Tom Clancy - Executive Orders: Internatinal Edition

Pros: Clancy at the height of his storytelling powers. A big, compelling story.
Cons: The Ebola-related material may be too gross for some.

In the horrific climax of Debt of Honor, former intelligence official and National Security Advisor (and briefly, Vice-President) Jack Ryan finds himself elevated to the Presidency...and in the sights of foreign and domestic adversaries. Even as the ...

Pros: Bad guys get bashed, good guys win
Cons: Long. Really long. Much too long.

. . . typically do not include a kidnap attempt on your daughter and an assassination attempt on your person. If I were Jack Ryan, I would be suing Hewitt & Associates or whatever miserable executive comp consulting firm drew up this crummy contract ...

Pros: Great adventure
Cons: Length

If you are familiar with Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan characters, you already know that the last job Ryan would want to hold is POTUS (President of the United States). This is exactly where we find him at the outset of Executive Orders. A plane has crashed...

Pros: interesting idea
Cons: remember I listened to it on CD - abridged

Summary: 'Executive Orders' opens with Jack Ryan, the hero of numerous Clancy novels, having suddenly found himself President of the United States as the result of a terrorist attack that killed most of Congress and the President that appointed Ryan as ...

Pros: one of my favorite books ever
Cons: the numerous characters can be confusing if the reader has not read other books in the series

I read my first Tom Clancy novel when I was eight. I hijacked my dad's paperback copy of The Hunt For Red October and stayed up all night in order to finish it (at the time I could read at the level of a high school senior).
I have read and I own...

Pros: superb plot, vivid characters, exciting action, great ending
Cons: rather lengthy, although it "moves" quickly

Executive Orders was my second Clancy novel (The Hunt for Red October was my first). I began reading it a few minutes after I walked out of the bookstore with a brand new copy in my hand, and I hated having to stop. Although the book...

Pros: Interesting plot, great characters, long
Cons: Very technical at times, can be confusing, something missing

it never ceases to amaze me how Mr. Clancy has such an awesome view not only of the military, but of all government branches! I think I learn more government from him than I did in my high school government class!

The book started with Mr....

Pros: The story moves at a smooth pace, the explosive ending
Cons: It's 1395 pages long, a little on the long side

Tom Clancy is one of my favorite authors, I love his Jack Ryan series. I've read almost all of the Jack Ryan novels and only disliked one (Debt of Honor). This is basically Debt of Honor pt. 2, as it starts minutes after Honor's explosive climax.
...

Pros: Interesting Storyline; Lots of Shooting :)
Cons: Long; Rather Disjointed; Not-Quite-Realistic Storyline

While Clancy's novels usually flow in a manner that is easy to read and exciting to follow, this 1358 page behemoth is not quite the same. Jack Ryan, the hero of this series of Tom Clancy's novels, has become the President of the United States following...

Pros: Jack Ryan
Cons: length

Jack Ryan has gone from being a mid-level operative at the CIA to the highest levels of federal government. He is Clancy's cash cow, the character who brought an insurance salesman to greatness. Ryan can only go higher in the government, right? He...

Pros: Great Portrayal of life behind closed doors; plot seems completely plausible
Cons: At 1352 pages, not recommended for those who like a quick read.

Summary
In the story, the new leader of Iran is determined to begin a modern jihad against the rest of the world, beginning with the conquest of Iraq, and eventually ending with the conquest of the entire Arabian Peninsula. The only thing he...

Pros: Exciting, suspenseful, makes you proud to be an American!
Cons: Cons? What Cons? Make it into a movie already!

This book is outstanding! Clancy's does a "bang" up job on the transition of power in Washington. The reluctant POTUS Jack Ryan is on a mission to rebuild his country's leadership at the same time preserving it from foreign aggression. Now...

Pros: Masterfully written. In light of 911, can't help but wonder if this could really happen.
Cons: Tendency to be too drawn out. Bogs down in some spots.

I thoroughly enjoy this "Jack Ryan" novel. Clancy is not for everyone. It takes a great amount of concentration to read his books, but worth the effort. When I finished "Debt of Honor", I could hardly wait for it's conclusion.