standard of other Clancy works, but I would still recommend reading it. A look at interesting spook techniques, Soviet motives for trying to kill the pope, and a lot of back story for other Clancy works all make this worth the time. This book also brings into play real people such as Thatcher, Reagan, and Andropov. I would love to see a follow up on the downfall of the Evil Empire with Clancy's analysis. If you want a historical look at the downfall of the Soviets, try Victory by Peter Schweizer.
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Reminder of Yesteryear
Review: When critiqued in a vacuum that excludes previous Clancy thrillers, this volume is not found wanting. Clancy uses his own creativity and imagination to tie the 1981 Pope John Paul II shooting with the Jack Ryan universe, and the result is an enjoyable read. Those who are looking for a better Clancy novel than Red Storm Rising or Debt of Honor should probably look elsewhere. If you can't stomach the notion of Church and State being inter-connected, or Jack Ryan's thoughts on the USSR, you should definitely look elsewhere. If you're looking for another Clancy winner, this is the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Propagandist for the CIA/Right?
Review: Throughout all of the post-Soviet Union Jack Ryan novels, there were rivers of apologies for the inadequacies of the CIA and, specifically, its failure to have predicted the downfall of the Soviet Union.In this book, Clancy strongly hints that the Reagan defense build-up was in fact a carefully orchestrated plan by Reagan/Bush (based on a Ryan-inspired CIA study) to force the Soviet Union to ruin its economy in an attempt to keep up with the US defense build-up. (The last 100 pages of the book contain conversation by Ryan's superiors to employ his expertise in economic matters to the problem of the Soviet Union.) This is the same kind of drivel that has been coming out the extreme Right in this country for the past few years. Never mind that the defense build-up actually began during the Carter presidency and was well underway by the time of the attempt on the Pope's life. According to Clancy, the defense build-up and its consequent effects on US deficits and its tremendous opportunity costs to the rest of the economy was a brilliant plan by Reagan. Clancy has an ability to distort history and twist the facts that would have been the envy of any Party Apparatchik.
Rating:
Summary: Insipid warmed-up soup
Review: ..... The only improvements from "The Bear and the Dragon" (THAT one really was THE PITS!!!) are the lack of the lurid details and about 500 less pages. "One-star" is already too much, the contents of this book are not even worth the cost of the paper it's printed on. This is the end of my buying books by this writer: sorry, Mr Clancy, it was nice while it lasted (I guess from "Red October", original version, to "Cardinal of the Kremlin"), before those fat payments on account/commission made you forget how to write and how to deal with the characters of your books. Never a good writer, but at least you could provide the reader with some interest with curious technological stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy is back to his old writing and its a welcome change
Review: This one recalls the days of "Cardinal" in that it leans
towards the tradecraft of the latter days of the Cold War rather
than the military texts that he has been producing as of late.
A good read...a welcome read.
Rating: 
Summary: red rabbit not too swift
Review: what a disappointment! seems TC is in a downward spiral, going from futuristic westerns (rainbow 6) to lackluster manuals on how NOT to write a spy novel. red rabbit has all the buildup of TC's novels of yesteryear, but unlike his older books does not materialize into an exciting climax. goes out with a whimper ... and frankly, the writing style drove me bananas! how many times can he mention that ryan is a wuss, but his MARINE training makes him a man? and how many times can his wife (supposedly and intelligent woman) keep asking him about his work only to get the same answer - "honey, i can't tell you"? how many times can TC emphasize just how much ryan hates flying? christ, the book is full of clichés and redundancies, the characters and flat and boring, the plot is unsurprising and dull. seems to me TC ran out of ideas but was pressured to produce yet another book ...
Rating: 
Summary: not bad...not great
Review: No doubt- Clancy is a bit tired of writing Jack Ryan novels. Evidence includes his involvement in the myriad of paperback serials with his name on them and his string of non-fiction military books. But the biggest hint has been the continued downturn in the quality of his novels. "Rainbow Six" was good, but not really a Ryan novel. The "Bear and Dragon" was a cumbersome read and "Debt of Honor" was more a lesson on economics than anything else, despite it's eerie ending. His last gripping book was "Executive Orders", but is last great book may have been "Without Remorse", again not a Ryan story. All this is to say that despite Clancy's apparent disinterest in Ryan and the book's non-action, the writer finds spots of intense interest. Clancy continues to write a characters mind very well and the tension does build at certain points. But without another world crisis for Jack to fix, the tension can only get so far. The book is long but reads quickly. If Clancy wants to explore other characters (Mary Pat, etc), it would be better to do something like "Without Remorse" or "Rainbow Six", and leave Jack out of it. "Red Rabbit was not really a Jack Ryan story. Complaints about anachronisms and historical accuracy are true, but they do not distract from the story, unless one is looking for another thing to complain about. Others have taken real historical events and turned them into excellent spy novels and other fiction. See William F. Buckley's Blackford Oaks series as evidence it can be done. Remember, that despite any author's attempt at social commentary, if they are writing a spy story it is meant to be fun. Probably not worth the cost of a hardcover, so wait for the paperback or go to the library. For Clancy fan's it is a must, and the story does provide some additional back story to many characters in Clancy's world.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry Tom, Disappointed in Red Rabbit
Review: Don't get me wrong, I was hooked on TC since I first read "Red October" (and even own a first edition!), but "Red Rabbit" was too analytical, too political, and even had some unforgiveable errors: (lamenting Jack's lack of field experience, while referencing the Patriot Games events), it would seem that in the RED RABBIT world there was no Red October! Also, Jack uses an awful lot of 1981 slang that I doubt a well-educated professor would use. His language skills clearly has devolved in this book, and it rings hollow (Jack's a smart guy, not some 20-something "dude". Question: many references in "RR" to fax machines. Did they even exist in 1981? All in all, I think Jack Ryan has been played out, but I suspect that the sequel to "RR" is already in the works, picking up where
RR ends; a plan to use oil prices (and star wars) to bankrupt the Soviet economy and usher in the era of Gorbachav. I gotta say, the whole Soviet-era has become dull to me, let's have more John Clark!
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