Rating: 
Summary: It's not Bad. Not Intelligent Enough?
Review: The reason people don't like this is because it doesn't follow the standard Clancy formula, which is written for the impatient reader - Big Bang, Bit of story (always entirely predictable - but rightly so), aversion of a bigger bang. It's unfair - This is a good bookDon't get me wrong, the Jack Ryan Clancy series are some of my favourite books because they are interesting. This book has taken a real hammering by the critics for not following the norm - which to me is unfair. I applaud this book for being different to the series. It's not as good a read as the other Ryan books, but it's by no means bad. The more intelligent of you will like this book. Those who only like action should read this book and try to understand the real world. I hate prequels but this book was only supposed to show more to the story of Jack Ryan.... Perhaps it should never have been done, but it's too late to change that now and hey it's not bad as long as you can understand that books don't need all action. Look at Fredrick Forsyth - His books are almost totally preparation for an event. They are (in my opinion) much better than any of the Clancy series (not including Forsyth's terrible short stories). Quite simply this book could not have been slated the way it should. It's not the best of the Ryan series, but it is good and is worthy of its place on the shelf. If your reading the entire series - you have to read this book, and try to be intelligent enough to understand why it was written. Read it, understand it and enjoy it. Form your own opinions. In mine It's not bad.
Rating: 
Summary: I would give it Zero Stars
Review: Don't waste your money. If Tom Clancy has to push out this rubbish to make a living then it's time to give up. The story is so weak - anyone living through the time can figure out what'll happen. Ryan spend more time complaining about British food, drinking British beer, worrying about the world series and being afraid of flying than actually progressing the story! And the wife! Why waste our time reading about plot-less narrative? She plays no part in moving the story forward. With a little more imagination she could have been placed outside the story altogether. Instead we have mundane conversations on railway trains and concerns about surgeons drinking at lunchtime. So, if you want to read this, go to the library and not reward the author. While you're there, have a look at Len Deighton's "Game, Set and Match" series - you'll see what a good story about that era really is.
Rating:
Summary: Not as much action, but still an enjoying read
Review: This book was fairly good, overall. I do think that Tom Clancy should have put some more action in it, because there wasn't anywhere near as much in Red Rabbit as there was in The Bear and the Dragon or Rainbow Six, (which is one of my top two favorite Clancy books. The other book is Without Remorse. If you haven't read either of these, I highly recommend them). The suspense in Red Rabbit comes not from action, but from the details of espionage. Yes, if you read the whole book, the details become quite overwhelming, but that's what audiobooks are for. They give you the condensed, managable version of the story without bombarding you with unncessary details. I got the book from the library, and started to read it, but soon lost interest in it. So I got the audio version of the story and listened to it once. It was a bit confusing, but I went back and actually read the whole book, and I got much more out of it the second time through. The concept of re-reading is important for books like this. Probably the most suspenseful part of the story is how and when they plan on rescuing the "Rabbit family". It's gruesome and sad, in a way, but it is probably the high point of the story. After that, the rest is pretty much self-explanitory, because it's basically an 'Okay, what do we do to stop the Pope from being assainated' thing on the part of the CIA and the Brits. The end was disappointing, because if you know anything about the Pope being shot, you know that he survived. If only he picked a different plot, instead of using one everyone knows the outcome to. Overall, it was ok, but as I said, the suspense doesn't come from action. It really doesn't live up to Clancy's previous works, but if you try to consider it as a story by itself, instead of comparing it to his other books, it's pretty good.
If only he'd write another book that focused only John Clark and Rainbow...
Rating:
Summary: I won't blindly buy a Clancy book again!
Review: Normally, if I see a book written by Tom Clancy, I buy it. That won't happen again! I was very disappointed with this book. It plodded along for the first 300 pages before it got mildly interesting and once the Pope was shot, it ended with many questions unanswered. One was left to wonder what happened to the Rabbit family in America, who are the Minister, Neptune, and Cassius. What is the "Masque of the Red Death"? Sounds like a cliffhanger sequel to me! Other things I did not care for were some of the slang that wasn't right for what might have been used in 1981. I.e.: sh..burger, wimp out. Also, I wish I'd counted how many times "Getting the Rabbit out of Dodge City" was used! All in all, not the "Tom Clancy" of old. I was extremely underwhelmed.
Rating: 
Summary: Who wrote this?
Review: After reading the first 50 pages, I couldn't help but post the question here that had been nagging me since I started Red Rabbit. Who wrote this? Is this the real Tom Clancy? Did someone else write the earlier and decently written books? Or did he write those and this is yet another ghost written book, only unattributed? Has Tom Clancy grown so sellable that editing is unecessary? Is he arrogant and uneditable? I search for an explanation because this book is miserable. It is poor writing, plain and simple. I can't finish it and wish that I hadn't spent the five bucks in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Foleys!
Review: I just reread it couple weeks ago. I agree with some of the previous reviewers about the profanities, one of the main reasons that it's lost a star. However, I still enjoyed my visit with the Ryans and Foleys. I confess to not having picked up one the World Series, since I'm not a baseball fan. Maybe such things are why I didn't seem to get as annoyed with the book as others have.
Actually, I found the book to be a bit easier to read without as much of the techno-babble as in the previous books. Not that I couldn't understand them, but sometimes I just got tired of reading about the technology. People's thoughts are interesting in a different way to me. I liked the Zaitzevs.
The strength of Mr. Clancy's work, for me, is that the details make the Ryan universe very real. Usually his novels are well researched and accurate, and that's what we've come to expect from him. I gather from reading some of the comments that there were some errors this time I've not picked up on. Just as well for me, I guess. But somebody definitely dropped the ball then. A writer needs his editor, even if he is Mr. Clancy. But I'll say this much in Mr. Clancy's defense - and judging from most the comments, he needs one - how many people do remember off the top of their heads when Terminal 4 was built? Or who played whom in a particular World series? I'm sort of a fan of certain sports, but I'd be hard pressed to name from year to year who was in the finals of even the sports I do follow. On the other hand, there is another book I just read recently where mathematical facts were wrong, and the reader could calculate for himself or herself that it was so based on the information given in the very book. (Simple division.) So there you go. It's a different level of error, in my eyes. Although, yes, Clancy should have checked up even on those two errors I just mentioned. If he wants to hire me as a fact checker, I'd gladly do it..... :-)
All in all, I found the book enjoyable enough, if a little rushed at the end. I think it's an improvement over Bear and Dragon, anyway. If we could give half stars, I'd probably give this three and half, but being forced to use whole numbers, I'm rounding up for this one.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book
Review: I have never been so annoyed by a book as to wish to write a review of it. This book is not worth buying. it is truely atrocious. It has no tension, it is inconsistent and is a total waste of time. I have already wasted enought time on this. Enough said
Rating:
Summary: Everything is wrong with this book
Review: In this book, Jack Ryan is sent to work with British intelligence services and moves to England with his wife and children. Here is where Tom Clancy gets practically every single thing he writes about England wrong and it is terribly insulting. According to him, all English people use words such as "old boy", "indeed", "quite" to name but a few constantly. If he spent one single day in the UK he would realise that this is not the case. The average person in England does not employ a nanny as implied in the book. English people do not go to the pub for beer every single lunchtime. This book is set in 1981 and Jack Ryan uses terminal 4 in Heathrow for all his travels. Terminal 4 did not come into being until 1986. Worst of all, there is an episode where surgeons abandon an operation to go to a pub for a boozy lunch and leave a patient on an operating table. This again is implied as being quite normal. This is not nor ever has been acceptable in British medicine and to have this in this book is quite shocking. Also, Cathy Ryan moans on about the British health system and how people have to wait for a year for a procedure whereas in the US they can pay and get treatment instantly. Yes in England if you want your treatment for free you have to wait - however like the US, if you have the money you can pay and have instant treatment - another fact Mr Clancy didn't bother to check out. I only know whats wrong with the episodes in England - god only knows what facts he has wrong about Russia etc as I dodn't have enough knowledge to know the difference, Mr Clancy is extremely insulting to other nations. In other books he has Japan making war in cahoots with India. If I were Japanese or Indian I would be insulted. Yes you can say that this is fiction, but people are human and will be insulted. If a book were written which says the same derogatory things about the US, I'm sure it would be banned in a Micheal Moore style. Clancy does not seem to get out much. He needs to open his eyes and visit some of these places he talks about.
Rating:
Summary: College Student lover of Jack Ryan series
Review: First things first. While I do enjoy the huge war epics that Clancy has written, I am much more a fan of his intellectual small-scale 'warfare' novels. I agree with many reviewers on here that the book has some extraneous fluff. However, given the number of books and plots of them that Clancy has written, the options he has left limits him in plots of new books. Red Rabbit is a slow thinker-thriller that is average compared to other Clancy books and pretty good compared to other authors of the same genre. Red Rabbit takes you through the daily KGB activities and functions and gives you an idea of British intelligence services. While everyone knew what was going to happen at the end, it was fun to see how they got there. What keeps you in this book is Ed and Mary Pat. Though barely mentioned in Teeth of the Tiger, they ought to be a central role in the book after Teeth/Tiger. All in all, not a bad book if you enjoy the intricacies of espionage.
Rating:
Summary: Rabbit Droppings
Review: Not Clancy's best effort. Not even close. What has really irked me while reading the last few novels is his ending every other paragraph with a question. Shouldn't he? Wouldn't it? Can it? It's so blatently distracting that it has me focusing more on that than on the plot. I really expected more out of this book. It was a great opportunity to flesh out the early years of the Clancy characters we've all grown so fond of through the years. I guess when an author sets such high standards, it's difficult to maintain that level of excellence every time out. Still, the antics of Mary Pat Foley are always a guilty pleasure and any book with Jack Ryan in it is bound to hold some interest.
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