Once again, I find myself in almost total agreement with Irishgit, although I liked Red Storm Rising more than Hunt for Red October. Cardinal of the Kremlin was also excellent. Some years ago, before Clancy really got to be a mega-author, he came to the DOD organization I worked for and gave a talk. He was fascinating, and pretty unassuming - he said that probably anyone in the audience could write a novel as well as he could (I actually tend to doubt that), but interestingly said that about 20% of his novels he had written up to that time were fact-based, and the other 80% was what he termed fluff. Another couple of interesting points I recall from his talk: First, his inspiration for Red October came from an attempted mutiny by a Soviet destroyer crew some years earlier - think that the mutineers wanted to sail to Sweden and claim asylum. The mutiny failed and, as I recall, they were all executed. The other thing he told us was that when he submitted the manuscript of Red October to the US Naval Institute Press, the editor there read it over, and then said It's a great book. Rewrite it. Apparently, she was not kidding, as Clancy said he had to do an almost total rewrite before USNI Press would publish it.

A good case can be made that this is Clancy's best book. I think he is a very competent writer, but in the later books he gets a bit too caught up in his own research, and starts to lose the narrative flow. This, Red Storm Rising, and Cardinal of the Kremlin are my favourites.

I recently re-read this gem of a book, and I'm very happy I did. This was the first Tom Clancy novel I ever read, and although it inspired me to read the rest of his library, my memory kept nagging at me that this was an "average" book at best. Well, my memory is apparently malfunctioning. "The Hunt for Red October" is an exciting, fascinating book which sets the stage for the slew of outstanding work by Tom Clancy released since. All the elements of the "technothriller" appear in this novel for the first time, with strong hints of Clancy's understanding of human nature which he would develop beginning with "Patriot Games". This book is much more than an encyclopedia of naval and submarine lore, which explains its lasting popularity. The pacing of your average Clancy is akin to Forsyth, however I find Tom Clancy's work to be superior. Even though the technical language is very prevalent, I never had the impression that I was being preached to; I actually enjoyed learning new things as I went along (as I do with every Clancy novel). This novel was made into an excellent film, but the book delivers so much more than the film could. "Hunt" is a great read by itself, but anyone interested in getting "into" Clancy would be better off reading both "The Hunt for Red October" and "Patriot Games" before making a final judgment about whether or not they enjoy Clancy's style. These two works tend to balance each other out between his "technical" side and his stronger "true" storytelling skills.

I saw the movie first, then my dad gave me the book. I didn't think i would like it cause i knew how the story went. The book blew me away. I have now read every book he has written, and anxiously await the next one.

His best work. Much better than last years bore fest.

wonderful cold war fiction. it really sparked my interest in nuclear subs. and made me a fan of Tom Clancy.

Hunt For Red October is an amazing accomplishment of good literature with facts.