Rating: 
Summary: Clancy's on his pulpit
Review: This book could have been 250 pages shorter if Clancy had focused on the story and not repeating, over and over again, Jack Ryan's history, likes, dislikes, adventures, wife's job, Catholic upbringing, past jobs, and his dislike for "Martians" (anyone east of the iron curtain).
It became ridiculous when he told someone "Pal, the name is Jack, not Sir John." for the 20th time. Did Clancy write this in short spurts over a few months and forget he already covered that joke?
The story itself could have been pretty good, but the narration was all over the place. Clancy actually takes four pages to describe a concert Ryan attends in Budapest. Do we really need four pages to find out that Ryan doesn't "get" classical music?
Clancy also spends dozens of pages telling the reader what the real world is like and what different political parties, goverments and people should be doing to make the world safe for American democracy.
Forget this clunker of a novel. Wait for the Reader's Digest condensed version, They can easily cut it in half and have a really good book to sell.
p.s. I'm not a prude, but what happened to Jack Ryan's mouth? Everyone in this book swears like a rabid stevadore. The only one's who broader vocabularies are the 4-year-olds.
Rating: 
Summary: Some reading hints for this disappointing book
Review: I was disappointed by this long Clancy book. I did notice his writing begin to slip with Rainbow Six, but at this point, I think he's done for. Still, I'll probably keep reading his books like many others. Here are two hints to save time when you read this book. 1. This is a great opportunity to try your speed reading. I promise you that no passage in this book needs to be read carefully.
2. As soon as you see Cathy Ryan in the book, skip the section altogether (these sections have no relevance whatsoever and repeat things we all know from prior books). Depending upon how quickly you read, this could save you an hour or so. Hopefully, Tom Clancy's next book reverses this trend.
Rating:
Summary: Very Poor
Review: If any writer on the planet submited this book to every publisher on the planet, they would have gotten a thousand reject slips. This is not only Clancy's worst, it is the worst novel I've read in several years, and I read fifty to sixty per year. I think Clancy needed the money, maybe had some bad investments, and banged out this nonsense to get it. This book could have been cut to fifty pages, and could have been an opening chapter to some other book. NOW, watch- the paper back will have great reviews: "action packed page turner, kept me up all night..." They all lie, big time.
Rating:
Summary: DULL !!!
Review: I counted only 3 shots fired in the entire book, and only at the end. Of course, I could have dozed off and missed a few.
Rating: 
Summary: Ryan in the backseat
Review: For those afficionados of spy tradecraft, this is one of Clancy's best.
As for me, the highlight was Clancy's decision to develop some other characters from previous novels and introduce some new ones to carry forward the plot.
While Ryan is in there along with wife in London, he has been marginalized so the discerning reader can skip over the sections in which he does appear without losing any of the meaty plot line which is classic Clancy.
It is an apt cliche to say that this is a page burner with enough plot twists to make for an entertaining read that goes too fast.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read, But Not a Great One
Review: Red Rabbit is the latest novel from Tom Clancy, and although it's less intricate than his others, readers should enjoy it just the same. In this installment, set in the early 80's at the height of the Cold War, Jack Ryan has just been posted to London by the CIA. Ryan, and a cast of other characters familiar to Clancy fans, uncovers a plot to assassinate the Pope. The balance of the book details various operational and intelligence activities that ensue, as Ryan and the good guys try to figure out how to use their information without risking the sources that have provided it. Red Rabbit weights in at a hefty 600+ pages, not unusual for a Clancy novel, but departs from Clancy's usual "formula" in that it's a little less complex. The number of subplots, and their complexities, have been reduced. To me, this novel offered a little less suspense than prior editions; I just didn't find the unexpected plot twists that I've grown used to. Finally, the premise -- the plot to assassinate the Pope -- just didn't seem as compelling as some of his past stories. Still, Clancy is a superb storyteller, and Red Rabbit doesn't lack for Clancy's unique flavor. I found the novel thoroughly enjoyable, and finished the whole thing in about a day and half. Clearly, an average showing from Clancy beats most everything else out there. I can highly recommend the novel, although some readers may find it less pleasing than prior efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Save some time and just read this
Review: Save some time and just read this: While sleeping the sleep of the just he looked at his wife, the eye cutter, and asked himself, "How many divisions does the Pope have?" which made him realize that little girls give the best hugs. Suddenly he recalled that the KGB had roasted a traitor alive and made a film of it so he decided to buy some Starbucks stock before it was available. Then the Pope didn't get killed. Now read it again and again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Without a Hammer
Review: Clancy has many, many Jack Ryan fans, fans who keep demanding more and more about their favorite character. But Clancy has run into a problem: he has already written Jack into the highest post in the land in previous books, and it is difficult to see how he can continue along his fictional future history and keep expanding Jack's role, much like the problem the writers of Superman comics had when Superman became effectively all powerful. So for this book at least, Clancy has sidestepped the problem by returning us to the days when Jack was just a freshly hired analyst for the CIA. Of course, in this role Jack can't be the prime mover of events, which may disappoint his fans, but at least they get to see a little more of Jack, along with another story of adventure and spy-craft. This story revolves around a Soviet plot to assassinate the Pope, a story crafted around the real events of 1981 (though Clancy takes some liberties with actual dates and concurrent events). Here again this is something of a departure, as Clancy is effectively updating and changing his future history to match the events of the real world, making this book somewhat inconsistent with earlier books in the series. Whether the shooting of Pope was actually plotted by the Soviets is still a matter of conjecture, but it is certainly plausible as the basis for this story. The action revolves around trying to get Oleg Zaitzev, a KGB communications specialist who has critical information about this plot, and his family out of Russia. With these basic elements, it should have been easy to craft a taught, exciting thriller. Especially as Clancy has finally dropped his penchant for having page after page of extreme technical detail interrupting the story flow. But this story does not achieve very much in the way of excitement or suspense at all. I found that all the actions by the various people involved were accomplished way too easily, just about everything goes according to plan. Even the ruse to make it appear that Zaitzev has died rather than defected comes off as just another day at the office, even if it is rather gruesome. This may be closer to the real world of the CIA and KGB, but it doesn't provide for a great reading experience. I also found Zaitzev's attack of conscience, his reason for defecting, just a little too rapid and convenient to be thoroughly convincing. Andropov's portrayed character (at that time head of the KGB) was a little more believable as a pragmatic and coldly calculating man. Jack is still Jack, and Clancy did a good job of returning to the Jack of the eighties, a little unsure of his value to the CIA and his importance in the world, a little more impetuous than he would later become. At best, this is an average spy novel, with too little suspense to be really absorbing, even if well written. A must for Ryan fans, others can skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, Boring, and Poorly Written
Review: I have read all of Tom Clancy's book, all of which, up to this point, have been outstanding. Red Rabbit, however, is slow, poorly written, and boring. Not worth the read. I can only imagine the movie will be worse.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth it even at 1/2 price, unfortunately
Review: I was EXTREMELY disappointed with this book, as a Tom Clancy fan. The plot totally fails to evoke any tension, as his other books do so well. An example- the KGB beaurocrat defects with his wife and very young daughter without telling his wife in advance- OK, that makes sense, but the reader is led to believe that major problems could happen when the actual defect occurs and the wife finds out what's going on. Instead, there is absolutely NO character development of the wife herself including any real reaction to the defection. Also, there is no classic Tom Clancy technology detail, another big disappointment. I felt at the end as though Mr. Clancy wrote this book because he felt he HAD to, not because his heart or the creativity that we've come to know were in it. This could have been great, an interesting look into Jack Ryan's beginnings (as well as that of the Foleys and James Greer, etc.)that had the usual edge-of-your-seat energy. I ordered this book in advance and eagerly anticipated it. What a letdown. If you haven't read this book yet and want to anyway, wait till your local library has it, and don't spend the money. You'll be glad you kept your wallet in your pocket, at least. I'm really sorry to have to write such a [bad] review of this book! Good news! If you don't like it, you can sell it used through Amazon[.com]. I took this up, and within a week sold it for $13 (after spending about $15 at 1/2 price originally by pre-ordering) to some library...
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