The Sum of All Fears

Rating:
Summary: Far-fetched? I think not...
Review: There have been people who complained the technical descriptions and the high page count of Mr. Clancy's books. However, the descriptions leave me more convinced of the possibilities, and the high page count is balanced by good characterizations. I care more about the characters in the Jack Ryan universe of books than most other writers who make similarly described techno-thrillers. Anyway, the major plot of the book is about Arab terrorists re-fashioning a lost nuclear bomb for higher explosive yield and re-spark the Cold War. I just read a Reader's Digest article titled "Tale of the Radioactive Boyscout" which described a boy who tried to create a micro-powerplant by obtaining fissionable materials from common everyday objects like smoke detectors. That article and this book gave me chills.

Rating:
Summary: Technical errors abound in this embarassing Clancy effort.
Review: I'm not sure from whom Clancy is getting his technical information, but he ought to be fired. It is obvious that Clancy hasn't got a clue how things operate with regard to NORAD, missile warnings, or the military's reaction to such. His weapon's effects tome and its effects on commercial satellites is riduculous. Give NORAD and the U.S military credit for not being total idiots. The correct information is out there. Mr. Clancy, hire a real researcher! The end of the book is ludicrous. Let's hope the up coming movie is better than what Clancy has wrought.

Rating:
Summary: slow...slow....fast....slow...slow...fast......
Review: You'll need a lotta patience reading Clancy's books. Although the plot is great, Mr Clancy takes too long to built up the suspense and tension. There are a lotta boring parts, full of irrelevent information which spoil the great actions. If Mr Clancy can shorten his book by at least 30%, I'm sure the stories will be much more interesting.

Rating:
Summary: You're going to love this one!
Review: A lengthy review by me is only going to delay you from ordering this book and reading it yourself. In a nutshell, if you love the Jack Ryan chronicles, then this is the story where he is at his best. Do yourself a favor - check it out!!

Rating:
Summary: would make a good movie
Review: Tom Clancy should stick with playing with his Tec-9 in the basement of his mansion, instead of pretending that he can write.

Rating:
Summary: An author in love with his technical encyclopedias
Review: Someday, perhaps, I might understand Tom Clancy's love for filling dozens of pages with techno-garble found enjoyable by a handful of scientists, a few physics students and the author, himself. Clancy donates pages to his descriptions of just how a nuclear bomb detonates, how to assemble a nuclear bomb, how to deliver it, etc. After pulling the reader in with a strong plot, Clancy punishes them by forcing a long wade through techno-slude only a tad less boring than the chemical codes for the DNA of a red onion. It seems to amount to nothing short of literary masterbation by the author. What a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling!
Review: I usually avoid techno-thrillers, I'm more of a war novel reader, sticking to books like The Naked and the Dead, The Triumph and the Glory, or The Killer Angels, but the premise of Sum of all Fears was so chilling I gave it a try. It was very good, I may have to read more of Mr. Clancy, I can see now what all the fuss has been about, her is very good.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy's Best
Review: I can't say too much about this book. I finished it in no time flat. It was riviting and all-too-real. In an age of nuclear threat, this book gives a frightening example of the effects of nuclear terrorism.

Rating:
Summary: The career high point of Clancy's Jack Ryan character
Review: Believe me, the earlier ones lead up to this ("The Hunt For Red October", "Patriot Games", "Cardinal Of the Kremlin" and "Clear and Present Danger"), and the last two ("Debt Of Honor" and "Executive Orders") are downhill. Through the earlier books, Ryan was developing from an obscure CIA academic into the hero we know. After this, he falls into the Presidency and becomes the target of political enemies. But "Sum Of All Fears" is where he's at his best. He prevails against terrorists led by a leader who's dying of cancer and has nothing to lose. With the help of his beautiful brilliant physician wife (though conservative, Clancy seems determined to avoid sexism), he prevails against a Murphy Brown clone in the Cabinet who tries to torpedo both his career and his family life. Maybe it's a bit overblown when he also saves the world from an escalating nuclear crisis and a panicky president because he's personal friends with a Kremlin higher-up, but hell, he prevails there too. If you like Jack Ryan as a Yankee James Bond who uses his mind a lot and a gun hardly ever, read this book, then press <stop>.

Rating:
Summary: This book is great. Go on - get a copy. You won't regret it.
Review: This is the fifth Jack Ryan novel, chronologically, and unfortunately Ryan is not at his best. Shuttling between Washington, Rome and Israel the tension builds up as most Tom Clancy novels do. Terrorists are getting up to their usual tricks, letting bombs off (although only one this time) and trying to cause a war between the collapsing Soviet Union and the USA so that they can go back to war with the Israelites and crush the Israelites. With the National Security advisor ignoring Ryan because she hates him, the action gets tenser and tenser. Key Characters: "Clark", "Ding", Jackson, Murray. New Character: Ben Goodley, the person groomed to replace Ryan in a few years.