Red Rabbit (2006)

Author: Tom Clancy

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 618

Rating: 5/10

Red Rabbit is a prequel in the famous Jack Ryan series of novels by Tom Clancy. Although released in 2006, it is based in the early 1980s, when the protagonist, Jack Ryan, has just started working in the CIA (in the sequels published earlier, he goes on to become president of the United States). True to its cold war settings, the novel is full of international intrigue, espionage and political manoeuvring. Tom Clancy lives up to his reputation of being an expert at cold war based fiction and creates a fascinating plot, full of unexpected twists. However, compared to some of his other novels, such as "The Hunt For Red October", which had you completely on the edge of your seat, this one is relatively mild and the suspense is surprisingly absent. Perhaps some of this is a direct result of the storyline; there's very little 'wiggle room' for the story from the moment all the characters have been introduced.

The story revolves around a Russian intelligence officer who decides to defect to America when he learns of a plot by the KGB chairman to murder the newly elected pope. The rest is an intricate but predictable stream of events as the CIA tries to get him out of Soviet influenced countries. The story is pretty weak but the details are gripping. The supposed main character, Jack Ryan, has a very superfluous role in the events and the book would probably have been better if his role had been omitted. Also, the whole cold war business has become a bit dated and one wonders how many of the books readers would actually remember the actual historical events alluded to in this book. To summarize, the only reason to read this book is if you enjoy the general thrill of spy-games. The book offers very little apart from that.