book data
4488 ratings, 4.05 average rating, 213 reviews
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published
October 1st 1984
by US Naval Institute Press
binding
Hardcover, 387 pages
isbn
0870212850
(isbn13: 9780870212857)
description
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 R...more
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avg 4.05
Read in January, 1987
I read this when I was on the USS Eisenhower. It was so popular with the Squids that I think it replaced the BMR. The thing that really impressed everyone on the ship was how accurate Clancy was with both his research and his story-telling. There was never a "that's not how it happens" moment, so common in media of this type. Engaging story, meticulous research combine for a fantastic read. I recommend this one to everyone.
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Read in May, 2007
Probably my favorite Tom Clancy novel, and certainly my favorite on submarine warfare, this book introduces Jack Ryan as a young and bright CIA analyst faced with a politically explosive situation. Realistic politics, thrilling submarine chases and battles, and believable characters make this come together well.
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recommends it for:
anyone looking for an exciting read
Tom Clancy's first novel is often praised for being so accurate that it was believed he was debriefed by the White House. This book is excellent! The characters of Captain Ramius and Jack Ryan are fascinating. The story is pulse-pounding. There is nothing bad about this book.
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Read in October, 1990
Tom Clancy at his best, long before he entered his Extreme Bloat period. Tight, fast-moving, and suspenseful. This was one of my textbooks on how to write action, especially how to build suspense by cutting back and forth between scenes.
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One of Clancy's earlier books, the good kind that read more richly than the light and profuse fluff of his more recent work.
My favorite aspect of the book is the transitioning, which lends itself to heighten the action for certain situations. I also appreciate the detailed tangents that Clancy can go off in to in order to explain a certain topic to the reader.
I am not going to summarize the book in great detail. The movie does a good job of that, cutting out interesting side commentary...more
My favorite aspect of the book is the transitioning, which lends itself to heighten the action for certain situations. I also appreciate the detailed tangents that Clancy can go off in to in order to explain a certain topic to the reader.
I am not going to summarize the book in great detail. The movie does a good job of that, cutting out interesting side commentary...more
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Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
“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 Soviet want her back. And the most incredible chase in history is on….”
Ah, one of my favorite authors of all time. The incredible Mr. Clancy. I loveee political-military-espionage-techno-thrillers! And Clancy is definitely the man for it. I’ve fallen in love with his works since years ago, been collecting them, until now he sells more book...more
Ah, one of my favorite authors of all time. The incredible Mr. Clancy. I loveee political-military-espionage-techno-thrillers! And Clancy is definitely the man for it. I’ve fallen in love with his works since years ago, been collecting them, until now he sells more book...more
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Of course I have a story about reading this book. When I lived on Catalina Island they were filming the movie in the San Pedro Channel and on the back side of the Island. Anyway, the Navy frigate Ruben James was part of the film, which it made a port of call in Avalon I got a tour of the ship and ate lunch with the captain. Anyway, the captain gave me his copy of the Hunt for Red October script. What struck me was how much shorter the script was compared to the book.
I've made a brief r...more
I've made a brief r...more
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Read in January, 2003
. I first read this book several years ago. A disgruntled Soviet Submarine Commander has decided to defect to the United States, bringing with him the latest Soviet Ballistic Submarine. The story involves what is happening in several different areas at the same time, from the eyes of the Soviet Submariner to the President’s office, to the Soviet Head offices, to the hero Jack Ryan who is a reluctant hero in that he would rather be studying math books than be involved in the capture of a ren...more
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Read in May, 2008
This is the first book I have listened to rather than read (well since elementary school anyway!). I decided to listen to a book while at the gym so I was listening to this and trying to count reps, and adjusting weights, and trying to also keep track of this story. I don't think that it was the best choice to start out with for gym listening material. It's just a complex enough book with different submarines, different people, who knows what, etc. and it made it difficult to keep track of...more
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Read in August, 1989
recommends it for:
anyone
Uncle sent this to me to read and I got sucked in, turned into a international relations junkie and finished college with an International Affairs degree. Although not as exciting a read now that the Cold War is gone it is still a great book, and on a really fascinating (based on a real event) story. Just the premise of the story is strong enough to make a good novel but Clancy is at his clever best in developing the plot and bringing together a truly incredible ending that is plausible and fun....more
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Read in January, 1991
This book was my first adult novel and turned me into an avid reader when I was around 13 years old. Although I'm not very interested in this type of book now that I'm older, Clancy novels always excited me as a teen and probably contributed to me enlisting in the military at 17. My favorite Clancy novel is Rainbow Six.
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This book is Tom Clancy's first book and his first best seller and its an excellent book, but not his best book. This book has tons of detail in it. Way more that it needed. You can get bogged down in some of the detail sometimes. Clancy has not had a book so full of unneeded detail since and in my mind has written much better books without all of the extra stuff. But this is still a benchmark book in many ways. The detail give credit to the book and makes you believe. Its almost like you cant ...more
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recommended to Kyler by:
Me
recommends it for: Fans of Historical fiction and action
recommends it for: Fans of Historical fiction and action
This is the book that got me into Tom Clancy. A amazing tactical battle between those who want to help the Red October (A Typhoon Class Nuclear Submarine) and those who want to destroy it. With CIA's own Jack Ryan putting everything on the line to prove the Red October is trying to defect and the men in the Kremlin (Russian's sort of Pentagon) trying to prove it's trying to nuke america, things are heating up to decided to kill or protect. Don't forget Captin Marko Ramius, who is the the man beh...more
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Read in January, 1996
This was a great book and classic Clancy. He is able to weave a tale filled with suspense through characters that leap out of the page. Be prepared, if this is your first experience with Clancy you will be presented with a lot of technical information and a plethora of full characters. (I found myself keeping track of who is who on my bookmark.) Once you get a taste, though, you will want to read the entire series of books in the Ryan universe. Clancy is one of the best when it comes to mil...more
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Read in January, 1987
As a young adult, it was painful slogging through this 800-page War Tech Porno. I could barely finish it and I can't imagine that it's gotten any better with age. You'd think having words like "Hunt" and "Red" in the title would imply some sort of excitement. But any hope of enjoying this book disappeared among the slavering treatises on the wondrous gadgetry of Cold War America.
At the time, I thought I was missing out on something, since every one in the country seeme...more
At the time, I thought I was missing out on something, since every one in the country seeme...more
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Clancy’s nonfiction work, Submarines, is an excellent accompaniment to this tale of mystery and defection. The military and espionage components of this novel are a work of art, so thorough are Clancy’s connections and research that he’s been debriefed by the White House and asked to give a presentation for the CIA, (all this from the book jacket). With the details that that legends are built upon, I’ve signed up for a full tour of duty. Formally introduced now to our hero, Jack Ryan, I...more
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One of Tom Clancy's great skills is bringing out the complexities that are a such a huge part of human life. The plot lines are really quite simple, but they proceed with the mixed motives and natural complications of real life. All of his characters are a mixture of positive and negative traits that make them human and believable. You understand why each character (especially Ryan) does what he does; they are flawed humans who are the product of their own choices, personal experiences, and th...more
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Read in January, 2001
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 stor...more
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 stor...more
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Read in July, 1997
It is a shame that one of Tom Clancy's first novels has to be his best. But that just goes to show how good his first one is when his others are still pretty high quality. The Hunt for Red October is a perfect model of a great political thriller. It is plausible, interesting, intense without being over the top, and is full of characters and a hero that I believed in. There is enough tutorial explanation of CIA/Navy operations to keep me interested, but not too much to make my eyelids droop (his ...more
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