The Hunt for Red October

The Book in 1 Sentence

The Start of the Jack Ryan book series sets a style and pace about intelligence, intrigue, and duty that explains the raise of Tom Clancy.

Brief Review

This is my second Tom Clancy novel and my first one as an adult who understands the number of books he has written. I now understand why Jack Ryan has captured American interest in reading, creating the highs like Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan and The Division, and lows like Without Remorse

Why I Read this book

I really like the Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan TV show and thought I’d start the book series.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

I cannot truly express how impressed I am with the description of the Submarines, their capabilities, the function, and life on the sub. I’ve always been interested in subs and after watching videos like this one from Smarter Every Day and U-571 it is incredible the technology created to keep subs underway. Tom wrote this with even more limited information than we have now about those highly secretive technological marvels.

The characters feel like real people. Almost like it is telling a story rather than making one up. I really like the Commander of the Red October. His deception and playing the crew and his superiors is a masterclass in tradecraft and manipulation. Getting people to believe something so deeply that they don't think anything of it. I know there is an implicit trust as he is the lord of that sub, but he never forces it, and you can see the intelligence of Ryan working with that rather than against it.

The story is very intriguing if you understand the weight of the conversations that are happening as they are happening. If you are waiting on the explanation from the author, it is either not there or it comes afterward which could slow the book down. The final thing I have is that I felt there was this false ending. Everything is tied to a nice bow and then there is a sub battle. I think this could have been introduced earlier in the book, and it wouldn't have felt like I was reading the end of The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy.

Rating

I am aware that this is a movie with Sean Connery and I have watched it. Back when it was on TNT or TBS, with my Dad. However, before I watched it again, I thought I'd read the book since I didn't enjoy Clear and Present Danger as much as I did when I was younger. This was the right call. The book is very well written and is enjoyable. I genuinely am more excited to read "Dreamland"… I went to go look up the book only to realize it wasn't written by Tom Clancy, but Dale Brown. My bad, my memory of reading that is from 2008-ish so a long time ago. So on that note, this is my first Tom Clancy book and what a way to come out of the gate. This is an 8, but right at the edge of a 9.

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