Rating: 
Summary: POLITICAL MARVEL
Review: Tom Clancy has done it again with Executive Orders. Ascending Jack Ryan to level of president, he faces new problems, with other terrorists trying to get at Ryan, the government trying to solve the mystery behind the terrorist attack, and trying to piece the nation back together after the most devestating terrorist attack in U.S. history. I just completed reading this, and was amazed at how good it was. The family has evolved a lot (Especially Sally, who I always keep an eye out for in the book), and this is the first time to me that the littlest Ryan, Katie is mentioned, and what a sweetheart she is. This book was published years before September 11th, but now I see why Tom Clancy was on news networks, talking about what could happen. This is an astounding piece of literature, and it's hard to imagine that the page number in paperback surpasses Gone with the Wind.
Rating: 
Summary: Long ...
Review: This Tom Clancy novel takes quite a while to slug through. And not just because of the number of pages. The author takes his sweet time developping the numerous plotlines in this book. A little too much time in this reader's opinion. But the plots themselves seem so interesting that you do keep reading on, skipping perhaps a few useless paragraphs along the way.Clancy starts off with the destruction of the greater part of the American government body, and adds to that political turmoil involving Iran and Irak, biological warfare on the USA with the Ebola virus, and much more. The only plot that starts and then goes nowhere is the one regarding the former vice-president who tries to discredit Jack Ryan's appointment as president. It's as if Clancy just lost interest in this matter or just didn't know what to do with it and just decided to let it die out, hoping readers wouldn't notice. In these times of possible war, reading such a novel makes you wonder if terrorists won't take some of the ideas presented by the author and actually decide to apply them. A little scary. If you have a lot of time on your hands and enjoy reading political/military novels, then by all means read this book. If not, you might get annoyed by the use of every possible military acronym out there (and not all of them explained to the reader)and the very slow developping plot. There are many more interesting books out there, some of them even written by Tom Clancy.
Rating:
Summary: One of his greatest
Review: The book starts off from the climax of Debt of Honor holding you by the neck and not letting go till the very end. I enjoyed this book so much, I bought a copy after I had read a library edition. It had 1300+ pages, buy was well worth it. I loved this book and is one of my favorites of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Eerie...
Review: I read both "Debt of Honor" and "Executive Orders" within one week in 1998. A friend had asked me about those books and I had said they were the most far-fetched Clancy novels. "Red Storm Rising" was a very plausible "could have been" Cold War scenario as was "Cardinal of the Kremlin." Had the Russians ever seen the balloon going up and tried to pop it, we would have seen something that Clancy described in those pages. "Hunt for Red October" was partly based on a true story about a Soviet submarine that tried to defect. So I remember thinking, there's no way that terrorists will be able to hijack airplanes and crash them into buildings. Guess I was wrong, huh? Now having read "Executive Orders" again, I can't help but feel that it is ripped from tomorrows headlines. A political assassination in Iraq (the guy who gets offed sounds remarkably like a certain Middle East tyrant we all know and love but his name is not mentioned) leads to an Islamic revolution and a new Iranian-Iraqi confederation (alright that bit is a bit far-fetched!) and a plot to infect Americans with a lethal form of Ebola. Forget Nostradamus. If you want to know what tomorrow has in store, pick up "Executive Orders". The book is 900 pages and as usual, Clancy likes details. If you want a quick page turner, buy one of those silly "Left Behind" novels. If you like top-notch political intrigue, Clancy's your man!
Rating:
Summary: excellent, hopefully not as prophetic as Debt of Honor.
Review: Executive Orders is Tom Clancy's follow up to his best selling novel Debt of Honor and begins moments after the ending of the previous novel. Debt of Honor left the Capitol building destroyed, the President killed, most of Congress killed, and all 9 members of the Supreme Court killed. Most other top officials of the government were also killed in a horrible attack reminiscent of September 11, 2001 (even though the novel was written years before that event). While not intending to be, Tom Clancy was very prophetic in writing about the events that led up to Executive Orders . Because the Vice President had resigned, Jack Ryan was asked to take his place until the next election. As Vice President, Jack Ryan was not in the building when the attacks took place. Being Vice President was only supposed to be a one-year post and then he would retire from public service. Now with the President dead, Jack Ryan is the new President of the United States. Most Presidents have a Cabinet and Congress and other Senior Officials to help make the transition to power run smoothly. Jack Ryan has to rebuild his government almost from the ground up. Tom Clancy writes large, sprawling novels. This one is actually a bit longer than most other Clancy novels, coming in at nearly 900 pages. There is a lot of storyline to cover. Clancy likes to have the main plotline with several sub-plots that eventually tie in to the main story and also augment what is going on. Only one of these sub-plots felt truly superfluous (that being the Mountain Men sub-plot) as it did not actually add anything to the main plotline nor did it even touch the main story. It was set up early as something large and fizzled out near the end, as if Clancy forgot that he had that sub-plot going and then realized that he didn't have anywhere for it to go. Otherwise, all the storylines fit into the larger story and with all the detail that Clancy provides, the novel doesn't feel as weighty as it would appear to be. The detail that Tom Clancy provides gives the novel a sense of realism, that perhaps these events are not so implausible as we might have once thought. After September 11 and with threats of bio-terrorism, this novel has gone from being military/political fiction to a grim vision of what may very well occur in our near future. We see the potential for evil in the world and dishonest men in the United States (and abroad). We see the potential for good men and women to step up in government service and to attempt to do the right thing. Clancy shows both sides of the coin, and if Jack Ryan is an overly honest and morally upright character....we must remember that he is the "hero" of the series. He is exactly the kind of man we want this series of books to revolve around. The bottom line for this novel is that it is well written, and while it may be long winded at times, it was a quick reading novel despite being around 900 pages. The story is compelling and while we know that our hero and our country will come out alright, we don't know what horrific events Clancy will subject Jack Ryan and America to....and that's why we keep reading.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great...
Review: I have been a long time fan of Tom Clancy but this book seems to fall short of his best work. While the usual technical jargin which kept me, an avid armchair military enthusiast, interested, this book was not up to the usual Clancy standard. The subplot involving the Moutainmen got me very interested at first and their treasones activities made me want to know what their final plan was, but the way in which they were caught made the entire subplot pointless and useless. As well, in the epiloge, Pat O'Day and Agent Price are to be married? Where was that EVER forshadowed in the book? If they were to be married, then at least there should have been some pretense. As i have just finished Executive Order, i will now begin to read The Bear and the Dragon, i only hope that this book will be better.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but complicated
Review: The book was grand, and you could start the Jack Ryan series here if you wanted too, all you have to know is that there's no governemnt left.
The storylines within the book are easlily defined which make it an ' easy ' book to read, and the only complicated part of the book is the military units and abrevations. Besides that it's good.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy's best ever!
Review: Tom Clancy is a great author, but he has outdone himself with Executive Orders. Jack Ryan fans will LOVE this and newcomers will avidly seek out earlier Ryan tomes.No spoilers here, but I will tell you that you should - no really must read - Debt of Honor first. It won't make this book any more enjoyable (this is the best book I have read in years), but when you just have to read the rest of the Jack Ryan series you will be glad you didn't know what happened in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Clancy Lives Up to his Billing
Review: This is standard Clancy with all the difficulties involved in setting the various storylines in motion and then following all to their conclusions.
Rating:
Summary: Best Clancy Ever... Bur read Debt of Honor First
Review: You must read Debt of Honor before you pick up this book. It is the best 1 - 2 punch in any book series .. EVER! Don't read any reviews that give you the story... it will ruin quite a bit of surpise. In 2002 this book is more timely now then when it was written. Events that you never thought would happen, have happened in real life in 2001. The only complaints I have seen about this book are the conservative ideology that Clancy has imparted to Jack Ryan. Most liberals I know are rather intelligent and should be able to take the fact that this is FICTION in stride.
| 
