Rating: 
Summary: One of Clancy's best
Review: I wish the film had been this good. Clancy hasn't written a book this great for a long, long time. I wish he'd study his work here and duplicate it (not literally!) in his next novel, because evidently the money has gotten to his head and he's lost it. He once told a classroom of students at his old high school that his inspiration to write is the car he drives. He's turned into a hack!
Rating: 
Summary: the sum of all brilliance
Review: `The sum of all brilliance'is right. One of Clancy's best .
the details are great everything from construction of the nuke to the bureaucracy,the presidents detail.Details are however a touch longwinded make you wish to skim through sometimes.
But it is undoubtably Clancy's best JACK RYAN book.
Jack Ryan now DDCI in the Fowler administration has come up with a plan that would bring peace to the middle east currently ravaged by war . Everyone `s happy with the plan. Everyone but the terrorists that is ,who have invested too much blood in their cause to let the plan succeed. With one desprate card to play . Executed with perfection the terrorist act plunges the world into a near nuclear war which could destroy everything. Terrorists managing to construct a nuke and exploding it at the superbowl .Leaving the Americans to suspect the Russians.
Jack Ryan amidst all the international confusion has his own personal problems in his martial life,also with elements in the government wanting to do away with him. With the president of the United States unable to deal with the situation the DDCI must find a way to avoid nuclear crisis ,when both superpowers collide it's only a matter of time before the world explodes.
A most exhilirating book.The movie hasn't done the book justice
has rather ruined the plot.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book--what was Hollywood thinking?
Review: This is by far the best Jack Ryan book I have read by Clancy. An intricate, original plot that leaves you wondering if it could actually happen. Clancy's knowledge of intelligence agencies, governments and science never ceases to amaze me. He weaves a perfect amount of information into the plot to make it seem like you're reading a textbook... but this one is exciting and has a killer plot that will make you burn through the pages. What I enjoy most about this Clancy novel was the intricacy of the characters... especially Jack Ryan. As a reader, you really get to know Jack Ryan: his faults, his worries, his qualities. His character is portrayed so well in this book. You share his pain as he goes through despair when his government turns against him and his wife accuses him of adultery. You see him fall into the depression of middle-age and alcoholism. And you see his redemtion through his closest friends and his supporting wife. Not to mention, this book really makes you think. Too bad Hollywood completely disregarded all of these qualities when deciding to make the movie. Whoever wrote the script for the movie decided to make Ryan a young CIA agent who was just entering the agency. This is obviously done in an atempt to target the younger crowd and to "Hollywoodize" the movie. Unfortunately it takes everything away from the character that Clancy created, the relationship with his wife and friends, and from the whole plot, which is so twisted in the movie, you wonder if the screenwriter even read the book. Not to mention that now it doesn't fit in with the other Jack Ryan movies (Jack Ryan was played by Alec Baldwin in one of them and wonderfully portrayed by Harrison Ford in the other two. So where the heck does Ben Affleck fit in there?) It's too bad. The actual plot could have made a wonderful movie, and it made a wonderful book. I recommend this for everyone who is a Clancy fan, anyone who enjoyed the movie, and people who thought the movie was lacking. However, one word of advice... if you enjoy this book, don't see the movie.
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: 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.
Rating:
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!
Rating:
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: More information that I want in a novel
Review: I have never read one of Tom Clancy's books. I have seen most of the movies that were made from them and have enjoyed most of them. I was moved to read this one after the flack over the much publicized "plot changes" that were prompted by sensitivity to the 9/11 tragedies. Curiosity led me to buy the book and read it to see what the changes were.
Yes, the movie did change the bad guys from Arab Muslims to some neo-nazi types, but I never understood how detailed these books were. I have decided to stick to the movie versions. I cannot fault Clancy for his writing, it's just more input than I want. I really don't care about the exact sequence of how a nuclear devise explodes. I really don't want to know the manufacturing process of that devise in detail.
I gave the book 3 stars because (at least for me) if I skip the pages and pages of technical detail the book is entertaining. I certainly don't want to try and chase folks away from this book if this type of detail is your cup of tea. But if you're like me, then just wait until they make it into a movie
My star ratings:
One star - couldn't finish the book
Two stars - read the book, but did a lot of skipping or scanning. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection or search out other books by the author
Three stars - enjoyable read. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection. Would judge other books by the author individually.
Four stars - Liked the book. Would keep the book or would look for others by the same author.
Five start - One of my all time favorites. Will get a copy in hardback to keep and will actively search out others by the same author.
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