Executive Orders

Rating:
Summary: A waste of time
Review: The character of Jack Ryan may be loveable and somewhat captivating, especially as he gets to play the role of the president. There's a certain amount of thrill and action, which is the only reason why I kept on reading. I recommend you don't even start reading it. The first third of the book is really boring and Tom Clancy's story-telling all over the book is too annoying. Clancy writes too much about combat maneuvers and stuff like that which isn't interesting at all. The worst thing is that he tries to get so much into the minds of the characters and he's doing an awful job. It feels so much like he (Clancy) is the only voice and mind in the story. He could have kept the story simple and short. The action would have sufficed.

Rating:
Summary: A major waste of time and paper
Review: The book is the story of an inexperienced president which rules the land as if were his kingdom: full speed ahead, damn the constitution, damn Washington and the Press. Its pathetic plot allows plenty of time for Mr Clancy to educate us on his right of center politics and explain at length why he should be paying less taxes. Along the way the enemy, which happens to be a larger Iraq (very original) invades Saudi Arabia (isn't this a very original plot?), develops the ultimate biological weapon: an environment resistant Ebola strain ( which is and is not airborne transmittable according to the whims of the author) and plots to destroy Ryan. Interesting to see that in times in which a real president is harrassed because of a minor sex scandal a fictional one would be immune to breaking every article in the Constitution and somehow manage to appoint only men to his Cabinet (women are allowed to act as bodyguards but only until they marry...a la Gadafi). If you have the time to read this book it would be better invested elsewhere (say the Starr report on Clinton-Lewinsky or The Eisenstat report on the role of neutral countries during WW II)

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end.
Review: One of Tom Clancy's best. It has some remarkable paralells to events taking place today.

Rating:
Summary: It's one of Clancy's best; Jack Ryan as President of the U.S
Review: I got hooked on Clancy after reading The Hunt For Red October, and I fell in love with Jack Ryan at the same time. I've read every book in the continuing life of Jack Ryan, and he's at top form in Executive Orders. As president he brings humanity, humility, and integrity to the oval office and becomes a president every American would be proud to support. Once again Clancy writes an amazing story with such suspense, realism, and attention to detail that I couldn't put it down. If you like Clancy, you'll love Executive Orders.

Rating:
Summary: Typical Clancy, action packed, great characters, predictable
Review: As I have read every Clancy book, this rates in the top 20%. The story is very believable and the action is non-stop. I enjoy how Clancy develops his characters and blends the plot lines together. This book does get a little slow near the end. The climax could have been more suspensefull.

Rating:
Summary: End is great, the rest is MUCH too long and slow
Review: I've read every Clancy book, and this one was disappointing. The end - last couple hundred pages - were up to his usual, but the first several hundred pages were incredibly slow and drawn out. The whole book would have been MUCH better if it were about 400 pages long.

Rating:
Summary: Not Clancy's best -- but still wonderful.
Review: I enjoyed the drama of Executive Orders. Clancy's pace hooks me every time. For the first time ever, I listened to the cassette of a Clancy book before reading it. Much credit should go to Edward Herrmann, who does a superb job.

Rating:
Summary: too many pages!
Review: A jumbo in the Capitol, war with the UIR, Ebola in the U.S, that's too much

Rating:
Summary: Page Turner
Review: Well written and thought out.

Rating:
Summary: Too long, too many unneeded words
Review: I have read every one of Tom Clancy's books and have always been impressed with his ability to maintain excitement throughout. But Executive Orders was just not there. He had many sub plots which were not needed (Mountain Men, Ed Kealty). He had Jack dwell to often on the attacks on his family. His battle scenes get to be overly confusing. In fact I started reading this book over a year ago but stopped because the beginning was pretty boring. I then started again this summer. I liked the middle sections quite a bit. The entire book could of been done in under 300 pages. I gave it 3 stars because of two scenes which got me pumped up. I forget one now but the other was Jack's speech to the troops. Too bad Tom got carried away.