'Red Storm Rising' was the first book by Tom Clancy, I ever read. Great novel, wich I had a hard time putting down and, knowing the minds (or lack of it) of politicians, it even has a quite plausible scenario. Having read this book, I immediately started looking for other books by the author. I have still to read the books that come after 'Without Remorse', but that is merely a quiestion of time and economics.

Somewhere under the Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision ...the Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. And the most incredible chase in history is on...

The Hunt for Red October is the runaway bestseller that launched Tom Clancy's phenomenal career. A military thriller so accurate and convincing that the author was rumored to have been debriefed by the White House. Its theme: the greatest espionage coup in history. Its story: the chase for a runaway top secret Russian missile sub.

Red Storm Rising

sjentsch@execpc.com
Plausible story of World War III using conventional warfare

Tom Clancy shows just how possible World War III is, and how it would be done without nuclear weapons. It has many sub-plots that weave themselves together, in typical Tom Clancy fashion. His realistic descriptions of battles and strategies form an excellent mental image of what is going on. Along with the easy-to-write battle and action sequences, there are also a few sub-plots that have to do with the morality of war and the actions of the individuals thrown into situations beyond normal reason.

Overall, a very enjoyable story that takes you away from everything else that might be on your mind (as any good book should). Just be careful, you'll be staying up until 3am trying to get through the last part of the book, because once the final action starts, you won't be able to put it down!

Patriot Games

From England to Ireland to America, an explosive wave of violence sweeps a CIA analyst and his family into the deadliest game of our time: international terrorism. An ultra-left-wing faction fo the IRA has targeted the CIA man for his act of salvation in an assasination attempt. And now he must pay...with his life.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Two men possess vital data on Russia's Star Wars missile defense system. One of them is CARDINAL--America's highest agent in the Kremlin--and he's about to be terminated by the KGB. The other is the one American who can save CARDINAL and lead the world to the brink of peace--or war.

Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger

CIA man Jack Ryan, hero of Patriot Games finds that he will probably never have a boring summer: The sudden and surprising assassination of three American officials in Colombia. Many people in many places, moving off on missions they all mistakenly thought they understood. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected finish lines were things that, once decided, were better left unseen. Tom Clancy's new thriller is based on Americas war on drugs...and the covert - and shocking - U. S. response.

The Sum of All Fears

The Gulf War is over. and an Israeli nuclear warhead is missing. The balance of power in the Mideast - and the world - is about to change forever...
As Deputy Director of the CIA, Jack Ryan faces the challenge of his career when his proposal for a Middle East peace plan is thwarted by terrorists who intend to destroy Israel--after detonating an atomic bomb on American soil.

Without Remorse

Bold and bloody adventure: soldier takes on the inner city.
Without Remorse develops the shrouded past of Clancy's "Mr. Clark" (and gives a fleeting look at a young Jack Ryan). The setting is Baltimore during the Vietnam War. John Kelly, who becomes Mr. Clark, is a vet who falls in love with a prostitute and uncovers a drug ring. When the love of his life is killed, he sets out to wipe out the drug dealers. While a page turner by the standards of ordinary adventure fiction, Without Remorse isn't as gripping as Clancy's earlier novels, nor is it as realistic. Reading The Hunt for Red October will tell you a lot about subs. In reading Without Remorse, you may wish to tell Clancy a lot about the inner city. The body count is quite high and the depictions of the many murders by Kelly and the drug dealers is graphic.

Debt of Honor

Razio Yamata is one of Japan's most influential industrialists, and part of a relatively small group of authority who wield tremendous authority in the Pacific Rim's economic powerhouse. He has devised a plan to cripple the American greatness, humble the US military, and elevate Japan to a position of dominance on the world stage. Yamata's motivation lies in his desire to pay off a Debt of Honor to his parents and to the country he feels is responsible for their deaths - America. All he needs is a catalyst to set his plan in motion. When the faulty gas tank on one Tennessee family's car leads to their fiery death, an opportunistic U. S. congressman uses the occasion to rush a new trade law through the system. The law is designed to squeeze Japan economically. Instead, it provides Yamata with the leverage he needs to put his plan into action. As Yamata's plan begins to unfold, it becomes clear to the world that someone is launching a fully-integrated operation against the United States. There's only one man to find out who the culprit is - Jack Ryan, the new President's National Security Advisor.

Evidently Ludlum has pulled off yet another quite plausible scenario:

uy@rd.sony.co.jp
In 1991, an unusual submission was made to the Harvard Undergraduate Government Department as a course paper on Japanese political economics. Over the next decade, it cited, global interdependency would indicate a shift in political focus from military to economic hegemony. Dependency on trade and high-technology R&D would replace the bomb as determinants of political power, and "trade" would join "religion" and "territory" as incentives for war. "Debt of Honor" is an dramatic verification and original extrapolation of this paper. Tom Clancy expertly utilizes the same thesis, and adds a functional knowledge of modern-Japanese sociology, politics and US-Japan diplomacy. "Debt of Honor" does NOT illustrate the "only possible way" Japan and the US could go to war, it delineates a new class of scenarios which leaders must consider today. If that 1991 course paper were to be rewritten as an imprending-scenario illustration, Debt of Honor would graduate with Honors of its own. Tom Clancy points out that leaders of the developing technological utopia have as much, if not more responsibilty as those from the classical miltary theater. An amusing note: Clancy accurately hints at developments in the consumer electronics market. In one instance, he cites market release of the Nikon F5 camera half a year prior to the announcement in Tokyo.

ARappap891@aol.com I still can't get over how Clancy can use subtle innuendo to suggest policy or a course of action. The "Trade Reform Act" has a healthy ring to it. The Japanese pull another Pearl Harbor during a naval exercise. The stock market crashes due to a computer glich and to top it all off, Jack Ryan now holds the highest intellegence post in the US: National Security Advisor. I would be terribly offended if someone called me back to work while I was playing golf; President or no President. Clancy sees the world the way it ought to be seen; in black and white and not in any gray tones. There are still enemies out there. Whether it be Iran, Iraq, Libya, or any other nation who would like to see America put into the position that Clancy puts us in at the end of this book. I would like to think that America hasn't lost sight of it's place in the world arena and the American people haven't lost sight of what America has to do to remain at the top. Whether it means slapping on a trade embargo or going to war to protect our interests. People may think that it isn't that cut and dried, but if you think about it, that's the way it really is. Maybe we will wake up to that fact before it's too late.

wlevinso@ix.netcom.com
It couldn't happen... or could it?
The recent tragedy off Long Island raised the question of whether terrorists could down a 747 with a Stinger. Clancy addresses this question in "Debt of Honor," where a Secret Service agent uses the Stinger. (He has a good reason: you'll have to read the book to find out what it is.) Fuel oil and fertilizer... not Oklahoma City, but Ceylon. Mr. Clark/Kelly meets Portugee Oreza after twenty years, under interesting circumstances. Clancy's writings are fiction, but they present plausible scenarios. It's quite possible that a destructive computer program (or virus) will be a weapon in the next "war." We reputedly used one in Desert Storm: a virus introduced into Saddam's air defense system from a printer, via the parallel port. (Everyone knows the parallel port is an output device, right??? Afraid not...) I cite "Red Storm Rising" and "Debt of Honor" in a chapter of a quality control book I'm writing, to illustrate the ISO 9000 quality standards. What could Clancy's technothrillers have to do with ISO 9000? "Storage, packaging, handling, and delivery," of course. In "Red Storm Rising," seawater damages Ivan's surface to air missiles (Army models, not designed to resist sea water.) In "Debt of Honor," there's a handling/packaging problem with some automobile gas tanks, and sea water is again involved. The story doesn't start moving as quickly as Clancy's other stories, but it REALLY moves near the blockbuster climax. The sequel will be interesting!
http://www.pic.net/~wlevinso "The Crisis Manager"

Executive Orders

Tom Clancy goes to the White House in this thriller of political terror and global disaster. The American political situation takes a disturbing turn as the President, Congress and Supreme Court are obliterated when a Japanese terrorist lands a 747 on the Capitol. Meanwhile the Iranians are unleashing an Ebola virus threat on the country. Jack Ryan, CIA agent, is cast in the middle of this maelstrom. Due to a recent sex scandal, Ryan was appointed vice president, a slot he doesn't hold for long when he lands in the Chief Executive's chair. He goes after the Iranians and then tries to piece together the country and his life the only way he knows how--with a fury that we've grown accustomed to in Clancy's intricate, detailed and accurate stories of warfare and intrigue.

The Bear and the Dragon

The Bear and the Dragon

Tom Clancy's Op-Center (with Steve Pieczenik)

Tom Clancy's Op-Center is a beating heart of defense, intelligence, and crisis management technology. It is run by a team of operatives both within its own walls and out in the field. And when a job is too dirty - or too dangerous - it is the only place our government can turn. But nothing can prepare Director Paul Hood and his Op-Center crisis management team for what they are about to uncover - a very real, very frightening power play that could unleash new players in a new world order...

Tom Clancy's Op-Center : Mirror Image (with Steve Pieczenik)

Tom Clancy; Mass Market Paperback; $6.29; Descriptive information available.

Tom Clancy's Op-Center : Games of State (with Steve Pieczenik)

In the newly unified Germany, old horrors are reborn. It is the beginning of Chaos Days, a time when Neo-Nazi groups gather to spread violence and resurrect bad dreams. But this year, Germany isn't the only target. Plans are afoot to destabilize Europe and cause turmoil throughout the United States. Paul Hood and his team, already in Germany to buy technology for the new Regional Op-Center, become entangled in the crisis. They uncover a shocking force behind the chaos - a group that uses cutting-edge technology to promote hate and influence world events.

The Cold War is over. And chaos is setting in. The new President of Russia is trying to create a democratic regime. But there are strong elements within the country that are trying to stop him: the ruthless Russian mafia, the right wing nationalists, and those nefarious forces that will do whatever it takes to return Russia to the days of the Czar.

In Los Angeles, an explosion kills the head of a major movie studio. In New York, a woman is kidnapped, threatening to spark the bloodiest Mafia war in history. In Russia, another Op-Center goes on-line--for the other side. And within one weekend, a handful of seemingly unrelated events will take the New World Order to the brink of extinction.

Tom Clancy; Paperback; $13.45; Descriptive information available.

Armored Cav : A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment

Tom Clancy; Paperback; $13.50; Descriptive information available.

Fighter Wing : A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

Tom Clancy; Paperback; $13.50; Descriptive information available.

Marine : A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

Tom Clancy; Paperback; $14.40

Ssn : Strategies of Submarine Warfare

Tom Clancy; Paperback; $13.50; Descriptive information available.

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Updated 01-09-28 at 18:05