36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breathtaking novel on a Soviet vs NATO conflict, December 27, 2002
I will not discuss the plot here. I just believe that this novel is Clancy's best. If you like to read about Soviet vs NATO conflicts (both strategical and battlefield scenarios), here is THE book... The plot is so good and so well written that you will not be able to put this book down even after you have finished reading it.
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68 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The First Non-Sports Book I Loved, March 27, 2000
A few years ago, for reasons I couldn't remember if my life depended on it, I bought a book that didn't have to do with sports. It was Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. At the time I didn't have any knowledge whatsoever of military happenings in the world. I remembered the Gulf War as a nuissance that the news had aired for a month instead of sports (gasp!). Until RSR, I hadn't read a book that was longer than 300 pages. Sound familiar? I'm writing this review for those of you who are like I was.
The first time I read Red Storm Rising, it took me about a week. I don't remember why (I have a terrible memory, don't I?), but I loved it, even though I didn't understand most of the jargon and tactics. I then embarked on a week of net-surfing to learn everything I could about the weapon systems Clancy described. I even borrowed a book from the library about the Cold War, and this is at age fifteen (my friends thought I was nuts). Then I read my new favorite book again, and I actually understood a lot of the air, land, and sea combat sequences.
Anyway, one book doesn't make an addiction, so the next trip to the bookstore I bought "The Hunt for Red October". Take a look at its reviews and guess how I reacted to it. I was officially hooked on techno-thrillers.
Today, I have every book in the Tom Clancy collection (except for the Net Forces and Powerplays), and I loved every one to one degree or another. I also have all or nearly all of Larry Bond's (who was a co-writer with Clancy on Red Storm Rising) and Stephen Coonts' books. These writers, along with Clancy, do their homework when writing their books. I haven't detected a single error in their military jargonizing (I may be wrong), and they spend a lot of time (couple hundred pages) developing the story, instead of just saying, "stuff happened, now let's get to the action!". There are also a bunch of new authors who have this skill (ie. - Patrick Robinson, James Cobb) who you should check out if you like Clancy, Coonts and Bond.
P.S. - If you really liked Red Storm Rising and you want more Cold War era NATO-USSR war books, be forewarned; there aren't many good ones. If you see one called "WWIII" by Ian Slater, don't touch it with a ten foot pole. It's a series of books, and he evidently has no knowledge at all about military hardware and international politics. Check out his reviews (I've never seen so many 1 stars).
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40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best "What if" book ever written., June 13, 2002
I had originally picked this book up right at the beginning of Desert Shield. Being in the Army and working on a post where we were processing soldiers/units to go to the desert and working very long hours. It took a couple days to get through the first 150 pages or so. On the day that I reached the chapter where you're sitting in cockpit with the pilot of a stealth fighter and he's going in on an attack run, I couldn't put it down from there. This was and is the best World War III scenario ever written. If you've not purchased and read this book, do so immediately! Thank you to Tom Clancy and Larry Bond for one hell of a book!
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