quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Without Remorse of the ones I've read.
I recall Sum of all Fears getting extremely tedious midway through.

Of those listed, Without Remorse, Debt of Honor, and Executive Orders stand out. I completely agree with the above comments about the Sum of All Fears.

To me, Clancy’s stand out books were Red Storm Rising (my personal favorite), followed by Red October, and Rainbow Six. All three of those books have detail in them of various events that burned into my brain. The A6 bombing runs in Red Storm Rising, the tension onboard the USS Dallas in Red October, and the training runs in the mountains in Rainbow Six.

Likely because of the detailed descriptions in the books and the emphasis on detail is probably why those particular scenes stayed with me 20 years later.

Debt of Honor which immediately rolled into Executive Orders also had pretty graphic detail to me.

Without Remorse was amazing. I read it about once a year. Red Storm Rising was awesome as well, especially since it is a standalone.
And as far as John Clark, I too believe Liev Schreiber was great in the part. I wanted the Without Remorse movie with him, but the producers blew that one. Now, I don't know who could do it justice. Liev is too old now.

I did register a vote, but in reality I would agree with the OP and recommend
Hunt for Red October, Cardinal of the Kremlin and Red Storm Rising. And then I think I'd be done.

I also agree with P250UA5's observation:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:...
I recall Sum of all Fears getting extremely tedious midway through.

I'd go with Clear and Present Danger. Lots of Mr. Clark and it introduces Ding. Rainbow Six is great too, but you really need to read Clear and Present Danger first. Technically, one needs to read Without Remorse before Rainbow Six too, as it explains Mr. Clark.

This thread has me wanting to dig out some Clancy, still boxed from the move, and reread a few.
Almost done with the last Expanse book, not a bad transition

I just re-read the Jack Ryan novels, from Red October through Executive Orders. To me, the series starts and ends with these books. I did not like Patriot Games, and hate Bear/Dragon.

Red October is AMAZING, and starts the series off well.

Cardinal, as stated, is excellent in regards to Misha Filitov's story, as well as reminding us what the USSR was (It truly was an evil empire).

Clear/Present was good.

Sum/Fears was LONG, but very interesting to consider (being years removed from the nuclear hair trigger thing).

Debt of Honor was slow to start (developing characters like the NTSB girl who was never mentioned again). The trouble with this one is that Jack Ryan's world had deviated so much from our own that it was hard to follow. For example, we had a MUCH larger navy than in Ryan's world.

Executive Orders was really good, but without reading the preceeding books, it would be easy to get lost.

Bear/Dragon was unreadable. I started reading it twice while I was deployed, and had to force my way through the 3rd time. I suspect it was ghost written for Clancy, as the writing sucked. I simply pretend the series ends with Exec Orders.

Of course, opinions vary and others will have different views.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hound Dog,

Without Remorse if I was only going to recomend one. It stands on it's own. has a great story, and also focusses on the baddest dude in Clancy's universe.

Hunt for Red October is probably the best of the Ryan books. Patriot Games holds up well. Cardinal in the Kremlin is excellent, but I think you need to be familiar with the time its set to really get it.

Avoid anything after Red Rabbit. Honestly I didn't like anything after Rainbow Six.

Without hesitation, Without Remorse. It was such a fantastic book that had me hooked from beginning to end, and I get bored with books easily.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
The post asks for three suggestions, but the poll only allows one selection...

The forum software doesn't allow for multiple selections. That's why I phrased it as "which [one] would you recommend?" Only way around it would've been to repeat the same question and choices twice more.

Thanks for the votes and feedback, y'all

quote:

He's read The Hunt for Red October already, and enjoyed it.

I immediately came up with Red Storm Rising. Upon further thought, another I'd be inclined to recommend is Rainbow Six.

I haven't read the first two. Rainbow Six is good. Especially the ending.

More later.

Well, so far we have:

• Without Remorse: 21
  
• Clear and Present Danger: 4
  
• The Cardinal of the Kremlin: 4
  
• Executive Orders: 4

I guess I'd be inclined to go with the first three, as Executive Orders really kinda sorta needs the ending of Debt of Honor for much of it to make sense, IMO.

I'm back. The one I just flat-out enjoyed the most - a "page-turner," "nail-biter," "can't put it down" book - was Executive Orders. The Sum of All Fears starts out slow and remains that way … until the last ~150 pages, then it all comes together.

I didn't care all that much The Bear and the Dragon. The plot was just a little too outlandish, Jack Ryan's character not credible - more of a superhero than an ordinary guy thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

Clear and Present Danger would be my favorite. Loved the book, hated the movie. Without Remorse would be a close second.

I’ve read them all in order but I’d say Without Remorse first. Then Debt and finally Executive would be my top three first picks.

Patriot Games and Without Remorse are the two I’ve read most.

I've owned and read them all multiple time. Hands down my favorite is Red Storm Rising, but I'm a product of the 80's Army. I suspect younger readers would find it dated, especially the Frisbees of Dreamland.

If I was NOT going to tackle them all, I think I'd stick with Without Remorse and Clear and Present Danger. I was NOT a fan of Rainbow Six...the whole "heartbeat sensor" thing kinda ruined it for me.

He started out with my favorite in HfRO so he’s well on the way. “Red Storm Rising” is a great suggestion for a follow up. I enjoyed “Rainbow Six” but not as much as several of the others.

For the other three, I voted “A Clear and Present Danger,” liking the book many times more than the movie or the series takeoff of it. “Without Remorse” was good but was very different, and I really liked “Executive Orders” but agree with the comment that it would be more difficult to follow without having read DoH so I’ll give an honorable mention to CotK.

I know you're just looking for 5, but I would continue reading them in order. Then read Red Storm Rising.

I've read them all, some are better than others. When I was packing to move last year I was ruthless and tossed a bunch of books. The (Clancy) ones that I kept and re-read periodically are Red Storm Rising, Hunt For Red October, and Without Remorse.

So like a few others in the thread, this made me want to go back and look at some of the options. I have read the majority but not all, and I set out to pick up a copy of one of the others that I have not read. Was perusing a local Goodwill book section and the hardback of Without Remorse was just sitting there as the only Clancy on the shelf. I grabbed it, as it was marked $3.99. It was in great shape, no dog-eared pages, the jacket looked basically new...opened the front leaf and.......saw the Tom Clancy signature. A signed first edition copy of Without Remorse. Oh, yeah, and I qualified for the over 55 Goodwill discount. made it $3.17.