Tom Clancy SSN

I loved this book. Anyone who enjoys a suspenseful military novel (Clancy) will love this. Even if you're not into the whole submarine "thing", you will love this book, I guarantee it (all opposition shall be shot on sight). There are dozens of sub-to-sub combat scenes, each a cliffhanger in itself between the SSN Cheyenne and Chinese-operated Soviet-produced subs. Even though you know that the Cheyenne is going to win everytime (if not it would make for a rather short book), this book is still great. And when you think that Clancy has gone overboard with his sub-to-sub combat scenes, he throws in a different mission like a survalence mission or something involving Tomahawk missile launching at an onshore base/airfield/church/etc (or anything else that can blow up). The plot never gets slow, even when Clancy throws in some heavy military terminology. I would recommend this book for a long car trip, or boring church sermon, or english class, or giving birth to your first child, or mowing the lawn, etc, etc, etc.

I have always found Tom Clancy's novels somewhat difficult to swallow. He books always contain technology that always seems to surpass all other nations of the world. In SSN, a Los Angeles Class submarine is called into action against the Chineese navy when the Chineese invade the Spratney Islands. In a nut shell, this U.S. submarine not only takes on and destroys every submarine and surface ship the PLAN can send at it, but it also destroys many of Russias most advanced submarines, operated by Russian sailors. I lost cout of the number of ships and subs sank, but it had to be well over 30, and all by a lone U.S. sub. This was a painful read as each and every mission was very predictable, as well as very unbelievable.

I thought this book was great. It delivers. I would of actually gave it 4 and a half but you know. I love Tom Clancy books all of them are great and this is no exception. Though the book did get a little repetitive like their decoys always worked and the chinese's never did but other then that pretty intense stuff. I recommend it to anyone else who loves sub warfare.

For Clancy purists, stop. For folks that have an airborne ASW orientation, read on. This exposition is best read by reading the interviews at the end of the book first, as the authoritative Brit ASW captain has validated the content, which itself rates 4 on a scale of 6. Canuks are arguably the best airborne sub-hunters in the biz, right behind the Brits as the subsurface best, no question. USN training and selection criteria are still outmoded, as Clancy himself has dug a hole with the Yanks. Good read, especially for me as a former airborne Nugget-only VNEra S-2 driver. Thanks to the Brits for sharing the jinks and inside skinny as much as is permitted in a rather classified area.

I found this book to be overly-technical and rather predictable in the plot. However, the synopsis, while outdated by a few years, is feasible. Many military experts do see a war with China within the next few years. Whether it will be a hot war or a cold war is up to the current Presidential administration.
To tell you the truth, I expected better from Tom Clancy.

Carrier group out of the picture? no problem, send in super sub!
Seas full of enemy subs? no problem, send in super sub!
Russians getting involved? no problem, send in super sub!
No character development? no problem, send in super sub!
No plot development? no problem, send in super sub!
Clancy loosing it in a big way? Maybe there is one thing super sub can't save.

This gets one star and a torpedo shot through it. I've been reading a lot of submarine stories lately, especially some excellent historical accounts from WW2, and let's just say that Clancy is no Edward Beach (just to use one example). This book is boring, tiresome (one hopes that the game is better), silly, and put me to sleep. Yes, yes, US hunter-killer SSNs are powerful, but this was like a submariner's version of Rambo, one boat taking on a whole enemy navy and destroying all comers with no damage to itself. *boggle* It surprises me to see that the mass market paperback is on the bestseller list; no wonder I'm not a bestseller type of reader, for the most part!

After playing Janes 688(i) game I got exited about submarines and bought this book. This book is trash. Its just a chronicle on the stupidity of the Chinese Navy. One is reminded of the TV series "Combat" where the Germans runs out from cover and yells to the GIs "shoott me! shoott me! The book just reads like a computer game, 60+(from what I read here) kills to nothing . I threw the book away in disgust before I finished. Can somebody recomend me a REALLY good book on Strategies of Submarine Warfare.? Spend the money on the Jane simulation instead of this book! Meanwhile I'll wait for the mission pack.

I never have any trouble finishing a Clancy, which is usually way too soon, but this time I really had to urge myself to keep reading for the good part to come....to no avail. I'm sure the real American patriot will disagree, but this book is surely the most unrealistic I have ever read.

Just finished reading this book and can honestly say that it was an enjoyable and easy read.

China invades the Spratly Islands, a series of islands which several nations in the Pacific region have claimed, and the United States is drawn into the conflict when an American oil exploration rig is attacked and commandeered by the Chinese.

The book essentially follows the battles and actions of the crew - especially Captain Mackey - of the USS Cheyenne, a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine. The battles are fast-paced and the enemy is real, but it is definitely helpful if the reader has some knowledge and/or interest in warfare, specifically submarine warfare.

Obviously a work of fiction, but makes you really wonder how "make believe" this situation is in real life. I'm no naval/submarine expert, but would think that Cheyenne has a great deal of luck, even if the enemy is China and their relatively inferior navy.

Overall, a good read which I did enjoy. 4 stars out of 5

Here's a brief synopsis of this "novel":

1) Captain Mack Mackey (Imaginative name isn't it) is assigned the most advanced submarine ever made for the US Navy.

2) US and China go to war, and Mack is thrown into action.

3) Mack spots a chinese submarine. he fires a torpedo. he sinks it.

4) Mack spots 2 chinese submarines. he fires torpedos. he sinks them.

5) Mack spots 3 chinese submarines. he fires torpedos. he sinks them.

6) Mack spots 5 chinese submarines. he fires torpedos. he sinks them.

7) Mack spots 1,000,000,000 chinese submarines. he fires torpedos. he sinks them.......

Throughout this novel, the SSN submarine never faces a single challenge or sustains any major damage. one submarine takes out pretty much the entire chinese submarine fleet. At least this novel has realism going for it.

Well bought this book expecting to be like the other Clancy's
but "beep" (wrong) , in this book you'll read how the americans will kick Chinese rear-end easily on the Spratley islands .
Easy victory , if the chinese were so easy why even bother sending equipment to Taiwan ?
In short US SSN kills one after another Chinese Sub without being threated a lot ... one would think there would be some heavy confrontation but no every kinda seems to easily fall into the American favor ... How about writing a book where you loose first and win afterwards ? should be more exciting ...
Better next time

Clancy has made a pretty good book. Capt. Mackay is a great warrior. His crew has to be one the best ever. But it is too much to ask for a war to end this way. This is the only detractor. The action is great and very vivid. You heartaches at the loss of life. A war of this type could really be in our future as the world's resources diminish. This is also a very technical book and is not for the average reader. But if you want action it is for you.

Only in a computer game could a single submarine sink 60+ ships without a single bit of damage. No character development to speak of and very predictable. Made a great coffee mug coaster while I was reading Computer Gaming World (hence the 2 stars).

I have started to become disillusioned with Tom Clancy novels. 500 pages of stuff (usually too technical for me to care) that leads to the last 50 pages of everything just happening right for the good guys. This book has to be his low-point. I know submariners that threw it away before half-way through. I'm still trying to figure out how one submarine can travel half-way around the world, destroy several Chinese targets, and stop for supplies before the rest of the U.S. Navy can even get ready. It will be a while before I pick up another Clancy book. I give it one star becasue I can't get lower.

A dime store "novel", at best, which, after reading a few pages, I realized was not anything close to a real book. Should not have been represented as a new Tom Clancy novel and certainly should not have had the promotional references to character development on the back cover. Repetetive passages about perfect submarine kills with no true represetation of realities of life at sea, maintenance or weapons problems. I fault the bookstore for displaying it as a Tom Clancy novel, and I fault Tom Clancy for not clearly labelling this as NOT a novel.

I bought this book because I expected to receive a well written novel on par with Clancy's other works. It ain't! There is NO character development. There is NO coherent plot or story. The technical info isn't there. What the ---- is this anyway?

Remember Clancy's first books? Remember the days when he was dedicated to giving the reader his/her money's worth? Those days and those books are not what you will find inside the cover of "SSN"! US Navy SSN finds Chinese submarine/surface ship, sinks same. Reread that sentence 60 or 70 times and save the money you would have spent on the book. All you'll be missing are a few technical terms. It seems to me that Clancy has shifted his focus from the reader to his bank account. It's a shame, he used to be very good.

Clancy must have lived several lives to be able to write like he does. Once again he has been able to paint a very realistic picture of the warfare that he writes about. However, even though the U.S. is far superier to most, technically, tactically and training wise, I find it difficult that one SSN can go against so many of the adversary and find only one or two that can cause him any concern. The Cheyanne doesn't even scratch the paint on their conning tower. I'm not sure I can believe that one. It's good none the less.

This book reads like someone playing the CD game with the cheats on. China loses 3/4 of their navy and the U.S. loses one helicopter and one outdated sub!? While I enjoyed the technical aspects, this book could put the dead to sleep. Search, fire, kill. Search, fire kill. Kill, kill, kill. At some points I began rooting for the Chinese in hopes of a plot twist, but no such luck. Unless you're looking for a manual on how to win a one-sided war, leave this snoozer in the bargain bin where you found it and move on.

The mental discipline of these warriors carries this nation.No foreign Navy and no country could defend against our sub force. This book takes you beneath the waves to experience instant life or death while blindfolded.

US Sub vs. Contender #1 -- US wins
US Sub vs. Contender #2 -- US wins
US Sub vs. Contender #3 -- US wins
etc, etc, etc....
this is the first Clancy book i have ever considered not finishing... it is horrible! Not only is the narrative very hurried, it is extremely bland... there is not a bit of suspense in this entire book.
Clancy is a very good author, SSN is definately one of his less exciting works...
Save your money (or get one of his Jack Ryan books)

This was not one of Clancy's greater novels. Some of the action scenes kept you rivited but, after awhile it was hard to believe one submarine could sneek up on the entire Chinese fleet and sink over 100 ships and subs. Also, there was a lot of repetitive sayings such as "open the outer doors" "make tubes one and two ready" etc.. every action paragraph. Finally, The book is easy to follow and I have to commend his knowledge of warfare but, this was not one of his finest writings.

I read half the book and just couldnt finish it...it was awfull! Clancy has really gone downhill from "Hunt for Red October" and "Red Storm Rising." The story is unbelievable , predictable, an insult to the readers. Can you really believe that one sub scored sixty victories in one operation? READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE YOU BUY IN THE FUTURE!

What a stinker! Except for Captain Mackey, none of the characters had names, faces or personalities. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did. No suspense, no character development, no plot. I am almost ashamed to say I read the whole thing.

Biggest disappointment from Mr.Clancy ever. Seems as if Mr. Clancy only put his name on the cover, none of his usually brillant characterization or plots are between the pages. One sub destroys the entire Chinese navy plus a few Russians. Beyond that I kept waiting for something to happen. No plot, no action aside from "ready tube one and two, fire, reload" throughout the entire book. Definitely one to miss.

What a stinker! Except for Captain Mackey, none of the characters had names, faces or personalities. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did. No suspense, no character development, no plot. I am almost ashamed to say I read the whole thing.

Biggest disappointment from Mr.Clancy ever. Seems as if Mr. Clancy only put his name on the cover, none of his usually brillant characterization or plots are between the pages. One sub destroys the entire Chinese navy plus a few Russians. Beyond that I kept waiting for something to happen. No plot, no action aside from "ready tube one and two, fire, reload" throughout the entire book. Definitely one to miss.

This is probably the shortest Clancy novel I have read. It was really good, although it was a little bit unrealistic. I mean, the Chinese and Russian Submariners were either stupid or badly educated or maybe their equipment wasn't that good, but how could the USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) manage to sink more than sixty chinese and russian submarines without getting hurt itself??? On the other hand I liked it very much. It took only a little more than two days to read it

This was probably the worst Tom Clancy book ever. He used to take the time to research for accuracy now all he seems to care about is ginning out books no matter how unaccurate they are. It was just absurd as to how the battles went. So easy for the Americans it took all enjoyment from reading the book. I am usually a big fan but this was just totally sad.

Horrible Mr Clancy, dull, predictable, repetitive and just an awful poor read. A submarine that takes on five at a time and wins 'em all, all the time? "I don't think so, Tim!" It will be a long time before I pick up another tom clancy novel to read on a trip. I threw this one in the subway trash after enduring the first 2/3. Yuk!

Clancy has sold his name to the highest bidder, not the best storyteller. This book has about a page worth of plot-- "identify sub, shoot sub, next sub please".
Please Tom, stick to the great novels and quit letting these hacks throw your name in bold on really bad books.

I find great difficulty believing this was written by Tom Clancy. There was no attempt at a plot, it's just a narration of a 500 page, one-sided computer game. I think Tom should focus more on the quality that made him and discontinue releasing a book a month.

I've always depended on Mr. Clancy for great character development, plot and realism. This book fails on all three points. It's based on a video game, and the video game would have to be more realistic. Please, Mr. Clancy, real books in the future.

Written as if Department of Navy officials were going to critique it, and too technical for reader merely looking for entertainment. Set in WW III, but neglects to cover other events happening in world during this monumental crisis. Author missed the boat on this one. First and last Tom Clancy book for me.

After the first attack, nothing changes. Same cut and paste dialogue. "Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors." This book went on way too long, and had a predictable conclusion. Is this the same guy that wrote "Red October"?

If you like wrestling, Rambo or Superman, you'll like this one. It is Superman in a Submarine. He knows all, conquers all obstacles. The outcome is never in doubt. Repetitious, duplicative, predictable.

As someone who has enjoyed his books immensly, I was beyond disappointed with this book. I don't think that this book is targeted towards his usual audience. Very dull writing. No true plot. No characters. No real action. Hmm no real anything. Good thing I bought it cheap.

After the first few battles, you knew that the Cheyenne was not going to get killed. It was about as interesting as watching someone else play a video game with cheats enabled so they couldn't ever be killed. Don't waste your time on this book. Tom should be embarrassed.

This "book" was awful. I rarely fail to finish a book, but this one.... Did anyone else notice that only the captain is worthy of a character name? TERRIBLE book, not worth what ever Clancy sold his name for. I wish they had negative stars.