Rating: 
Summary: A very intriguing and suspenseful story
Review: Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears is another page turner full of suspense and a very interesting plot. Terrorists undertake to detonate a nuclear bomb within the United States to prevent a peaceful settlement to the conflicts in the Middle East. The title to this novel is very interesting and fitting as characters make decisions that are not rational, but are based on their fears and doubts. Although the story starts off slow, it becomes pretty amazingly suspenseful as the plot progresses, especially near the end. As in other novels, Clancy mixes a shockingly plausible scenario with incredible action. Reading this book, I found very interesting the way in which what started off as the most innocent event quickly escalated into a very tense and frightening situation. The main character, Jack Ryan, must deal with not only tense intelligence problems, but also with problems such as lack of sleep, failing health and marital problems. On top of that, Ryan must overcome a vindictive pesonal attack by National Security Advisor Elizabeth Elliot and the sometimes unfair expectations of President Fowler. Popular Clancy characters such as John Clark and Domingo Chavez also play a role in this story. I think perhaps one of the most interesting aspects to this story is the fact that the frightening plot is not so far fetched. It could very easily become a horrible reality. The way in which Clancy connects events in the story makes one think of how possible this all is and it's hard to imagine a more appropriate title than The Sum of All Fears. Having seen the movie based upon this story I can tell you that significant plot deatails were changed in the movie. Other than the planned nuclear detonation in America and the ensuing panic that takes place, the movie is very different. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the fact that in the movie Jack Ryan(played by Ben Affleck) is a young man that has just recently joined the CIA. This certainly doesn't follow suit with the presentation of Jack Ryan as a married man in the movies Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games. Although the screen adaptation is considerably different than the book, the movie is still pretty good and probably worth seeing. If you've seen the movie, whether or not you liked it, I'd still recommend reading the book as the plots are different enough that the book will not appear to be just a literary version of the movie. For this reason, I also recommend seeing the movie even if you've already read the book.The book is perhaps one of the most suspenseful I've read by Clancy and is full action. Clancy's vast military knowledge is certainly present and makes the story seem that much more interesting and plausible. I certainly recommend reading this book, especially if you're a big Clancy/Ryan fan.
Rating:
Summary: A thrilling, real page-turner book!!
Review: When the movie The Hunt for the Red October was shown in my country, Brazil, I thought "Man, the guy who wrote this book is a genius!". Then I started to look for Clancy's books on the bookstores shelves, and I found that he's more than a genius. No one else in the world can write this kind of book better than him. And "The Sum of All Fears" is here to prove what I'm saying: it's the kind of book that you just can't stop reading. Once you started, you won't want to do anything else than reading it, if you know what I mean... The last chapters alone are worth its price, and if you like Clancy's books but you haven't read this one yet, I have to ask you: what is taking you so long? If you read "The Cardinal of the Kremlin" and "Clear and Present Danger", you shouldn't miss this: it's Clancy at his best, as never seen before. Here you'll see our hero, Jack Ryan, as the Vice-Director of the CIA, going against some politicians and even the President of the USA to avoid a nuclear war
Rating:
Summary: A Transitional Ryan Tale
Review: Jack Ryan is on the other side - political forces from the National Security Advisor to the President want him out. Information about his past - such as his connections to the Zimmer family - are hinted at in the press. His wife thinks he's unfaithful, the president thinks he's James Bond, and certain forces are building a hydrogen bomb to provoke a war between the US and the Russians.From the ashes of his dismay, Jack eventually finds redemption, not in alcohol, but in the form of Mr. Clark, and Domingo Chavez, who give his wife the truth about her husband's gallantry and fidelity. Those forces nudge him back to his job - and his interception in not only preventing a nuclear war, but in his ultimate choice to defy the President in his choices - and willing to sacrifice his job for it.
Rating: 
Summary: Important cautionary tale
Review: Long ago, I read a novel called "The Hunt for Red October" and loved it. Then, somehow, I never picked up another Clancy novel until after seeing the movie "The Sum of All Fears". Having read the movie reviews, I knew the book and movie were only vaguely related. I really enjoyed the movie, and looked forward to reading the original rendition of the story. I wasn't disappointed. I actually enjoyed the book a bit more than the movie version. It was important to read all of the intimate details of the first few nanoseconds of nuclear detonation; it was critical to the plot. And, it was fascinating from a raw nuclear physics point of view, too. The characters were well developed with all of the human attributes one might expect in real life. The plot, with all of its many threads, was woven together masterfully. Perhaps the story was a bit too ambitious; probably a hundred or more pages could have been cut. But a novel can suffer from too much polishing, too. I have to give Clancy the benefit of the doubt here. When I turned the last page and had a chance to contemplate this story, I realized how important it is as a modern cautionary tale. I hope anyone who is in a position of military power understands the importance of simulations and drills; and keeps in mind that the knee-jerk reaction they are about to take just might be exactly the reaction hoped for by the terrorists. The other thing that I will take away from this novel is a deeper respect for the lower-level, behind-the-scenes government employees. They are the ones doing the work for which our esteemed leaders take all of the credit. And of course, they are reviled as "beaurocrats", and generally disdained by elected officials and the media. It must really {Bite} sometimes. Well hang in there, maybe you too can save the world from nuclear annihilation.
Rating:
Summary: A SUSPENSE LACED READING
Review: Probably best remembered for his performances on the hit TV series M*A*S*H*, voice actor David Ogden Stiers gives a vivid and suspense laced reading to this techno-thriller by the master of that genre, Tom Clancy. In the spine tingling plot terrorists have possession of nuclear weapons and it seems the world is set on a path of total destruction. You'll find lots of technical jargon here as the tale unfolds; a ripe listen for those who favor such detail. However, as one might expect, this does not detract one iota from Clancy's it's-going-to-happen-any-minute scenario. Super hero Jack Ryan faces Arab terrorists, and a few other nemeses as well: the President's sleep-in gal, the National Security Director who detests Ryan; and a penchant for consuming way too much booze. Terrorists plan to detonate their bomb outside the Super Bowl game in Denver. Washington has apparently gone bonkers, and the Soviets aren't in much better shape. Jack doesn't seem to be in any condition to save the world. Leave it to Clancy and David Ogden Stiers to keep us gasping until the last minute. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: A lot less far-fetched since Sept. 11
Review: Peace has broken out in the Middle East, due in large part to the efforts of Jack Ryan, but not everyone is happy about it. A small group of Palestinian terrorists have stumbled upon enough plutonium to make a powerful nuclear bomb, and with the right help can threaten the United States. Also, the President's new Security Advisor hates Jack and does everything she can to get him kicked out. Her bad advice causes total confusion at the worst possible time. While initially slow moving, the end was very exciting. What must have seemed far-fetched when the book was written in 1991, no longer seems impossible in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. But overall, I enjoyed the book once it got going.
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Summary: If you've seen the movie, be prepared for a shock!
Review: I liked the film, and it led me to read the book. Boy, was I surprised! I have to wonder what Clancy thought of the screenplay because about the only thing they have in common is the name and a bomb that goes off...but not as or where it depicts in the film.
The book is really good, but I was continually faced with differences, so it was an interesting journey. The other reviewers have done a good job of explaining the story, so all I'll say is that you owe it to yourself, if you're a Clancy fan, to see what HE wrote instead of what the screenwriter did with it. I can assure you, you'll wonder if the screenwriter even read the book!
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Summary: The Sum of Clancy's Greast Novel
Review: This is my favorite Clancy Book! Some SPOLIERS in Review It is late 1991 after the Gulf War. The Soviet Union is in its final days and the American victory in the Gulf causes President Fowler to try and push a Iserali Palstienain peace treaty through.
So enter Jack Ryan now acting as the DDI after James Greer death in Clear and Present Danger, Jack comes up with the idea to have Jesurlm split into diffrent sectors, one Mulism one Iserali and then have it guarded by Swiss troops. The US officaly declares it would protect Iseral.
Jack has made enemies though. Elizbeth Elliot becomes the new National Security Advisor and she brngs a hatered of Ryan with her. She is hell bent to destroy him. In elliots quest to destroy Ryan she begins "banging" the President and gets him to dislike Ryan.
All the while a group of Islamic Terrroist, German Red Army Commuinsts and an Indian Convict plan on leading the world to a Nuclear War between the US and the USSR. All this goes to make a great Novel. One can really hate Elliot after reading about her for a while. Jack quickly learns that having enemies isn't great and it screws up the home life. The climax of the Novel is the best. The Russian and American President slowy and somtimes accidently pushing each other towards war. A must read for Clancy fans. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: A Scary Ride
Review: The Sum Of All Fears is by far THE BEST CLANCY NOVEL EVER! First it starts off that a Israeli nuclear missle is missing, and it falls in the hands of a Palestinian man who's father owns some land with the missle in his land, so begins the process of a nuclear missle. So with some help from ex-felon Marvin Russell, and the help of a German man who's wife is held in prison for murder, they decide to get a hold of some German nuclear scientist and begin the making of the bomb.
While in the good U.S. of A, things are taking a toll on Jack Ryan, the Fowler Administration dislikes Jack, especially Elizabeth Elliot, Presidential Advisor, and lover on the side of the President Fowler.
Jack is now caught in the fire by the Fowler Administration in which they did a background check without his ok with it, and they find that he is helping Buck Zimmer's wife Carol and her kids with money for all her kids in college. So they take pictures of him talking to Carol by giving her presents for her kids, and along side with him is John Clark.
Now the Fowler Administration see's a advantage to taking care of Jack. At home, tensions with Jack's wife Cathy who wants another child, cannot seem to do it because the job is taking a toll on him real bad.
Now Cathy is depressed because she feels that Jack is cheating on her, then comes John Clark and his partner in crime Domingo Chavez. They tell her the truth, and they set up with the CIA for Jack to take a couple of days off to be with his wife and a romantic dinner and a hotel suite.
Now we turn back to the terrorist, once they get to Denver, they kill Marvin Russell in the hotel room they were staying in, and all the scientist and the German guy too. They then decide to release the bomb in Denver where the Super Bowl was being held that year.
So they bring the bomb to Denver, they rent a Budget truck, and hide the bomb in the back by disguisting the truck as a news truck, so they go through security in a breeze.
Then disaster strikes! The bomb goes off killing everyone in a three mile radius. Then Russain subs attack an American vessel, but the vessel is being controlled by a man who got a Russain colonel suit and told the vessel to attack the sub.
So with his failed intelligence, Fowler then decides that it could be no one other than the Russians, so he sets up a nuclear warhead toward Moscow and vice versa.
Then comes Jack Ryan, he finds out that the Russians didnt do it, and it was the work of terrorist, but Fowler sticks to his plan on killing innocent people in Moscow because of something they didnt do.
So then comes John Clark and Domingo Chavez, they find out who did it, and now they are on the hunt for the nuclear terrorist, eventually they got lucky, and they caught them in Mexico.
Then Jack Ryan gets through the President of Russia and Fowler and tell them that the Russians didnt do it, Fowler pays Jack no attention, but by the brinks of God, not a single nuclear missle was fired.
This is a great novel, and I am just sad to see that Tom Clancy cant write like this anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy's "Fear-ful" novel is chilling, taut...
Review: In his sixth novel (and fifth entry in the Jack Ryan series), The Sum of All Fears, Tom Clancy once again turned his attention on the specter of global terrorism and meshed it to the themes of the limits of Presidential power, the sometimes nasty backbiting that goes on in the world of politics, and the ever-present danger from weapons of mass destruction. The book opens with a prologue set during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Egypt, Syria, and even a few Iraqi units attacked Israel in a stunning surprise attack. Faced with possible defeat for the first time in 25 years, Israel alerts its small nuclear deterrent to be placed on standby. In the confusion of increased mission tempo, a single small nuclear bomb is loaded onto an A-4 Skyhawk attack bomber whose pilot has no clue what he is carrying. In an attack on a Syrian SAM battery, this A-4 is shot down and its deadly cargo falls into a Druze farmer's rocky field, where it will lie undisturbed for almost two decades. Fast forward to Clancy's fictional mid 1990s-era world. The Cold War is ending, and the easing tensions between East and West offer the weary world both hope and fear. With America and the Soviet Union now working together to solve some of the thorniest problems on the planet, expectations are high for a new, peaceful world order. First and foremost of these problems, of course, is the Middle East, where Israeli-Palestinian relations have once again heated up in a chain of religiously-motivated incidents. This time, though, the Palestinians have taken a cue from the American civil rights movement and started a Martin Luther King, Jr.-style "peaceful confrontation" campaign, which places Israel on the moral defensive. Yet, a chance remark by Jack Ryan to a senior White House official begins a promising process that might lead to a fair solution to the long conflict between Muslims and Jews The down side to all this is that not everyone is overjoyed with the wave of good news washing over the world. In Eastern Europe, die-hard Marxists refuse to accept the end of communism and rail against the "betrayal" by their former "socialist comrades" in the Soviet government. Among these deluded die-hards is German terrorist Gunther Bock, a vengeful radical whose wife is now behind bars in Germany and his twin children put up for adoption. On the run and lusting for the ultimate payback on the world, Bock will journey to the Middle East, where he will make contact with Palestinians sponsored by a shadowy Islamic leader who is equally unhappy about the coming peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. And when by sheer luck this group (which will be joined by the unstable Native American Marvin Russell) comes across Israel's missing nuke, the ultimate revenge plot will begin to take form. In this huge and complex novel, Jack Ryan is pushed to his limits both professionally and personally. For although the stalwart CIA analyst has now stepped up in rank to the post of acting Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, he is not held in the highest regard by the new Fowler Administration, which ironically won its place at the White House in part due to Ryan's actions at the end of Clear and Present Danger. The new Director of Central Intelligence, Sebastian Cabot, is merely a pawn cleverly manipulated by the "power behind the throne" in the West Wing, and the President himself, Robert Fowler, is more interested in securing his ultra-liberal domestic agenda at the expense of a strong and consistent foreign/defense policy. To make matters worse, Ryan has earned the personal enmity of Dr. Elizabeth Elliott, President Fowler's new National Security Adviser, who not only wants the acting DDCI to be fired from his CIA job, but wants to wreak havoc on his personal life. When all these plot threads converge and a deadly crisis arises, it is Ryan who must act quickly to avert an even worse conflict that could be the product of the sum of everyone's fears.
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