Rating: Summary: Clancy phoned in this one! Review: As an avid Clancy fan, saying I was disappointed reading his latest is a gross understatement. Clancy has taken his readers for granted this time, offering about half a book with disappearing plot lines, huge editing mistakes, and ludicrous dialogue. First, the book ends so abruptly that I wondered if Clancy just got tired of writing and sent in (or phoned in) what he had so far. Second, he had a hard time keeping his story straight. On one page, the terrorists are going to his 4 cities, including Sacramento. The author even makes a point of saying that two of the targets - the other being Des Moines - are "Provincial capitols." A few pages later, Sacramento is relaced by Provo, Utah, of all places, and the story goes on as if Sacramento never existed! Third, dialogue used to be a Clancy hallmark. Now we have the most trite exchanges between the brothers Caruso (roger that, bro). The only people that talk like these two are the main characters in Clive Cussler's books! Surely Clancy is going to finish this story, but I suppose we'll have to shell out [more money] for that one.
Rating: Summary: Teeth of the Mutt Review: How disappointing. This book desperately needed an editor to throw it back at Clancy for a rewrite. It was, in many ways, stupid. Loaded with utterly unbelievable events. If the world of international espionage really functions like this, we are all in big trouble. I don't remember any previous Clancy books being this childish. Foolish dialogue, especially between the Caruso twins. I never got to like them because they talked like such idiots from start to finish. And those nicknames were utterly annoying. Jack Jr. is not much better. In fact, there isn't an intelligent person in this whole book, which tells me that it's actually the author who lacks intelligence. One glaring example: The rookie spook, Jack Jr., talks openly in public to the twins about top secret info he's learned on the job, naming names of someone who will be their first "target." I immediately assume that Jack will soon be in big trouble for his "loose lips." Nope. Clancy never deals with it at all, even though the twins tell their superior that Jack filled them in. (Oh, you told them about this super-classified info without authorization? No problem, kid.) What nonsense. And there were many other similar flaws. Like them ID'ing their target in Vienna by happening to remember seeing him in Munich. "We're not certain he's the guy, but we're pretty sure so let's just go ahead and kill him." Just stupid. And get this: The 20-something Caruso boys, when comparing Ferraris to women, refer to Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara. Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara ?! Is Clancy out of his mind? They were both dead before either of these kids were born. Maybe Clancy himself fantasizes about those gals, but it's ludicrous to think his young characters would ever say such a thing. Obviously his editor: A) is afraid to question anything Clancy writes, or B) never reads any of it, figuring if the name Clancy is on the cover, it will SELL, and that's all that matters.
Someone at the Penguin Group should lose their job for letting this dog get into print. A major let-down.
Rating: Summary: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH CLANCY? Review: I am so glad I checked this out from the library rather than buy a copy. I won't bother to go into the details of the "plot" or "characters" because other reviewers have given you enough. The last Clancy novel I read was "Cybernation" back in 2002. It was actually written by a ghost-writer, and the plot was a joke. I decided to give Clancy one more try for plane flights from Oregon to Georgia. A mistake. Mr. Clancy, please, please, get your attorney to get you out of your book contract. You are disrespecting your readers and you don't need the money. I liked your first books a lot.
Rating: Summary: What a horrible effort by one of my favorite authors Review: I found myself checking the front cover again and again while reading this book. Could this half-hearted effort really be written by Tom Clancy? Trust me, fellow Clancy fans ... do NOT waste your money. If you really want to read it, then you should visit your local library.
The Teeth of the Tiger has all the ingredients of a quality Tom Clancy book. There's his usual mastery of technical gadgetry and procedures, a government agency and operatives facing evil-doers, travel to foreign countries, and the chance to root for the good guys. So why does this book fall so flat? The ratio of the ingredients is all wrong. It's 2% plot, 5% government agency insight, 3% gadgetry, 4% rooting for the good guys, and 83% "filler" slop that reads like a badly written travel guide by Lonely Planet.
Clearly Tom Clancy's spent a bit of time travelling through Europe. It's unfortunate that he devotes much of this book to inane observations on very mundane subjects such as the cleanliness of German streets or the brand names of suits one can find in Italy.
I wish I had never read this book, but not just because of the money and time I wasted. I wish I had never read this book so my favorable impression of Clancy as a writer that would never merely "phone in" a performance would remain intact.
Rating: Summary: This tiger needs dental work - Very clearly subpar Review: I had high expectations for this novel, but ended up sorely disappointed. The characters, particularly Jack Ryan Jr., are extremely poorly developed. The Caruso twins talk to each other like actors in a bad 80's movie, constantly saying things like "Roger that," and "Bro". Several phrases are inexplicably repeated throughout the novel, such as "There's more men need killin' than horses need stealin'," and "being a spook ain't like in the movies."
The worse part of this book, however, is the ending, or non-ending, as the case happens to be. Nothing HAPPENS! There is no tying up of lose ends, not even any hint of a sequel. This and the many, many, unbelievable logical stretches that the author makes in this novel truly make for an unpleasurable reading experience. Do yourself a favor, and go read some GOOD Clancy - books like Red Storm Rising and Without Remorse are much better indicators of what he can really do.
Rating: Summary: Clancy slippage Review: I have all of Clancy's books and have been a fan since his first, the genre classic "Hunt for Red October." He hit a peak with "The Bear and the Dragon," and his works since "Bear" have shown a slow decline in quality. "Teeth of the Tiger" is almost a caricature of a Clancy novel. His development of the one-dimensional characters is heavy-handed and even his description of action sequences--long a Clancy strong suit--is lacking the force and eloquence of his previous work.
I'm currently re-reading "Red Storm Rising." The distinction between the quality of that earlier work and "Teeth" is striking. As a Clancy fan, I come not to bury him but to praise him--his earlier work, at least--and hope that he can return to that level of writing in the future.
Rating: Summary: Oh Man.... Review: I thought Red Rabbit was horrible, but man, this is horrible! The Teeth Of The Tiger is about a secret organization called 'the campus' where it is a anti-terrorism organization (sort of what Rainbow is). So now we meet Brian and Dominac; Brian is a former FBI agent, while Dominac came back from fighting in Afghanistan to join the organization. Then we meet Jack Jr. now a grown man and ready to follow in his father's footsteps when Jack Ryan was hunting down the Red October, and getting the Special Forces in Columbia after a failed operation to get rid of the Cali drug cartel. So now, terrorist hook up with the Cali cartel in Columbia to sneak them in America so that the terrorist can attack a shopping mall in D.C. So now, Brian and Dominac go into the mall to shop for some new shoes and they discover the plot. So then Jack Jr. Brian and Dominac head to Europe and get the main man for coming up for this operation. So why the one star? For one, Clancy got LAZY with his writing, and he calls the terrorist 'scumbags'. He is VERY RACIST toward the Arab characters in this book, and him writing that it takes Brian and Dominac 30 minutes to run a mile, for one these men were fit, so why would it take them 30 minutes to run a mile? I can walk a mile in 30 minutes. The book is POORLY written and it begins good, but is SAGS like a poor swimmer who is sinking in water. I felt this novel had potential, but Clancy didnt take his time and I felt that he would just retire.
Rating: Summary: I'm 4 Chapters In And It's A Classic Clancy Story. Review: I'll tell you up front that I have every Tom Clancy Novel in hardcover. I enjoy his work and I have re-read most of his classics and by classics I mean the true epics, not the co-authored works or the in-depth looks into the Armored Cav. etc., although those are solid works as well. While not every at bat can be a home-run (Red Rabbit was predictable and occasionally slow) so far I think Teeth of the Tiger has the ability to be a Grand Slam akin to Executive Orders or Without Remorse. I sat down last night and burned through the first 4 chapters with out the notion of any passage of time. In typical T.C. fashion the book grabs you by the ears and refuses to let you even look up once. As you saw in the liner notes this takes place a few years down the road and Jack Jr. is the apparent heir to the throne with all of his father's characteristics, attitude, and intelligence firmly implanted in him. What I wouldn't give for a dinner and drinks with T.C. to hear the real stories that he has to tell.
Rating: Summary: Good But Slow for the First 150 Pages Review: Many judge each of Clancy's newest book by some standard that refers to all of his past writings. That is okay but short changes any new book since it is impossible for Clancy to top some of his old writings.
I was surprised by this book. The first 50 to 100 pages are by any measure just average, very average and I considered throwing away the book, and if you stopped reading there I would agree with some other comments on the book - it would be a dud. But read on! After 150 pages or so the book really picks up and just flashes by. I ended up reading most of the book in just two sittings (one all night seemingly), and once I got to somewhere around page 150 to 175, I could not put the book down until the end - and to me that is the measure by which I would judge all of these types of books.
One can argue the plot in which an FBI agent and a marine do extra judicial killings Israeli style, but that misses the point. It is a compelling and entertaining read with an uncertain ending. What more can one ask for? But you have to read past the first marginally interesting 100 pages to 150 pages. Still I can see it merits at least 4 stars, clearly more than 3, but possibly not 5 stars. In any case it is very entertaing once you get past the first third or so.
Rating: Summary: Cirrusreview Review: Now that I've read so many reviews panning Clancy's latest I'm starting to wonder if I need to get an IQ test before adding my thoughts. While its not Ludlum (even Ludlum hasn't been Ludlum for a while), its still a fun read and well worth the $17.95 or whatever it costs now. I do like Jack-the-Younger, lets face it, the senior has to be in his 60's and suspension of disbelief only goes so far with action figures (read: Harrison Ford). A litte flag waving about offing terrorists is also a pleasant escape from our present political enviorment. And yes, sometimes the dialogue is pat and even silly but I'll accept Tom's lack of poetry for his technical description the latest covert poison injection systems any time. I mean, we're not reading him to get all teary-eyed anyway, are we guys? (and you three girls out there who are reading this).
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