Red Storm Rising: A Suspense Thriller

Although I love the Jack Ryan series from Clancy, this is probably the weakest novel in my opinion. It moves well and the story is at least plausible, like all his spy thrillers but its seems bogged down in political machinations and personal issues more than some of his other novels. Still worth the read, and a great component to Jack Ryan as a character, but its one that i'm always tempted to skip, when i'm reading the series again.

For a techno/war thriller this effort is often mind numb-ingly slow paced. It could have dropped at least 250-300 pages, and been much better for it. The amount of time spent on the 'Iceland' story, I mean really! Star's for his military knowledge, though.

i was very unhappy with my oasis and sent in a complaint. I got a phone call from Steve almost immediately and an e mail also. i was given instructions on how to restart my oasis. the store give steve a raise. he deserves it. everything is fine.

The book begins with a bang, but then settles into endless battle scenes from so many different perspectives it's next to impossible to keep track of what's going on. And the premise (Muslim terrorists attack a Soviet refinery so the Kremlin attacks NATO - really?). The only thing it has going for it is the fact that it's something of a prediction of 9/11 written in 1987. Are you sure this wasn't written by a ghost writer?

This book was WAY too focused on military acronyms and machinery and weaponry that I had no idea about. It took too much time to look up what he was talking about, so I stopped reading it. Could barely make it through 1/3 of the book. Unless you are very much into military stuff, this is not an average every day readers book (and by the way, I am a HUGE Tom Clancy fan).

I love this book, but it's a far better experience in print than in the Kindle edition. The book appears to have been transferred to electronic form with OCR and poorly proofread. Many of the alpha-numeric abbreviations are mangled and throughout the book you find tell-tale errors, like "c" for "e," which leave you looking at nonsense words. Worst of all, in this case, are the myriad "m" for "rn" errors which turn almost every nautical use of "stern" into "stem," which carries the opposite meaning and is truly confusing.

I read this after my 5th read of Hunt for Red October (I love it)... and I had to go back and check that I was reading a Tom Clancy novel. It reads so differently from HfRO, and not in a good way, in my humble opinion. I have not read any of Clancy's other novels, but can only assume that Bond's co-authorship is what ruined this for me. Be forewarned: if you're looking for something on par with Hunt for Red October--this isn't it.

I'm puzzled at the publisher's decision to call this a "Jack Ryan novel" when the character Jack Ryan appears nowhere in it. In fact, the CIA has only a very peripheral role in the novel's action. This is disappointing cluelessness which detracts from what in many ways is Clancy's best novel.
Another disappointing decision was taking co-author Larry Bond's name from the cover and front matter. US Navy veteran officer Bond contributed much realistic background to this novel; the strongest of several protagonists in the novel is a US Navy officer and I find it implausible that Bond didn't contribute to how that character is drawn.

Those minor criticisms aside, this is an amazing ride of a novel. While it is set in the Cold War, Red Storm Rising's action could happen now - Russian expansionism is stronger now than at any time since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The action of this novel is plausible, fast-paced and compelling, and its characters well-drawn and sympathetic. I recommend it without reservation, publisher's mis-labeling notwithstanding.

This is a major major classic. I read it when it first came out, before I really started reading Clancy books. Welll, in honesty, that's probably because he hadn't written many yet. This was the beginning of his "red" books, where all he wrote had that word in it. Go look, if you don't believe me! LOL

From the beginning -- why Russia decided to go to war (and today this isn't that far-fetched as it wasn't when first published!). Strategies. What actually happens on battlefields when strategies do and do not work. What happens to a lone soldier left in a land he can't even begin to think he'd end up in, how he evades the enemy - without really knowing who the enemy actually IS, because he has no communication ability (this is before cell phones believe it or not!).

Yes, this is a long book. It kept me reading for three days, practically a record for me as I am a really fast reader. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED even if you are a TC fan, or if you've never read him before, this is a good first taste. I mourn TC's death, knowing there won't ever be another book like this.

Clancy tells us in an Author’s Note that this novel had much inspiration from a video game that would replays World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic in modern times (i.e. 1986 when the book was first published.) It shows. The battle scenes convey the illusion of battle well. Clancy’s narrative skill is on display, as is his talent for research. But the inspiration also is an inhibitor: the bulk of the book focuses on convoy and submarine warfare. Less than a fifth of the book is devoted to what surely would be perceived as the main focus if this book had really happened: the land war, with the Soviet Army invading Europe. Given that the bulk of American casualties would come from a land war, this is an odd, though easily understandable, omission. Clancy is writing a military campaign novel, and wants to focus on battles. Even so, it’s odd that all political dimensions are omitted---but only on the NATO side. Clancy does devote considerable space to the USSR’s politics, mostly so he can plausibly show how the war ends without a general nuclear exchange. But this only highlights the complete absence of any politics on the NATO side. To my mind, the overwhelming conventional superiority the Soviets had always made some form of nuclear strikes more likely to come from the NATO side. Using RED STORM’s own premises, I would have thought nuclear strikes on Iceland would have been likely, once Soviet submarines started sinking American ships. The discovery of Soviet subs along the American coast, would have made the clamor for nukes much louder. The usual Lefty howling that America is the guilty warmongering party would not have survived the discovery of a Soviet sub next to the wreck of the ANDREA DORIA (a clever touch on Clancy’s part.) America-bashing is fine in the universities, right up to the point when the Soviets show up on the horizon. I am sorry that Clancy didn’t write a companion to RED STORM, showing what went on in America during this war. Clancy could have done a great service in showing up the fraudulence of liberal bigotry in the 1980s. Now, of course the Left opposed Soviet Communism back then (Ha!) But at the time, the like os Teddy Kennedy were ready to sell out America to the Reds, to hurt the eeeevilllle Reagan.
The other odd thing about the book is that it is copyrighted by Clancy and Larry Bond, and Clancy acknowledges that RED STORM is as much Bond’s book as his. Yet Bond’s name is not on the title page. It would be interesting to know more about this disagreement. It certainly isn’t that Bond can’t write. But it was also true that Bond hadn’t published any books in 1986, and Clancy was coming off the enormous success of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.

Clancy imagines a Soviet first strike (with conventional weapons) against NATO. The political causes of the conflict are not convincing, and Clancy's rendering of politburo maneuvering are far fetched, though entertaining. The discussion of the military conflict, with detailed stories from different points of view, is excellent. I don't quite buy Clancy's vision of how the war would have unfolded, but his book is compelling and entertaining.

As a youth I felt there could not be a "World War III" due to nuclear weapons. Thus the continuing build up of conventional military forces made no sense to me. President Reagan and this book combined to change my mind.

This was the first Tom Clancy novel that I had read. I was knocked out by this book! This book is a true page turner. I could not wait to see what would happen next.

If I have any mild regrets about this reading experience it is strictly personal. I could not wait to read another Tom Clancy novel. Unfortunately for me, this first experience was the best for me. Maybe I had set the bar too unreasonably high. I like his other work, but this is the best as far as I am concerned. Thank You...

Long book, long review.

It's not often I regret reading a book, but long before finishing Red Storm Rising I was left thinking that the hours invested in getting the rest of the way through its massive page count probably could have been more enjoyably spent. I did stay with it though and kind of wish I hadn't.

Red Storm Rising was neither a good book nor a bad one, but it was both unrewarding and inhabited by flaws that brought it down from what it could have been to something much less worthy. Frankly the high praise it has gotten puzzles me. This book was my introduction (and likely my farewell) to the late, beloved Tom Clancy, so the comments I offer pertain only to my impressions of Red Storm Rising, and criticisms I cite about flaws such as a lack of character development may well be different in Mr. Clancy's other novels, but time and again as I waded into this hefty book I kept noting that the writer seemed uninterested in his characters but was quite taken with citing endless technical specs about ships, aircraft, and tanks. He was much better at detailing large events than he was at creating a character that was anything except a shallow stereotype, or describing a scenario as anything but a bloodless war game. (Just once in Red Storm Rising I wish he'd written a realistic account of a front-line military hospital with overworked doctors treating the horribly wounded such a war would surely have spit out by the hundred-thousand.) Again, it's possible the characters in this author's other books are more fleshed out, but here I felt like I was watching a play put on by stick figure puppets. I love history. I love alternate history. But Red Storm Rising was a mess.

I suppose I should say now that there are spoilers among the comments I'm about to make, so if you've not read this book...

That said, I kept wondering what was going on in Washington DC; on the home front; in the media; in the American cities; in the minds of the average grunts supposedly fighting on Clancy's imaginary (and unrealistic) battlefields. Clancy went out of his way to show the command center in Moscow, but nothing at all was told about the US government or any of the other people, places, or things I mentioned, which felt like a mortal omission. Would it have killed Clancy to have done even one chapter about the tensions felt by the families back home? Or have included some maps? I would have liked to have read about how the US civilian population was reacting in the States, but, nope, not a word was said about that. Clancy absently mentions refugees fleeing across Germany but gives zero details about this presumed human tragedy. To have had this described by the displaced themselves would have added much to the plot. Ultimately Clancy's warfare was more like that in video games, with exploding subs, downed fighter jets, and bombed bridges, but little ink given to telling of the human toll. The result of leaving all that out was a plot that never once had the tone of an actual World War Three.

Likewise I would have enjoyed it had Red Storm Rising featured a cast of thousands, even if it was merely individuals who appeared just once in the book for a paragraph, broadening the war out as it may have been experienced by those fighting it great and small alike. I had real trouble either caring about Clancy's stick figure cast or remembering who they were. The one semi-interesting group, the weatherman-led band of survivors who trekked across Iceland, were simply tossed away at novel's end without even giving us a real conclusion or letting us into their future. A chapter set a few months after the war would have gone a distance toward making this more of an actual novel and less like the notes taken during someone's tabletop fantasy war game, bringing up another major problem: Red Storm Rising truly had no actual conclusion, just a sudden ending.

As I said, Red Storm Rising was not a bad book, just an annoyingly hamstrung one that saw what could have been good about it underutilized, while giving center-stage to matters I personally couldn't have cared less about. Succeeding neither as an alternate history nor as a story about people within that history, it ending up being an only mildly enjoyable fantasy. With about 1/3 of its content sheared out and re-written with more meaningful material this could have been the sort of read that's hard to put down: instead I found it one that was hard to keep picking up.

Thanks for reading.

For me Clancy was at his very best very early on in his writing career.

It would seem obvious that this sentiment is something the movie industry more or less agrees with. That's why Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Sum of All Fears and Patriot Games can all be found in your video library just as equally as in your reading library.

For some reason though even though this book is easily the equal of any of those early titles it still never made it to movies.

Despite that I still think this was an incredibly good book. Like Hunt of Red October, Red Storm Rising grew from gaming simulations that Tom Clancy participated in. In the case of this book the gaming simulation of course was just how a World War III would have played out between the US and the USSR.

In this book, Clancy shows off his considerable skill at keeping multiple stories going at the same time. Using this skill Clancy gives us a bird's eye view of the war as it progresses in all its theatres. Sadly to say much more would kill the surprises of this book for readers. So I'll just close here by saying that this is a great book, and well worth the read!

Comprehensive description of a NATO v. Warsaw Pact war. I'm skeptical about everything, yet I thought the battle was described realistically., Of course we can't know how that battle would have been fought in real life, but Clancy's take on it is broad, bilateral, well researched and, I believe, would not insult the intelligence of veteran military commanders. Reading about this fictional battle was fascinating, informative and enjoyable. Is the book perfect? Of course not. But I think it ranks right up there with "The Hunt for Red October."

This was the first Clancy book I had ever read and while I was familiar with him through other forms of media, I didn’t really know what to expect from his literary works. The first thing I will say about his writing is that he clearly knows his stuff. There is a lot of technical military terminology in these pages and it kind of sets the ambience to a more serious tone. However, due to the nature of how the book is structured, this gets old pretty fast. Much of this is due to the fact that the book is simply much too long for what actually takes place. There is a heavy dose of redundancy and filler regarding each of the varying perspectives around which the plot rotates. The overarching result of this is that I was always wanting something of substance to happen other than a multitude of instances with nameless casualties and minor setbacks for one side of the war or the other. One thing that was pretty cool (to me anyways) was the heavy emphasis on submarine warfare, something I wasn’t well versed in. It was pretty neat to get a glimpse at how that type of conflict would play out.
Overall, I was a little bit disappointed with this book. It dragged on for much too long and it was very clear what was going to happen from a very early point in the book. It’s told from several different perspectives, many of which completely blend together with similarly structured events repeatedly occurring.

I first read this 20 years ago. With the world in its current state (2017) I remembered this particular Clancy story, to reread it & see what I had forgotten.
It's almost like someone in the WH was thinking about nuclear war and who it would benefit in some way. Someone read this book and turned around and fed our Prez a line of BS.
The way of warfare has changed; the Russians learned from their middle east warfare what not to do. The US hasn't. No wonder our elections were interfered with. No wonder previous presidents have been lied to provide economic profitability. It's all in here.
No one wins a nuclear war.

This is the best of the Clancy stories; really the only one worth spending time on.

The Sov's main petroleum refinery is blown up entirely by an act of homegrown Islamic terrorism and the Sovs have only months before their military-industrial complex runs down completely. In a desperate gamble, they plan an invasion of the Persian Gulf oil states. Knowing that NATO and the USA will intervene, they invade West Germany as a diversion/distraction. WWIII is on!

That's enough to get you started. I'll just add that several senior admirals in the West (that is, real-life admirals) have commented that they never considered in their wartime contingency plans that the Sovs would first seize Iceland in a masterstroke surprise strike, one that would confer upon them an almost insurmountable advantage in dealing with the US carrier battle groups protecting transport convoys charged with resupplying the NATO forces resisting the USSR in Germany. I know that last sentence is a mouthful, but it gives you a taste of how deliciously involved the book's plot becomes.

And I did not miss the Jack Ryan character one little bit!

Do note that Tom Clancy is not the sole author; Larry Bond in earlier printings is credited as co-author. His novels are worth checking out as well.

I've read this book multiple times and in my opinion it's the best book written by the late Tom Clancy. It was often speculated he worked with the CIA, or another of the alphabet soup agencies; which he denied. After reading this book and seeing the technology he has in it, at a time when these technologies weren't known to exist outside of the military. Makes one wonder how'd he get the info on these or just plain luck? You may read it and think published in 87 and these things became household knowledge by 1991 so not a stretch he could of had knowledge, yet published in 87 so probably written in 85 possibly 84 or 86.

Anyway, it's a great book and so very plausible especially to those of us who where adults in the mid 80s.

Back when I was a Cold Warrior, before the Gulf warned up, I had often thought if "what if" scenarios. Usually my mind would take the Bear and Eagle and keep them separate. It was usually the Middle East I kept saying would get hot and cause a worldwide stink. I was right enough about that. What I never thought of was what Clancy thought about. The Soviet Union using (West) Germany as a diversionary tactic to the invasion of the Middle East. Let's face it. The Soviets had just finished licking their wounds from the butt kicking received by Afghanistani rebels.

Clancy has a way of making the reader feel both familiar and frightened at the same time. He uses what is happening in the world for fodder for his books. We already are exposed to so much from everywhere, his ability to capitalize on that only makes his novels seem less novel-like and more hard truth. Tom Clancy is to the genre as Stephen King is to his.

Red Storm Rising is an amazing tale that had many well crafted elements to it. This novel involves all nations of the world and every branch of the military. To me it was the last gasp of the USSR to be a dominate force. I liked that the world importance of energy seemed to completely dominate the scene.
This was a really good read that I have read twice. I really wish Tom Clancy was around to write move books like this one.
On a side note, I have to wonder if the entire plot could have been circumvented by writing a few checks to the open oil market.

The book that hooked me on Tom Clancy. It’s been thirty plus years since I read it. The one thing I do remember is reading it for three straight days on the porch. My wife, at the time, was not a happy camper. Shocking. I tried to get her interested. She read maybe thirty pages and didn’t understand my excitement. Perhaps this is why the marriage didn’t last?

I will be rereading this thriller in the near future.

Five Stars.

After the Muslim sabotage on the Soviet refinery, the book took off a little slow for me. Then when the fighting started, it took a while for me to get into the mechanics of the submarine, antisubmarine and air warfare. After each conflict, I started getting more interested. In the beginning, I became aware that there was no one real main character, or antagonist. The Main character was the NATO alliance and the Protagonist was the Warsaw pact nations, principally driven almost entirely by the Soviets. There was a place where I was really needing a human character to relate to, so that I could keep interested. Enter LT Edwards, code name Beagle. His was the human interest that kept me going during all of the battles. I literally would thumb ahead to see when he and his three marines were back in the story. This was really a gripping and realistic version of modern warfare. The Soviet general kept reminding himself that, "plans go out the window when you make contact with the enemy." The end finished with a surprise ending, proving that sometimes a good man can be found in the most unlikely of places.

I finished my second Tom Clancy novel in three weeks. And I've become a fan.

I enjoyed "Red Storm Rising" more than "Clear and Present Danger". "Red Storm Rising" was Clancy's second novel and doesn't include either of the characters that make up much of the core of his fabulously popular high-tech military thrillers: Jack Ryan and John Clark. Clancy builds credible motives for the Russian-fueld World War III, and the plot drives all 600+ pages of this novel that bounces between perspectives of characters ranging from military leaders, to intelligence officers, to the most engaging of all, an Air Force weatherman thrust to the fore of the international battle.

I'm not a military guy and I've not read much around a modern military (though I've read my fair share of ancient Roman Legion battles), but I became hooked on Clancy's details surrounding the tactics of all branches of the military and the somewhat less fulfilling political machinations that drove the bigger picture war efforts. Clancy's mostly able to differentiate a multitude of battles, though seemed to struggle a bit with an ongoing series of submarine engagements.

There's no character depth here, and quite frankly, I was perfectly happy to let the detailed plot drive the story. "Red Storm Rising" is an exciting and engaging read. It's not great, but it's a whole lot of fun.

I read Red Storm Rising when it first came out and was fascinated by it. In a sense it represents an absolute "bottom line" conflict between the Soviet Union & NATO. No nuclear weapons. No chemical weapons. No significant warfare outside of Europe and the North Atlantic (though there are some hints at naval warfare in the Indian Ocean).

There are a few problems with the novel but not enough to detract from my five star rating. It would've been nice to get some kind of timeline for the conflict to get a better sense of it as well as some idea of the death toll that such a conflict would leave. Personally, I've estimated that even such a few weeks long, no WMD conflict would kill roughly THREE MILLION people at minimum.

The main complaints about the novel seem to be the performance of various weapons systems. Most notably the antimissile AEGIS system in the first large naval battle. But, I've run the numbers and estimated how many Standard II SAMs were available to the NATO force versus the number of Soviet cruise missiles and Clancy's estimates do appear quite reasonable.

The other complaint is the U.S. "F-19" stealth figher (attack) having no resemblance to the actual F-117A being built by the U.S. that time and its different capabilities. What critics ignore is that there were more than 50 F-117As in service at the time the novel came out rather than just 12 F-19s so naturally the attack early in the war would look somewhat different.

All in all a great novel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZikvWB48LCQ
Please people with the money, if you buy a new book, include a used one in your shopping cart. That will help the store enormously in their storage, and it can help you too. At some places the price can’t lower to lesser a penny. Take a used book for a 0.01$ anywhere.
It has many usage including, “Cash4Books.net”
Recycle it or Burn it for survival heat. Use two books as spacers to raise your monitor because it’s always better to view at eye leveled to the center of your screen. Even better, send it to donation, any library would take it, or the third world too.
Do not fear a book because it has no teeth!!
When you open your used book, wear gloves if you have to, then you’ll realize, “This book ain’t that bad after all.”
Good read and peace!!
- Ricky

"Red Storm Rising" is the only Tom Clancy novel without its arch hero, Jack Ryan. It is the fictional account of warfare in Europe between the Warsaw Pact forces and NATO. From Iceland where the Soviets open their attack, to Alfeld, Germany, to the sub-hunting in the Atlantic, Clancy demonstrates detailed knowledge of military tactics, weapons and language that add realism to this in-depth account of a Soviet bid for military hegemony in Europe.

You get a hint of the battle to come when a cynical French Military Liaison Officer monitoring a Soviet exercise in East Germany notices with some skepticism that the Soviets are lost again which plays to the NATO stereotype that the Soviets couldn't possibly find their way with signs in a non-Cyrillic alphabet. You know the invasion is coming.

As often happens in warfare, coincidence prevails over the best of planning, and a young air force lieutenant whose only military specialty is weather forecasting, ends up leading two marines. They will play a pivotal role in NATO's retaliation. Another main character is an army sergeant who takes over a tank platoon after his platoon leader's tank is destroyed by a one in a million artillery shell that rips through some of the thinnest armor of a tank---the top. There is also the destroyer commander who duels a Soviet submarine. The story will go back and forth to these characters and others fighting the campaign from many fronts.

My disappointment in this book comes from the sin of pride or esprit de corps. Having spent seven to eight months of the year for three years, in German training centers, towns, and forests planning scenario after scenario of preventing a Soviet incursion into Germany, I was almost insulted there was no mention of the two cavalry regiments that provided early warning for V Corps and VII Corps, the 11th and 2nd Cavalry Regiments, respectively. These units directly blocked the two most likely armor avenues of approach from the east. (Naturally, I was in one of them). And my first question was "Where the hell's Alfeld?"

But the novel is well-written despite my personal feelings, and it is a pleasure to read one that has all the military information correct. I was quite impressed with what he knew about armor. The story kept my interest, and the author had the ability to change the venue just as I was getting very interested in it. It was on the order of "stay tuned when we return 40 pages from now."

The Soviet Union may be gone, but there is still a good story here worth reading. It's a storm worth weathering.

Toujours Pret!

When I was in high school, I first borrowed Red Storm Rising from my high school library at the encouragement of my friend. Red Storm Rising was primarily a maritime Third Battle of the Atlantic scenario with the political, land, and other elements tacked together. At the time, it was excellent. His writing encouragement to me to pursue national security studies as a second place to my goal at the time of being an Air Force or Naval Aviator, which did not quite work out.

I initially thought that the rationale that the Soviets used for launching an attack on NATO---not the need for oil---in their a fear of a resurgent united Germany lacked credibility; however, from reading a World Transformed, it is clear how much both NATO and Russian leaders and people feared a threat from Germany. It might have been better had the post-war scenario been addressed more satisfactorily. Clancy seems to give the same attention to winning the war that the Bush administration had in Iraq, but he fails to paint a picture of how to transform a society with millennia of autocracy to a liberal democracy and free market.

His surprise attack on Iceland to compromise the SOSUS net while exciting and a reasonable objective lacks a little credibility. First, there is the surprise attack from a cargo ship from a Baltic port. One would have expected American, German, and Norwegian maritime patrol aircraft, reconnaissance assets, and naval patrols to keep an eye on Warsaw Pact assets, even if they painted a new name on the side of the ship.

I would have to dig for some actual NATO deployment information, but I have two sources that supposable came from the Soviet Union (Arco, Modern Sub Hunters, David Miller, 1984, page 9; Orion Books, Sub vs. Sub, Richard Compton-Hall, 1988, page 118). They show NATO's four carrier battle group (CVBG) deployments, maritime patrol aircraft areas, submarine patrol areas, ASW surface patrols, SOSUS sensors, and captor mines along or north of the GIUK line (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom). Even assuming only two of the four CVBGs are American "super carriers," instead of the much smaller French or British, NATO would have a decisive surveillance capacity. If the northern patrol area, just off the northern tip of Norway near Banak, was occupied by an American carrier, an on-station E-2C Hawkeye AWACS plane with F-14 Tomcat escort could monitor almost the entire Kola Peninsula from 50 miles off the Soviet coast. Using Norwegian and American P-3 Orions or carrier based S-3 Vikings, which would also be the first casualties in an attack, flying near the same area would allow monitoring any surface action group or submarine departures from their northern ports using surface radars and later sonobuoys. The Soviets would have trouble forming up a bomber formation for a strike, and a surprise attack with submarines would be difficult because of the aforementioned surveillance. I have continued to experiment with various scenarios using the 1994 aircraft simulator, Microprose's [F-14 Tomcat] Fleet Defender, and the 2005 ASW simulator, Sonalyst's Dangerous Waters, but it looks like the biggest challenge would be a an aerial war of attrition; however, the southern CVBG could swap Tomcats to the north to replace losses, and replacements from the states could deploy to Southern Norwegian airfields unless they were more needed in Germany. I will have to review that scenario some time in the future. Perhaps I can improve on Clancy's scenario here or elsewhere in around the world in other historical situations?

By the way, I have the Random House F. Murray Abraham abbreviated audiobook, which is excellent with sound effects, but I wish that the unabridged Audible version had a more life-like and interesting recording similar to the Brilliance Audio by J. Charles. An unabridged Red Storm Rising version with a dramatized cast like for Stephen Coonts' Flight of the Intruder or a still good version with just his narration of Larry Bond's Red Phoenix would be much preferred.

UPDATED - I just re-read Red Storm Rising (again) and it's as good as it ever was...still 5 stars!

ORIGINAL REVIEW -

I've read this book a number of times since I got in the mid 1980s. It had been long enough since my last reading of it however, that I kept being reminded/surprised by that happens next.

For those of you who don't know this title, it was published in the 1980s, before the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War. By the time this book came out the Cold War had been rolling for close to 40 years, and the USA and the USSR had enough nuclear weapons to wipe out humanity several times over.

This book provides one author's (Tom Clancy) vision of what war between the Warsaw Pact and NATO might have looked like. It is a masterful military and political action adventure that takes place at political, strategic, and tactical levels of conflict.

This is my favorite Tom Clancy novel. He writes in a layered fashion, skipping from one location and set of characters to another. I think that he is the one who made this writing method popular. I like the fact that he keeps the reader up to speed with what's happening simultaneously with several different characters in differnt locations at the same time.

Definitely 5 stars for me. Have a great day!

A major superpower, it's economy sent reeling after suffering a catastrophic terrorist attack, goes to war against the rest of the world. Only this is 1987, the terrorists are Azeri nationalists who strike at a major petro-industrial complex, and the superpower is the Soviet Union.

Coming soon after "Red October", Clancy delivers a massive follow-up: "World War Three". With the Soviets already reeling from chronic fuel shortages, the attack triggers a collective nervous breakdown among the Soviets' military leadership. Certain that the west will exploit their weakness as soon as it comes to light, the Soviets make a lightning strike in Central-Europe to cripple NATO. Ingeniously coordinated assaults against Iceland and the sea lanes of the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap tip the balance in the Soviets' favor. "Storm" follows the war from the perspectives of those fighting it: a "John Ryan" type analyst; a USAF officer leading a group of marines across occupied Iceland after being driven from their base; commanders of an American ASW frigate; an attack sub skipper; an angry woman fighter pilot who tries to squeeze out as much combat as possible from her non-combat missions; and a skeptical Soviet general who's trying to fight NATO while looking for a way out of the war. Clancy is deft with his touches - he doesn't jump to war but convincingly details the escalation as seen through various characters, and ignores the common technothriller narrative in which the author simply says what's going on.

The storytelling is very spare - the political aspects of the war are ignored almost entirely. While the novel offers many exotic weapons (stealth fighters, apparently inspired less by the F-117 - which hadn't even been publicly revealed - than by a stealth-fighter model kit made by Testors the year before) the bulk of the fighting is handled by existing technology (688-class subs rather than Seawolf). The novel excels in the way it limits its story to the perspectives of those populating its several intertwining storylines. The characters aren't that deep, but Clancy wrings the sort of gritty tension that's missing from most technothrillers. As with "Red October", "Storm" shows why Clancy's name was the technothriller benchmark for years - excelling over most lesser authors of the genre. Snarky left-leaning reviewers typified Clancy's work as a neo-con's dream - with do-gooder Yankee types and their noble and effective technology. "Storm" pops that bubble. War here is relentless, gritty and scary. But more than that, "Storm" remains eerily ironic - not simply dated like most technothrillers. For the left, "Storm" is an oddly prescient shocker in which one of the most powerful nations on earth reacts to a devastating blow by going to war with the rest of the world. For right-minded readers, Clancy incorporates the careful optimism of superpower relations in the late 1980's, when anything seemed possible, and when the peace drowned out the specter of nuclear war. Here, war wins out in the end, even as the characters on either side seem dumbfounded by the coming onslaught.

I have read most of Clancy's Jack Ryan Novels and when I found this book I was eager to read it also. I have seen how many reviewers dislike his style which incorporates a lot of detail. I do see how this can detract from the novel for some people. It is a style thing. I love Clancy's style but my wife (who read Hunt for Red October on my recommendation) would rather read the dictionary than another of his novels. You will like this novel if you don't mind jumping between many story lines and remembering all of the geo-political details that make the story make sense. This is not going to be a light read that you can skim through without paying attention. Also, I would not go into this thinking that it will grab you from the first page. You are looking at a good 100-200 page span where it is slow. I wasn't sure I would like this book until about after page 200 or so. By that point the ground work was laid and I was invested--not so much in individual characters but in the plot as a whole.

I would also caution against reading this as a historical exercise. Some reviews rip into the story for not being realistic enough...this is a fictional story. There are of course going to be twists that happen to get the story to the author's desired destination. Take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the story.

All that being said, if you like a lot of detail, are interested in late cold war politics and have the stamina to plow through a couple hundred pages before the story really gets going then you will probably like this book.

If you are looking for a quick light read Tom Clancy may not be the route to go.

"Red Storm Rising" was already hailed a blockbuster when it was released, but time hasn't dulled its edge. When a sudden petro crisis threatens to grind the Soviet industrial base to a halt (in a grim foreshadowing of the post cold-war era, Azeri separatists sabotage a major petroleum refinery in Siberia; damage from the resulting inferno is exacerbated by a combination of shoddy Soviet safety practices and corrupt cronyism) the Kremlin's leadership and military reaches for the only reasonable response. Believing the west will surely exploit the Soviets' crippled state should the situation become known (the Soviets reveal the loss, but play it down), the Russian leadership mobilizes for war. Their plan: a brilliant pre-emptive strike, one designed to anticipate an imminent assault from the west, and head it off. With Russian armor stabbing into Central Europe, a Soviet amphibious assault force on Iceland and Soviet subs prowling in packs in the North Atlantic, the west is besieged. The plot of "Red Storm" follows individuals on both sides in Iceland, under the Atlantic and in central Europe as the war grinds on.
Though written years ago, nobody has yet matched this book's epic scope. For a book this big and far reaching, it's obviously impossible for Clancy to provide substantive characters for every epic scene. Unfortunately, this results in many scenes in which the only real character is a ship or a plane. Though few of the characters will leap out at you, and some of the dialog may be laughable now (when asked by his Russian prisoners the reason they are being executed, the heroic American officer responds "for Afghanistan".) you'll remember more of what works and remains fresh than what doesn't. As for the techno, few writers were as willing as Clancy to tangle with such spanking new hardware as the MiG-29 and the "Stealth" fighter. (Clancy's stealth fighter was only a conceptual model of what the plane turned out to be, largely inspired by a Testor's model kit based on educated guesses; although the real thing turned out to quite distinct from the concept model, Clancy designs his fighter underlining and revealing so much of the science of stealth and electronic warfare that its substance isn't measurably diminished by the real thing.) What really raises "Red" over most other books is the shear exhaustion suffered by the main characters. This is hardly the heroic wish-fulfillment that critics assume it to be.

Although 17 years have passed since Tom Clancy's second novel was published and the Soviet Union is no more, Red Storm Rising is still one of my favorite adventure novels. It is always a challenge for writers to top a blockbuster hit like The Hunt For Red October, but Clancy and his co-author Larry Bond (Red Phoenix, Vortex) gave us an E-ticket ride with this tale of World War III. If Hunt's chase of a defecting Typhoon-class sub was impressive in its scope and believability, Red Storm Rising is even more impressive in scale and ambitious plotting. While the familiar aspects of U.S.-Soviet confrontation are back, this time the Soviets are not simply after a runaway submarine but the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. After Islamic radicals sabotage a large oil production complex in Siberia, the Politburo decides that the West will not let the USSR purchase oil to make up for the shortfall. Deluded by their own propaganda and by KGB reports written by a faction which sees war as the quickest solution to the problem, the hardliners decide they must invade Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. 'If we cannot purchase oil,' declares one minister, 'then we must take it.' But the operation can't take place, the Soviets decide, if NATO and the United States intervene. Following the maxim that the best defense is always a good offense, the move south on the oil fields is put on hold until another operation, a strike against the West, takes place. So begins a complicated series of operations centered on a Third Battle of the Atlantic. While Soviet ground and air forces invade West Germany, the Red Fleet uses its surface, submarine and naval air forces to sever the sea lanes between America and her NATO allies in Europe. Clancy's canvas is large and vivid, taking us from the secret meetings of the Politburo, to the attack center of a Los Angeles-class SSN, to the lonely trek of a small group of Americans trapped on Soviet-occupied Iceland, and the bloody battlefields of West Germany. Clancy and Bond create a wonderful cast of characters who, even 17 years after they were created, still capture the imagination.
Also recommended: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy; Red Phoenix, by Larry Bond; Debt of Honor, by Tom Clancy

There are some CD's that always seem to make their way back into your CD player, no matter how many times you've listened to them, or how many other CD's you've bought since. The same is true of books - there are some books that you periodicaly have the urge to reread because they're that good - sometimes, you'll just pick it up after remembering a favorite bit and wanting to reread just that part. Dune by Frank Herbert is such a book, and so is Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising.
In all of Clancy's other books, he's at his best when he's describing actual combat. What sets Red Storm Rising apart from the rest of his books, I think, is that he's depicting actual combat during virtually the entire 700+ pages. Just as importantly, though, is that the story portrayed in RSR, and the characters contained within, are more sophisticated and better developed than their counterparts in most of Clancy's other books.
In Red Storm Rising, we follow several major characters - a U.S. army sargeant in command of an M1 main battle tank in Germany, a stealth fighter pilot, the Soviet general who is second in command of their army, the General's aide who is the son of a politburo member and thus very important to his general, Bob Tolland, a US Naval intellegence officer who is ultimately responsible for the US learning the true reasons for the Russions starting the war, Dan McCaffrey, captain of the attack sub USS Chicago, Lieutenant Edwards, a U.S. Air Force meteorologist who is trapped in Iceland when the Soviets invade and becomes a covert spotter for the alies monitoring Soviet activities there, and a US firgate captain who has his first ship torpedoed out from under him and must some how cope with the loss and regain his confidence so that he can command effectively again.
In the context of the year 2000, 14 years or so after this book was written, RSR stands the test of time with two caveats. First, the book was written before the US acknowledged the existince of the F-117 stealth fighter, and so Clancy refers to the F-19 (as it was speculated to have been called before this) and assigns attributes to the F-19 reminiscent of popular speculation before the F-117 was announced. Second, of course, is the colapse of the eastern block and with it the day to day reality of the cold war, which sort of destroys the premise of the book to a degree. None the less, in every other way Red Storm Rising is a classic, and IMHO probably Clancy's best.

Red Storm Rising Tom Clancy
Red Storm Rising is a fast paced and exciting science fiction novel authored by Tom Clancy. Although not noted on the cover or title page, Larry Bond also contributed a great deal to the story making the story more realistic from a military perspective. About the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia's attempt to over take the Atlantic so they can launch an offensive against the United States of America and other NATO countries such as Britain and Germany. First, terrorists attack a large power plant in Russia. The Russians make it seem as if someone from the "outside" attacked them so they can "counterattack". They invade part of Germany and Iceland. Taking Iceland is an important step because this allows the Russians to reach farther into the Atlantic and possibly into North America with their aircraft. This also disrupts the anti-submarine line that the Americans have across the North Atlantic. When the Russians attack Iceland, that starts a war that the Russians start so they can obtain more territory and more materials for more war campaigns. The Russians' greed causes them a great deal throughout and after the war. This book is interesting, especially if one likes wars, battles and suspense. This book is unique because the story is told through many different eyes. Tom Clancy tells the story through the eyes of the Russians and the NATO. Under these divisions, he also goes into the lives of different people in the war i.e. he tells the story through the eyes of many naval captains in both surface and underwater boats, through the Commander in Chief of the Atlantic (American), and through the Politburo (Russian, like cabinet of the president). Some of the vocabulary is hard to understand e.g. titles of names: CINC-West, Commander in Chief-West, however; after reading on, the reader can figure out what they mean. There are some Russian words whose meanings can only be guessed. Most of the many characters are very believable. Although there are many characters and the story is told from multiple points of view, one can figure out most of the characters attitudes and descriptions throughout the book. Red Storm Rising is a science fiction book about the dangers of greediness and war. Since the Russians are greedy and want more land and materials such as oil and coal, they become desperate and end up loosing, since they are already in need of many things before the war, they are even more needy because of the war. Although the book is long, I enjoyed it because of the war scenes and suspense of not knowing `what will happen next'.

I have just recently re-read this book (the first go around was back in high school, some 15 years ago) and I was once again enthralled by the extremely vivid descriptions and very tense environments created in this book.

Red Storm Rising describes a scenario for World War Three, between the Soviet Union and NATO. Keep in mind this was written in the mid 1980's, when the Soviet Union was still alive and kicking. The scenario is very well thought out, well researched and developed, and somewhat plausible. The political machinations of the Soviet Politburo prior to the conflict is described, as are the military preparations and the justifications for starting the war.

The character development necessarily must focus on only a small handful of characters in the book, but I did not think that was a detriment, because to flesh out several dozen characters would have made the book 2000 pages long, which I'm sure nobody would be brave enough to read. Of course, if you want to read this book, it's probably because you enjoy books about war in general and understand at least a little bit about tactics and strategy, but if you're looking for an easy to digest read with complex characters, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a taut, suspenseful, well-written thriller, than I definitely recommend this book.

Even though it's a long read, it's well worth it.

I first read this book back in 1990, as I had to describe it in french class. I was hooked on Clancy from then on. Since then I've read practically all of his other books, as well as others on the military theme, but when all is said and done, none contain as much realism, clarity, sense and technicality as RSR.
Of course Clancy has his faults, his later books, although being excellent, do appear quite "soap-operaish", each character is "the best in his field" and "all-American" to such an extent that he seems unaware to the fact that other strong military forces exist. eg UK, France etc. Yet RSR does show that it's not only the USA and Soviet Union that would fight WW3.
The many small stories that take place around the world makes the book easier to read; they all culminate together in the end to create an overall story which tends to end rather confusingly. There is no big moment of victory, but more a confusion as to when the war ended. The Gulf war was similar, if you remember, there's so much destruction and devastation that nobody is really jubilant, but when the harsh reality of war's aftermath sets in, there's more of a relief that it's over. This book is like that.
I loved the way each chapter, and section within began with the date and location, meaning that there wasn't any confusion as to what was happening.
Of course today you have to read the book as though it is (and was) set in the late eighties. We know today that the Cold War is over, we didn't then. The F-19 wasn't brought into service, but rather the F-117. Warfare techniques today have even come along in leaps and bounds, so that if RSR was written today, there would be noticeable differences. It belongs in the eighties, but that's not a bad thing. Most of us can still relate to the feeling back then about the West and East.
RSR summed this up perfectly.
After all this time, I must have read RSR at least seven times, and each time I see something I missed before. It's not as ! if we didn't know the ending, it's more about how we get there, this is why it can be read over and over.

I vaguely recall years ago, mid 91' I believe, picking this book up at a store. I remember taking it home and finding the first 100 pages or so a bit tedious, albeit not uninteresting. And when I got past that first 100 pages the book didn't just kick in, it grabbed me with claws and pulled me in with it!
The plot has been described in previous posts, so I won't waste time going over it, except to say that it is one of the most gripping stories I've ever read. The action takes place in varous locales from Moscow's Politburo chambers to Washington DC, to the pilothouse of an ASW frigate hunting Soviet subs, to the barren rocky fields of Iceland.
It is written so compellingly well that you will swear you are there, as I did when I witnessed the Russian tank charge across the German landscape, or as I watched a crippled B-52 plow into the craggy ground of Iceland as a bewildered Air Force Lieutenant and his Marine comrades watch in awe. You'll find yourself dumbstruck watching A-10 Warthogs make strafing runs on columns of T-80 tanks and you'll almost be able to smell the fumes from the rocket propellant of the dozens of anti-aircraft missiles chasing them.
And if you're a red-blooded American as I am, you'll cheer out loud as Tomahawk cruise missiles streak in to airstrips on the Kola peninsula, and cry when you witness the sinking of a submarine who's crew you knew somehow by spending so much time with them.
I don't know how much time passed before I finished this book. I know that I got no sleep while I read it, clenched and trembling hands rapidly shooting through pages as I devoured every detail I could.
It is a long book, as too many other posters here have mentioned, but really if you're looking for a good short read, go visit the Dr. Seuss section. Think on this though. The suspense, the feeling of euphoria that you experience while reading it will last that much longer. Maybe the book should have been longer indeed. I certainly wouldn't have complained. Not one bit.

Clancy has always been a mastermind, make no mistake about it. His knowledge shows in his work, and while he may get too technical with some, in the end it usually makes sense. Most people know Clancy through his Jack Ryan books. But just when he was starting the Ryan books, "Red Storm Rising" reared its ugly head. And what slowly begins with the destruction of an oil facility in the U.S.S.R., churns into a possible hellacious thought process, if you can get your head around it!

NATO will soon be under attack in a European game known as World War III. The Politburo is up to what they think they do best. And of course, U.S. Forces get involved! Somebody's havin' themselves an accident, and that accident ain't gonna be pretty when all is said and done.

In saying what little I just said, this was really just too good to simply go over all the little details in a simple review. I can't bring myself to attempt such a thing. But I can say that I do recommend what Clancy brought to the table over 20 years ago. It will still get your attention!

I'm guessing Tom Clancy novels are mostly a "guy thing." If it's a Tom Clancy novel I'm probably going to check it out. I'm something of a "Naval Action" freak. I blame the 1943 Lawrence O'Donnell science fiction short story CLASH BY NIGHT, which I read in Junior High, for my fetish. Asimov made me want to read more science fiction; Lawrence made me want more Naval Action!

RED STORM RISING presents a global non-nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia that involves our NATO allies. The first read-through I read everything, but on re-reads I skip many parts, depending on my mood, and focus on the parts involving the weatherman in Iceland, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant who is the main hero. There is also a cute love story that develops here.

There is some great submarine action here. Many readers think Clancy novels are technical over-kill, but what he does in RED STORM RISING works for me. @hg47

Following shortly after an extremist attack on a soviet oil field, Russian political forces have to make a choice: try to repair a lost oil well or take oil by force? When a young comrade General suggests the invasion of the Middle East for oil procedures that could start the third world war commence. The soviet actions force NATO to scramble to defend two fronts. If a wide scale Soviet invasion happens it would mean defending the pacific coast of the U.S. and the eastern front of Germany.

The main characters in the novel are the promising soviet general Alekseyev, the new U.S. naval captain know as Morris, Bob Toland a U.S. satellite operator, and the skipper John Edwards. Alekseyev is a thirty-year-old Russian who is in charge of making the plan and granting all the actions of the possible invasion. Morris is a young captain who is in command of the U.S.S. Pharris, which is patrolling the Atlantic sea border of Europe. Bob Toland is a 40-year-old satellite operative that is watching for any Russian advances by Russian forces. John Edwards is a NATO spy working deep undercover in Iceland. Together these characters shape the events that very well may lead to a third world war.

One of the more impressive things about this novel is how real the setting is. The attention that Clancy pays to detail is superb. There are many times midway through the novel were I could see the places he was describing in my head.

I hope that this review has been written I such a way that you the reader are inclined to read this and other titles from Clancy. It truly is a splendid book.

I recently reread this book because I like it so much. It is an excellent glance into the cold war. It might seem a bit outlandish now as the cold war is over but it presents a good "what if" scenario. The book reads like a typical Tom Clancy novel, very fast paced and a bit confusing at times with a big group of characters. I've always liked Clancy books for their technological accuracy and this is no exception. It is interesting now, 20 years later to read about the top of the line equipment of the time. It is almost comical how crude the technology seems in retrospect. Anyways... The book is a masterfully told story of cold war tensions taken to the breaking point creating a full on World War 3. I love this book.

Grade: A+

This book is amazing! I absolutely loved it and was very suspenseful. I got this done in about a month. The first 200 pages were pretty boring but after that, it's nonstop action. People had said that before and i figured "yeah right" [people had said that about Hunt for Red October and there was barely any] but it was true, the action is nonstop. There aren't too many characters to get confused with like there was in Hunt for Red October, although that wasn't extremely confusing.

The first chapter in this story is probably the best first chapter i have ever read in any book. It starts with three men who destroy a huge Russian oil facility and then that leads to World War III: NATO vs. Russia.

Truly a fascinating story. All 725 pages was worth it. This one kept me reading way up into the night, sometimes not wanting to put it down but at the same time, too tired to keep my eyes open. Now that wasn't the case with Hunt for Red October although many people said it was.

If you want a great read, pick this book up. I haven't read many Clancy novels but out of the ones i have, this is easily one of the best. Near the end, i was just a little disappointed with the characters because quite a few, they don't explain what happens with them.

This was a nice break away from Jack Ryan. If you r debating whether or not to get it, i say YES! Try and sweat out the first 200 pages and then you'll be glad u did.

RED STORM RISING was the first techno-thriller I read. It was while I was in high school some years ago and every techno-thriller I read is judged by that standard. After several years of reading that genre, however, I have noticed that there are numerous simularities between Red Storm and the many other NATO versus Warsaw Pact novels.
The most frequent convention and premise of these novels is that the Russian forces will achieve limited success in the opening stages of a campaign in Europe. As the battle goes on, however, NATO's assumed technological superiority will overcome the Soviet's material superiority and carry the day, although by a narrow margin.
I would like to ask Mr. Clancy and the others who subscribe to this theory to refresh their knowledge of history. In the Second World War the Germans had the best tank in the Tiger and the best planes with the invention of the jet. The Germans had a better machine gun in the MG 42. Many historians argue that the greatest factors that overcame the Germans was quantity of US equipment. This historical experience flies in the face of Tom Clancy's thinking in his novel and should give us all pause as we think about "what might have been". Quality is not necessarily a replacement for quantity.
I enjoyed reading Red Storm Rising, it is a well written and fast paced novel. The action is well developed, but if you are looking for character development, look elsewhere.
Even with my objection, it remains possibly the best written of its genre and the standard by which all others are judged.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, we should all thank Tom Clancy for writing this great book. It foretells how the world could quickly descend into chaos followed by armed conflict and possibly Armageddon (although he mercifully limited the conflict to conventional weapons). The world can't afford another time when "the lights go out all over Europe" - or everywhere.

As an author, [The Machiavelli Letter - ASIN:B0086MM8WM, The Lion of St. Mark: Book One of The Venetians - ASIN:B006ONZUCK, and The Sword of Venice: Book Two of The Venetians - ASIN:B005SNK2FM] I find the wonder of this book is that it is one of the first I ever read to gloriously violate a basic construct of fiction - observed by authors since they were writing Greek Tragedies. That is, all action must forward the central plot. Clancy explodes this maxim as surely as he explodes ordnance and targets as he tracks multiple characters, plots, and scenes, simultaneously, all woven into a fabric of page-turning suspense, rising to a crescendo of action like a runaway train down a mountain. This is pure Clancy and much better, in my opinion, than his first effort - "Red Storm Rising".

Hundreds of thriller writers have adopted this multi-plot, multi-character, multi-scene device in the years since he wrote this book nearly thirty years ago (1986). I did too (in the Machiavelli Letter) because it works so well. In fact, Clancy wrote this book using "quick cuts" - similar to how movies are now made with handheld camera shots and no scene onscreen for more than seven seconds. He divined the rise of the ADHD generation brought up on lightening-fast video games and frenetic TV shows.

Popular culture owes a great debt to Mr. Clancy, previously an insurance agent from Maryland, who single-handedly reinvented the action thriller by combining Robert Ludlum's action with James Michener's broad canvass, and a technocrat's knowledge. Red Storm Rising is the most "Clancy" of all his novels. You've got to read this one.

"Red Storm Rising" and "The Hunt for Red October" are Tom Clancy's first two novels. They established Tom Clancy as a great writer. "Red Storm Rising" was published back in 1983, over twenty years ago, and so it is a bit dated, for example there is no longer a USSR. But the story is very well written, and very entertaining.

The book is long, over 700 pages, but it is packed with details. There is no fluff. Every page has a ton of information and action. Tom Clancy has done his research.

The basic story is what might happen during World War III. The story is told from several points of view, so we get to see what is happening on the ground through the eyes a tank commander. We get to see parts of the naval battles through the captain of a ship. In the depths of the sea we see sub fights. In the outback in Iceland we watch one of our heroes hide out from the Russians, and provide headquarters with intelligence about what is going on in Iceland. We also get to listen in as the leaders of the war efforts, on both sides, make decisions and analyze what is going on.

This is one of Tom Clancy's best. It is well written. It is hard to put down. If you have enjoyed any of Tom Clancy's novels, then you'll enjoy this one. If you like military fiction, but haven't read any Tom Clancy novels, this is a good one start with.

Red Storm Rising starts out with muslim men blowing up a oil/gas factory in the former U.S.S.R., and now due to the damage, the hard-line high power Soviet leaders now have to make a decision; let the Soviet economy come to it's knee's, or take out NATO and invade the Middle East for their oil? Destroy NATO and her allies and invade the Middle East. So now, as the Soviet military head's to war, they then plan to get everything in order in 4 months to fight NATO. As the story goes along, we meet Bob Toland; a US Navy captain who is fighting against the Soviet's for their bid for the Middle East. The battles take place in Iceland, and the Baltic sea thanks to submarines.
As the battle get's fiercer, the Soviet's think they have NATO done, but things take a turn for them, and they are being swept back to mother Russia and away from the Middle East. Then in a huge battle to end the war, the Soviet's then back away from their strong holds, and are driven back to their own lines. Eventually WW3 is over, and the Soviet's take a serious defeat.
Red Storm Rising is a very interesting novel, although the Soviet Union is long gone, the book still holds it place as one of the best war novels out there. Also, not only do NATO take a beating, the Soviet's take a beating also, winning some, losing some. A great novel, and definitely one of my favorites.

Its the book that made me a reader. Of all the World War 3/Cold War books, this is without a doubt the best. A lot more naval warfare than ground, but still the top book in the genre. I have read it three times. Its not a Jack Ryan novel, so it stands alone easily.

Islamic radicals destroy a Soviet oil refinery to the point that an oil shortage threatens the Soviet economy. The USSR attacks NATO as a ploy to distract them from a planned attack on the Middle East and thus begins WWIII.
While I enjoyed this book very much it was quite depressing until NATO began to gain the upper hand, which wasn't until the last third of the book. I also found myself consulting a map frequently to better understand what was going on. As seems to be a trademark of Clancy books, there are nearly a dozen significant characters to keep track of, plus a couple dozen minor characters, many of whom are Russian and have very long names as well as nicknames. With all the names and places and military terminology it becomes a bit confusing to keep the story straight.
Perhaps my biggest complaint with the book is it's narrow focus on what was happening militarily. It never really tells you how the world is reacting to the events. Adding to the confusion is the fact that there's no timeline (I'd have guessed it was over in less than three months).
But none of that really keeps this book from being a very enjoyable read. The action is fast-paced and the characters are developed well enough that you can relate to them (once you remember who they are!). And the ending was very well done. Overall I'd give it 3.5 to 4 stars.

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy was published by Barkley Publishing Group in 1986. The genre that this book falls into would definitely be suspense. This book is 725 pages of twists and turns. The book deals with the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the cold war era.

The book takes place in Eastern Europe where most of the fighting occurs. The protagonist would be NATO and the antagonist would be the Soviet Union. After a large oil field is destroyed by terrorists, the Soviet Union decides that if they have any chance of surviving, then they must fight back. By staging an explosion and blaming it on Germany they have all they need to start the war. The Soviet Union had prepared its troops before hand so they had hoped to have surprise on their side. Unfortunately for the Soviets they lose the element of surprise in a bizarre twist of fate. To find out who will win the war you should read the book yourself.

I thought that the book was exciting and intense. It kept me at the edge of my seat after every chapter. This is an extremely realistic war novel that surpasses any book I've read before. If you are a fan of Tom Clancy or you want to read something exciting and suspenseful then I definitely recommend reading this book; you won't be disappointed.

This just might be Tom Clancy's most memorable novel. Invoking his vast knowledge and understanding of the military hardware of both the United States as well as the former Soviet Union, Clancy presents to us a believable novel. The story details a conventional World War III between the two Superpowers.
What comes to the forefront in the book is the authentic nature of the strategies imposed by both sides in the war. The deployment and use of sundry weapons is very logical, and Clancy's thorough familiarity with the aresnals form a solid foundation on which to wager which weapons system would win out when each is set against the counterpart of its adversary.
The battle scenes (of which there are many) are well written and hold the reader's attention with their gripping detail of the action. While not as graphic as other war novels I've read, the diction is nonetheless sufficiently gory to remind the reader of what serious business war is - in any age.
If you're interested in a credible book on what a conventional WWIII would look like, I doubt if there's a better novel out there than this one. Everything from descriptions of the battle landscapes to the disturbing thoughts by the Soviets to go ahead & use their nuclear missiles is all finely and meticulously crafted. It's Clancy at his very best.

Book Review

Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising published by Berkley Publishing Group in 1986 is 725 pages long and is suspenseful novel. This book deals with the cold war turning into a world war.

The book starts off with a terrorist attack that forces the war. Then it takes a while for the war to swing into full gear. The war is told from multiple characters around the globe so you can experience the war more fully. The protagonists are the NATO countries while the Soviet Union is the antagonist. This book covers the entire war and the war constantly swings in favor of one side. Also political factors are dealt with along with economic and obviously militaristic factors making this book as real as you can get to a war simulation. Who will win? Read to find out!

This book uses a lot of military vocabulary during the battles so you should have some knowledge of the military. Even though this book is amazingly realistic it is a longer read. I loved the strategic view by the generals. The fights that occur like at Iceland are written extremely well. Red Storm Rising is hard to put down. This book is a classic.

I strongly recommend reading this book. It is one of the best books I've read. READ IT!

This Cold War thriller gets off to a slow start, but it's entirely worth the wait. The action heats up about 100 pages in, and never lets up after that. Middle Eastern terrorists sabotage the USSR's most productive oil fields, leaving the paranoid Soviet Politburo without the fuel needed to run their military and industry. In a few months, when their stockpiles of oil begin to run low, they will become vulnerable to attack. They decide to attack first, while they still have the fuel reserves to seize the upper hand. The Soviet military hits NATO head-on, and the result is a slugfest in the air, on the ground, and at sea. If you like military action, this book has got it in spades.
Red Storm Rising has gathered a lot of criticism from Armchair Generals, but I spent a decade and a half studying for, planning for, and training for war with the Soviet Navy, and I think Clancy did a better job with the subject than anyone else. In hindsight, his descriptions of stealth aircraft were a little off the mark, but he made a lot of pretty shrewd guesses about a branch of technology that was still completely under wraps when he wrote the book. Slow start and minor errors aside, Red Storm is a page-turner.

Jeff Edwards, Author of "Torpedo: A Surface Warfare Thriller"

I think this was the novel that made Clancy famous, and if correct then rightfully so. Red Storm Rising is the story of a conflict between the Soviet Union and NATO over oil, after terrorists strike at Russian Oil production. NATO is seen as the major obstacle to the conquest of the middle eastern oil fields, so it must be taken out first. The main action of the book revolves around the taking of Iceland by Soviet paratroopers brought in by ferry, and they efforts of the United states to take the island back. There is plenty of action described in Central Europe and other areas as well, as the friction of war and unexpected resistance slow the Soviet advance. This book is not as well written as Clancy's later books, but is still a good read and of interest to anyone who asks the question, what if America and the Soviet Union had actually clashed head to head in the late twentieth century.

Tom Clancy's vision in this book utilizes the lastest advancements in military technology to set the stage for a battle between the world's superpowers. The story unfolds across land, sea and air in an ultimate global fury as both sides seek ultimate global control. The concept is chilling and suspenseful with every page. By far this is one of Clancy's most brilliant works. It has lot's of action and hard-hitting truth about modern military confrontation that is frighteningly real. This book pulls no punches, and paints no romantic picture of the advances of warfare on this planet. It leaves one with the awareness that the outcome of such a clash is not always a foregone conclusion as to who will be the victor, or whether such advances in technology can ever give any nation a sense of absolute security or defense. Despite all the technology, Clancy lays out for the reader the human element is the ultimate determining factor in this ambitious portrait of warfare. This is a story that is not easy to forget, which to me makes it a gem. I found it to be a frightening, macabre vision of the potential of a world breaking down international communication leading to a hot-tempered hostile global engagement and proceeding down the terrifying path of possible apocalyptic finality for us all. Clancy takes the reader to the edge in this book, where it almost goes out of control and you get a sense of having been suddenly rescued by a miracle of fortune from falling over a cliff into the inevitable. I enjoyed this book tremendously.

This is probably the best novel ever written that speculates about what a conventional war between NATO and the old Soviet Union would have been like, circa 1985 or so. Of course, when the book was written the Soviet Union still existed, and the possibility of such a war was all too real. Despite the changes in the world since that time, this novel is still highly entertaining and interesting, if perhaps somewhat less relevant.
Without putting out any spoilers, the plot of the novel is straightforward. The Soviet Union suffers a catastrophic failure of its internal fuel/oil supplies, which its leaders learn will soon bring the Soviet economy to its knees. Rather than deciding to deal with this setback through trade and negotiations, the Soviet leadership, dominated by hard-liners, decides to seize the Middle East oil fields immediately following a blitzkrieg campaign against NATO (to distract NATO from intervening in the Middle East). Therein lies the story.
Clancy does an excellent job showing us a scenario of rising tension and the preparations by the Soviets for the surprise attack. His speculations as regards Soviet strategy, while imaginative, are very reasonable and plausible. In fact, supposedly the strategy in this scenario was "war-gamed" with the superb strategy game "Harpoon."
Like most Clancy novels, the character development here takes a backseat to the military-political story he is trying to tell, but the novel is fine for all that, and there are in fact some interesting characters in this book. Overall, this book is an interesting and satisfying read, moves along at a brisk pace, and always holds the reader's interest. Without giving anything away, I thought that the ending was very representative of prevailing thought and attitudes prior to the end of the Cold War.
By the way, this is one of the few true Clancy novels that is not a "Jack Ryan" novel. This is not part of the Jack Ryan "universe" and Ryan is nowhere to be found in this novel.
As always, Clancy's depiction and understanding of NATO and Soviet military hardware, strategy, and tactics, is the strength of this book. Even today, this is one to read, and most readers will enjoy reading this one more than once.

_Red Storm Rising_ is undoubtably Tom Clancy's finest book. It depicts an all-out war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in the mid-'80s. While the political reasoning behind the Soviet invasion is a bit far-fetched, the description of modern-day land, sea, and air combat is riveting. In contrast to some of the one-dimensional characters in Clancy's other work, this book features two unforgettable ones: Lieutenant Mike Edwards, codenamed "Doghouse", an unlikely hero who leads a squad of Marines trapped in Soviet-occupied territory, and General "Pasha" Alekseyev, who commands the Red Army with brilliance and courage in spite of his own mixed feelings.
If you like Clancy's other books, you will love this one. And if you have found some of his more recent stuff to be tedious and overly political, give _Red Storm Rising_ a try so you can see him at his best. My mom and I have very different literary tastes, but even she really enjoyed it after I convinced her to give it a shot.
_Red Storm Rising_ has no rivals in its description of modern naval combat. And only _Red Army_, by Ralph Peters, surpasses its incredible look at World War III on the ground. I just purchased the hardcover version to replaced my overused paperback. Its a classic that will be enjoyed by readers of all tastes.

This is my favorite Clancy book. The way he describes the battles and conflicts created a real time vision of the future World War Three scenario. As a writer, I really appreciate how he switched scenes and stories lines. I always wished that they had made a movie out of this book. It's one of his longer books. But well worth it. Super enjoyable. If you live military action thriller books, this is the one.

This is the second book written by Tom Clancy which establishes him as a powerful storyteller, a global tactician of power politics and of military technology. Did he have a crystal ball with which to read the future? It seems he zoned in on the possible effects of Muslim terrorism *way* before the "real world" woke up to the truth ...

An Ajzerbaijani Muslim student received special treatment at the Moscow University for his loyalty due to his good standing in the Communist Party. After 15 years in the Party, he attained the respect of his comrades, a good salary, an automobile and an above average position in his chosen field of study ... but beneath the suface ... he was seathing with anger ... plotting revenge on the very people who provided him the opportunities for success. He blew up the largest oil producing field in the Soviet Union ... crippling the Soviet economy. The Politburo met to deal with the consequences - the possible collapse of the Soviet Union. US satellite intelligence picked up the seismic event and discovered the oil field was destroyed. Another noteworthy discovery was: a shortage of car and truck batteries. At the same time, the Soviets were engaging in Peace Talks in Vienna, Austria. The Foreign Minister gave a press conference where he spoke of "deeds not words" as he described the Soviet's committment to reduce and destroy nuclear weapons. This included a deadline of three years and site verification. Plus the Soviets

proposed all signatories, USA, France, China, and the UK join in the negotiations. The "maskirovka 1" by the KGB had begun (masquerade 1). Another suspicious intelligence discovery made by the USA was four colonels in the Soviet Army were executed for falsifying "readiness" reports. Not long afterwards, an unusual bombing incident occcured in the Kremlin, exactly before the Politburo was to meet. Innocent children died ... the incident was attributed to terrorists, in an odd twist of fate a CNN cameraman caught the explosion on film, right when it happened. Also, US intelligence gathered information showing the Soviet submarines were maneuvering ... allegedly practicing tactics. The combined findings of these intelligence reports could lead to no other conclusion but the invevitable: the Soviet Union was planning World War III. The reasons were self-evident ... they faced economic disaster by losing their fundamental source of energy, their largest oil field.

In this novel, Clancy keeps the reader spell-bound, hanging on every word, wanting to know what happens next. There are three major battlefields: on land in Germany, in submarines under the ocean near Norway, and in the air in Iceland, which becomes the homebase of the Soviet Airforce. It is an exciting experience reading about the events and outcomes of the different battlefields in a fictional World War III. The scenarios are highly probable. The characters are realistic and very human. Most intriguing is the weatherman, a survivor of the battle for the US airfield in Keflavik, who becomes a guerrila soldier in the mountains of the region, providing very significant information via a radio on untraceable frequencies to intelligence operatives based in Scotlan. This is the quintessential "best" of Tom Clancy's novels. It is a most highly recommended contemporary novel. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Outstanding; superior to anything in its genre; non stop suspense page after page, and swiftly moves from scene to scene. Clancy did his homework. He has an eye for detail; a realistic and plausible story. It can be hard at times to forget the book is fictitious. No details are missed (I presume). He brings out a wonderful personal look into the characters. Plenty of technical and military jargon. Could this be an accurate portrayal of the Russian: his speech, his actions, the party, the expendability of life?

The story takes place near the end of the "cold war". Wargames: Russia vs NATO; a fictional war in the North Atlantic and Europe. Reluctant to show any economic weakness, Russia decides on war. Detailed battles and maneuvers--capabilities of craft: surface ships, subs, tanks, and planes from both sides of the front. Clancy plays no favorites. I did not realize the potential technological capabilities in the mid 80's.

Wish you well
Scott

What would have a war between the Soviet Union and NATO been like? This is the question that Tom Clancy attempts to answer in his techno-thriller "Red Storm Rising." After an attack on a massive oil refinery by Muslim nationalists the Soviet Union is facing a gas shortage of epic proportions. Faced with the prospect of their entire economy grinding to a halt the ruling counsel of the Soviet Union decides that war is the answer. They plan a lightning strike to the west to neutralize NATO before they invade the Persian Gulf to take what oil supplies they need. The Soviets begin the war with a fabricated threat from West Germany and a program of diplomatic deceit. The Soviets believe they can knock West Germany, France and England quickly out of the war and close the Atlantic with submarines to prevent American reinforcements from reaching Europe. Initially this strategy goes according to plan but soon the Soviet offensive bogs down and they are faced with complications.

This book was written in 1987 so obviously the scenario of war with the Soviet Union is dated. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 rendered this type of war impossible. (Additionally, the fall of the Soviets showed the West that their supposed unstoppable military had been deteriorating over the last several years.0 However, it is interesting to see what we in the West believed the Soviet Union was capable of even at the end of the Cold War - the Soviet forces meet the NATO forces on equal terms and for awhile it looks like they will triumph. Despite the fact that the premise of the book has grown dated, Clancy has still written an interesting and fast moving novel. There is a character viewpoint to cover every aspect of the war and most of these are well developed and interesting.

I have found that when I read books with Russian names I have difficultly with the names; for some reason they all begin to look alike to me. The same thing happened to me with this book. In a few places I had difficultly distinguishing between two characters because their names appeared to be very similar. I also found the Soviet Union's decision not to use nuclear weapons to be slightly implausible - we won't use them because there will be political fall out and then NATO will use theirs? I just don't think the idea of using nuclear weapons would have been dismissed so quickly from the battle plans. While the idea does come up again at the end of the story it is seen more as a move of desperation then an actually strategy.

While Clancy's thriller has become dated because of the fall of the Soviet Union it is still a quick read and an interesting story.

Let me make it clear that I am reviewing both the hard cover version of this book and the abridged audio cassette version. For long action novels, I often find the condensed version on an audio cassette preferable to the original. Red Storm Rising is the exception. The novel is much better and more enjoyable than the abridgement. This is also my favorite of the Tom Clancy novels, being slightly better than The Hunt for Red October in its story line and realistic plot details.
The book opens with a terrorist attack that cripples the economy of the Soviet Union. The leadership there chooses to believe that the West will devour the Soviets during this period of vulnerability, and the party leaders choose to launch an invasion of Europe. The real objective is to neutralize NATO so that the Middle East can be seized as a source of oil. Think of this as the 1980s update of the Japanese thinking during the 1930s about the importance of having assured supplies of raw materials and energy.
During the Cold War, published articles often focused on three primary risks that had to be overcome:
(1) That a weakened Soviet Union would decide to launch an offensive war to gain resources that its economic system could not provide.
(2) That a threatened Soviet Union would launch a first-strike nuclear attack.
(3) That the KGB and the Soviet Army would abuse their power and use war against the West to gain even more influence.
With the passing of time, we now know that although these were all potential risks, they were low-probability ones. The Soviets were not nearly as strong as the press and our government led us to believe in the United States. Also, they were more frightened of war, if anything, than the West was.
When this book came out in the mid-1980s, it provided valuable perspectives about whether or not the Western high-technology capabilities could counter much of the manpower strength of the Soviet Union, and the likelihood that there were reasonable people who opposed war in both the Soviet Union and in the West. Both perspectives turned out to have a great deal of truth in them. But they came as refreshing boosts for everyone's hopes for peace at the time.
Since there no longer is a Soviet Union, nor a Cold War, why should you read this book? I think the best reason is to understand the importance of placing limits on the power of those who can set war in motion. Also, one's enemies can be deterred by the risk they run by attacking you as much as by a real attack, as long as the risks to them are known. So appropriate levels of strength create the potential for diplomats to do their work.
For those who like battle stories, this one is quite interesting as in develops along the lines of what conventional war in Europe might have looked like in the mid 1980s. Several of the scenarios, such as an attack by the Soviets on Iceland will intrigue you and change your perceptions of geo-politics.
The technology side of the story is even more compelling and interesting than in The Hunt for Red October. You will witness potential uses of many of the weapons and systems that proved to be very important during the Gulf War, such as Stealth fighters, cruise missiles, and AWACs controllers.
After you finish reading this story, I suspect it would be a useful thing to try to come up with ways that the Cold War could have been ended sooner. What were both sides missing? How could the mutual distrust and misunderstanding have been dispelled sooner? The resources that went into weapons that were never used (thank goodness!) could have been far better employed in other ways.
May the peaceful intentions of the peace-lovers always be apparent and encouraging to all!

I'm just now wrapping up reading this book for the third time, and it's almost bittersweet to realize how good Clancy was, and how far he's fallen since his best source material, the Cold War, has ended.

I'll echo the comments about it being slow to start. You know the book is about a Soviet/NATO war, so getting through the reasons and build-up can be a bit tedious. Then the book is so long that I almost wished it would start wrapping up at the 2/3 mark. But the story itself is very compelling. In true Clancy fashion, you follow the paths of several characters which sometimes cross or affect each other in powerful or subtle ways.

Since it was written in 1986, it could have been easy for Clancy to portray all the Russians as evil and/or stupid, but with the exception of the leaders who plunge Europe into war, most of the Russian characters are given sympathetic personalities and are just as intellegent and human as their NATO counterparts. A balanced viewpoint that Clancy has seemingly forgotten how to write lately.

The book does suffer a bit from being written nearly 20 years ago. It depends significantly on describing the "gee wiz" technology being used, much of which is now antique in the high-tech world. So I would occasionally chuckle at some of the descriptions that were meant to be awe-inspiring (like the fact that a sub was transmitting data at half the speed of a 56k modem!!!). I also thought it suffered from the strange problem that, while it has a rather large (and sometimes confusingly so) cast (4 primary Americans, 1 Russian, and probably 2 dozen minor characters), the conflict sometimes seemed more about the equipment rather than the people. Perhaps this was due to the fact that, besides the small party in Iceland, the land war is told from either the perspective of the tanks/APC's or command posts. There's very little written about the tens if not hundreds of thousands of infantry engaged in the war.

Still, this is an exceptional book, and an example of Clancy at his sharpest. If only he could still write about characters who are believable instead of the squeaky clean heros that whine nonstop and pure evil villans that do nothing but plot America's downfall.

Let me begin by saying I am a major fan of "The Hunt for Red October." I saw the movie in theaters and bought the VHS.
Earlier this year I made the mistake of picking-up "SSN" by Clancy as my introduction to his books. "SSN" was a disaster. Slow, boring, uninventive and filled with mistakes I did not expect from someone with Clancy's reputation.
"Red Storm Rising" is everything "SSN" was not and a lot more what I expected from the master of "Red October."
"Red Storm" is long (700+ pages) but a quick read. Clancy really has a knack for making you feel that you are in the meeting, on the phone or in the battle without drowning you with minutia.
This book's biggest asset is its feasibility. Upon reflection, events could have worked exactly as Clancy projects in the late 1980s -- bringing NATO and the Warsaw Pact into full-scale conflict. Where "Red October" is based on the fictional or unreal reality of a super-quiet sub, there is nothing in "Red Storm Rising" that will make the reader stop and wonder if that were possible. This makes the "Storm" better.
Best of all, Clancy's character development is so good in places that you want to cheer for the enemy (the Russians) because you identify with them as people and feel compassion for their personal and political struggles.
Don't get me wrong, "Red Storm" is not perfect. The ending is a tad too contrived for me. I won't ruin it by telling you what my problem with the ending was - but the book as a whole works.
All in all, "Red Storm" is an exciting, great read. If you like the movie "Hunt for Red October," than "Red Storm Rising" is for you. Pick it up. You won't put it down. I promise.

The big question of the 70s and 80s - what would happen if WWIII broke out? Tom Clancy and Larry Bond posed this question with one qualifier - strategic nuclear weapons would not be used.

To best understand and enjoy this book you need to know a couple things, one of which is the aforementioned purpose. You will also need a good map of Iceland and if you don't know your Atlantic Ocean and European geography you probably will want a general map of the area as well.

Clancy (along with Bond) has to solve the following problems to make the agreed-upon scenario work:

1. How do we have a war in the 80s with no nukes?

2. How can a war start without a nuclear retaliation?

3. What new technology would make a difference, and how much?

4. In a more modern war, how much does human judgment, ingenuity, emotion, and error play a part in the outcome?

Sure, the story is dated. Some have complained about that, but isn't any war novel dated after just a few years? Anyway, Clancy answers the questions brilliantly, and relatively quickly. The last part - how does the human factor come into play since there are no nukes - is played out throughout the book.

I reveiewed "Without Remorse" earlier, and I must inject a statement I made then as well. If you haven't experienced some of the things Mike Edwards had in his past (this will become clear upon reading the book) then you might consider some of his internal monologue to be contrived or unrealistic. I personally found the whole "Iceland sequence" to be a terrific internal story.

The character development is for a purpose in this book. Sometimes Clancy will have us know a character well and then he will die suddenly, and never look back - his way of relating one of the great horrors of war, and brilliant writing. I found myself wanting to yell at the book, "That's not fair!" when such an incident occurred, then I looked back in retrospect and realized that having that response was entirely Clancy's doing. He wants the reader to know that some things are beyond your control. He shows that little victories, even those of individuals, can turn the tide of an entire war. He wants you to understand that the bad guys can be tactically brilliant as well as the good guys. And, most of all, he is able to have the reader identify with characters from both sides and see their point of view.

I still can't put this one down. I loaned it to a friend, and he liked it so much that AFTER he read it and returned it, I bought it for him for his birthday, and he appreciated the gift! I have reread it many times and you know, I have a couple hours right now... This is Clancy's best, followed closely by "Without Remorse." Enjoy!

A look into a very possible future is what this is all about. The idea of Muslim terrorists operating in "the former Soviet Union" is a reality - not a possibility. The notion of ethnic problems is also a reality. And the possibility of parts of the former Soviet military rising and acting independently is a nightmare waiting to happen.
As usual, Clancy deals with international capitals, intelligence gathering, detail-packed war plans and battles as well as all the political ramifications. The battlefield shifts across huge areas but throughout, he keeps the story unified without bulging apart at the seams.
The real problem is that Russia extremely weak economically, politically and militarily but still has lots of deadly hardware just waiting for an owner. The Iceland scenario was really daring if not exactly plausible. Oil and resources will continue to cause problems in the future. Great personalities / great battle scenes. Vintage Clancy.

This book does not fit into the usual Tom Clancy Jack Ryan/John Clark series. It is rather a "What If?" story that hypothesizes on how WWIII would have unfolded in Europe between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
Due to an internal terrorist act by Muslim fundamentalists, the Soviet Union needs to find new sources of oil. The Politburo decides to invade the Persian Gulf area and seize the oil fields there. But they are afraid the U.S. would be able to marshal the resources to stop such an assault. So the decision is made to "distract" the U.S. and NATO by launching an invasion of Western Europe.
The action takes place mostly in Washington D.C., Iceland and the North Atlantic, Germany, and Moscow. Clancy brings his usual attention to detail to this work. The strategy and tactics used by each side, if not textbook, are certainly believable.
If you enjoy "What If?" fiction or Clancy's work in general, buy this book.

The book Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy is a phenomanol book. It is a book about the Russian government and how they start a war with Germany. One of the main characters in the book is a man named Alekseyev. After a group of Muslims destroy the Russian's oil supply, the Russian party decides that Alekseyev should lead the war with Germany so they can get more oil.
Then on the other side of the war is Germany and their allies the Americans. As the Americans and Russians send out more submarines to destroy each other, the war became more heated. One thing fueled the fire for the Americans, the Americans had to win or be killed by the Russians, and they didn't like being killed.
The book Red Storm Rising is a very good book with a surprise around every turn. The book kept me reading with the suspense, and the battles of life and death on land, sea, and in the air. The way that Tom Clancy writes this book he makes you feel as if you were right their in the submarine waiting for the enemy to fire their torpedo at you. Although the book is very good there is one challenge, the reading. The book is very hard to read with a lot of Russian names, but if you want a very good, suspenseful book you should read Red Storm Rising.

...then "Red Storm Rising" was the hook that converted interested readers into die-hard Tom Clancy fans back in the mid-1980s.
In this, Clancy's second book, he really hits his stride as the master author of military techno-thrillers. Clancy uses a layered story-telling approach in his version of WWIII; Warsaw Pact and NATO forces face off in western Europe and in the Atlantic while the USSR makes a bold bid to solve an energy crisis precipitated by terrorists.
The story unfolds quickly, and the ride doesn't slow down until the last page of the book. The reader is taken along for action on and under the Atlantic, on the ground in Iceland and the European mainland, and in the air, as Soviet and NATO military machines try to outfox and outfight each other.
This is story-telling on a global scale. If you've never read a Tom Clancy novel this is a great one to try first.
If you're looking for a grand adventure, I highly recommend this book!
5 stars all the way!
If you like this Clancy book, you will probably also enjoy some of his others..."The Hunt for Red October," "Debt of Honor," and "Executive Decision" being the most likely candidates.
If you are more into political intruige I recommend that you try "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger."
Happy reading!
Alan Holyoak

Due to political reasons, the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic decides to initiate a bold offensive against NATO in the intense book titled "Red Storm Rising". A realistic scenario during the Cold War period unfolds with authentic technology and exceptional writing.

Throughout the novel, the reader follows key politicians while the military point of views include all aspects of the armed forces, from naval and air force crew to the foot soldiers. While the air and land combat scenes are powerful, the submarine warfare is the most detailed, reminiscent of Clancy's prior novel, "The Hunt for Red October".

Having a non-military background, it might be difficult to follow some military jargon and acronyms and a glossary for those unfamiliar with the terms would have been excellent. The ending of the book doesn't finish the war well, similar to a movie when the ramifications of crimes against humanity and how characters deal with the success and loss of battles are neglected for the sake of a clean and speedy conclusion.

Overall "Red Storm Rising" is an excellent Tom Clancy novel for any fan of the Cold War genre.

Thank you.

A 10 if you like stories about war. A real page turner. As the story unfolds it stays at a pretty high suspense level, so it might be a little taxing on one's nerves to read it. Some statements about Germany are false for the 1980-s, they are more from the 70-s or even earlier, but that argument is more for nitpickers than anyone else.
What struck me odd was the complete absence of any references towards insubordination and desertion of forces on both sides. OK, you can't desert on a ship, but on the ground it's another matter.
The 'White Knight' part was a little out of place, though it counterweighted the hardware stuff nicely.
Just replace any references to the F-19 with the F-117. I remember the plastic models of the F-19 sold at hobby stores 'till the early 90-s, and the F-117 to appear only shortly after Desert Shield.
All in all it's a pretty good book, though by far not high literature. It's pretty long, too.

When this thriller was first published it described an all-too-plausible event. I was a navy officer assigned to NATO headquarters in Brussels and upon first reading thought, "Wow--that's the way it would be if it happened!" And I remember also thinking, "This guy somehow got access to our planning files." It was that realistic. As a writer of thrillers myself these days, I admire his craftsmanship in this novel greatly. Clancy keeps many sub-plots galloping along, cutting between them without a hint of a stumble. And he manages the jargon of warfare so skillfully that the military reader feels at home and the non-military reader is immersed in it but not drowned. In my opinion this novel vies with The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan) as Clancy's best.

Although the book is a bit dated, it is still a fun book to read. I thought he presented a somewhat plausible initial scenario to explain the reason for the war. Too often in wartime books the "why" aspect is completely ignored in favor of excessive heroics and impossible scenarios. What was nice about this book is that the initial "why" played a pivotal role throughout the story. It wasn't a war just for the sake of war.

It was also good for bringing back the old cold-war jingoistic feelings. During some of the more intense parts of the book I couldn't help but think "U-S-A, U-S-A!"

Additionally, the "bad guys" aren't simply bad guys. There is a sense of humanity on both sides of this conflict that made it more interesting than just a plain war book. I've read it more than once and one day when I'm bored I will probably pick it up again.

It's a great airplane/vacation book. It's broken up enough that you can pick it up and put it down often, without losing what is going on in the story. And it's long enough that you won't finish it on one plane flight.

The book Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy is a phenomanol book. It is a book about the Russian government and how they start a war with Germany. One of the main characters in the book is a man named Alekseyev. After a group of Muslims destroy the Russian's oil supply, the Russian party decides that Alekseyev should lead the war with Germany so they can get more oil.
Then on the other side of the war is Germany and their allies the Americans. As the Americans and Russians send out more submarines to destroy each other, the war became more heated. One thing fueled the fire for the Americans, the Americans had to win or be killed by the Russians, and they didn't like being killed.
The book Red Storm Rising is a very good book with a surprise around every turn. The book kept me reading with the suspense, and the battles of life and death on land, sea, and in the air. The way that Tom Clancy writes this book he makes you feel as if you were right their in the submarine waiting for the enemy to fire their torpedo at you. Although the book is very good there is one challenge, the reading. The book is very hard to read with a lot of Russian names, but if you want a very good, suspenseful book you should read Red Storm Rising.

Red Story Rising is one of the BEST Clancy books. This book was when Clancy was in his prime, and this is truly Clancy at his best.
The book starts out with a terrorist attack on the Soviet Union in their oil fields, then the top men in the Kremlin in the now gone U.S.S.R., they now decide in order to save their country, they decide to take out the West in order to get the oil fields in Saudi Arabia.
Then the novel goes through much detail about what would happen if the U.S.S.R. did go to war with the West, and if this really happen, then it would turn out just like Red Storm Rising without a shadow of a doubt.
This is more a action novel by Mr. Clancy, if you like Red Stom Rising, then you would like Rainbox Six, Executive Orders, and Debt of Honor.
But if you like the political type of novels, then Patriot Games and Clear And Presend Danger is the novels you want to read by him.

Readers of Tom Clancy know his skill at detailing the technological implements in his novels and finely weaving the plots into actual (or not yet realized) world events--fiction in a non-fiction setting.
"Red Storm Rising" is a bit of a departure as it takes place in a more fictionalized setting as the United States and the Soviet Union battle in a third World War. The departure is successful as Clancy creates an incredibly-well-strategized war and mixes it with enough human interest to keep the novel from becoming a West Point textbook.
Clancy's research and knowledge about weaponry and military strategy shine in "Rising" which shows, in a perfectly believable fashion, how a war could have gone between the two superpowers of the 1980's. Economics, the nuclear question, and logistics all figure into one hell of a great read...the best WWIII novel I have come across. Highly recommended.

When Islamic terrorists cripple the Soviet Union with a terrorist attack on an oil-production facility in Nizhnevartovsk, USSR, the Politburo is faced with a difficult choice: Lessen their global influence by conceding weakness and asking for Western assistance, or try something a bit more daring. Naturally, the Soviets choose the latter option in this Tom Clancy novel that could easily have been a forecast for WWIII.

The decision made by the Politburo is twofold. First, an attack on Persian Gulf oil fields will provide sufficient power and reserve for their recent losses. Second, a manufactured attack by West Germany provides a smoke-screen large enough to distract NATO and cover the military footprint being inserted in their quest for replacement oil.

As with any Clancy novel, the details are do the heavy lifting. The scenario proposed by Clancy provides the former Cold War foe ample opportunities to enact evil, insidious plans that leave no person safe, no topic reserved. When global stakes are at play, he realizes that pawns will ultimately be sacrificed. Thoroughly researched, Red Storm Rising is a master-stroke of realistic strategy that provides a believable amount of depth. The kind of depth that is developed behind closed door war-rooms.

AUDIO BOOK SPECIFICS:

Too many highs and lows, the quality is not as good as I would have liked. Additionally, the accents used may be genuine and accurate, but they do nothing to aid a listener. The rewind button should be used to hear a favorite portion, not missed dialogue. I recommend reading the book.

Jason Elin

This was the first Clancy book I read (despite it having been published after "The Hunt For Red October".
It's excellent.
It tells the story of World War Three in a way which makes sense of the Cold War. It tells the story of a truly global struggle (some of the action actually takes place in an tiny, insignificant part of the world little-known to U.S.A. and English writers: the Southern Hemisphere)from the perspectives of a few well-written and created characters.
Any war is difficult to dramatise, which is why many current writers tend to write more about the machines than the men who operate them - a trap Clancy himself has occasionally fallen into. But in this yarn, he blends the need for technical detail well with the desirability of telling the human story.
Of all Clancy's books, "Red Storm Rising", "Debt of Honour", and "Rainbow Six" are the best: and they're all, principally, people stories.
Mind you - whenever there's a new Clancy on the shelves, I buy it. Despite all the knockers, he is still the Champ. Don't we all just love to chop down the tall poppies?

''Red Storm Rising,'' Tom Clancy's second novel after his phenomenally successful ''The Hunt for Red October,'' continues to demonstrate this writer's amazing ability to assimilate modern weaponry and warfare into a thrilling and frightening realistic tale. The Soviet Union, having suffered an attack that creates a critical energy shortage, decides they must seize the Persian Gulf. But to do this, of course, they must first neutralize NATO's considerable forces. Clancy once again is off to the races in this fast-paced super-power thriller. The visual images Clancy conjures up for the reader are engaging - and enthralling. It has the feeling of a high-tech video game (and, indeed, was later made into one). A great read.

Red Storm Rising is one of the best Clancy books that I've read. He does a magnificent job of showcasing a show down between the old Soviet Union and NATO. I thought that the reason to go to war (oil) was quite plausible, especially in retrospect from current events. I especially liked that he took the time to explain why the war was happening, not just because they needed more oil, but because the Soviets needed supplies from the West that they couldn't get for several years. I thought that it highlighted the distrust between the Soviets and NATO very well. It isn't just a great overall how WWIII would be fought, it also has a human side to it, switching between the war in Europe and a group of people stranded on Iceland. I loved the tactical detail of taking Iceland and using it to close shipping in the Atlantic, just shear brilliance! The attention to detail on the battlefield and the intricate plot make this book a must read. It is a bit long, but not as long as some of his other novels. I find that the length allows the plot to be fully developed and details to be used. A must buy!

This book shows in a very good fashion how easy a World War III could start. Some terrorists blow up oil wells in Russia, what does Russia do? They decide to steal oil from other countries. Thats a good way to start a war, considering our society is totally based upon oil these days.
This has a great plot, but is very drawn out and technical (like most of Clancy's novels...) but is still very good. The book constantly switches between the war and a group of people lost in Iceland. This really makes the suspense nerve racking.
This book is very long, and I am not to compelled to re-read it. It is also very technical, and it bothers me at times. Still, it is worthy of 4 stars. I am sure Clancy has better books out, I am reading Patriot Games and it is better already. I do recommend this book to Clancy fans or people who would like a good thriller but don't mind all this techno-blabber.

If you like adventure, you have to read this! The different plot lines are exquisitely wound together to create a fantastic adventure. It has a politics, submarine battles, tank battles, air force battles, it is awesome! And the ending is phenominal!

This book is so good that even if you have read it, it is a great book to read again on a long trip. (If you have room in your luggage for only one book, bring this one!)

This is the best Tom Clancy novel ever. And Larry Bond should have a credit for this! (The Author's note says "Although Larry's name does not appear on the title page, this book is his as much as mine. We never did figure out a division of labor, but what Larry and I accomplished was to complete a book as co-authors when our only contract as a handshake")

This was my second Tom Clancy novel. Overall, it was a great read.
The book naturally started off slow, but quickly picked up once the backdrop was established. I really enjoyed how the reader was exposed to all elements of the battlefield. There were a number of characters and without the kindle highlight feature it would have been difficult to keep track of who everyone was. But with them you were exposed to multiple air, land, and sea engagements. As always Clancy was able to break down sophisticated technical information and turn it into a riveting story.
My only complaint would be with the ending. Like 'The Cardinal in the Kremlin' the ending seemed rushed. Clancy spends 600 pages developing and immersing you into the war and in just one chapter it's over. He tries to tie things up but it was a big disappointment for me. Perhaps I just didn't want the book to end. Either way it's a great book and deserves consideration by even the casual reader.

I've read the majority of Clancy's books in the past year and i find him great one of the best authors. Up there with Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Robert Magammon and Micheal Chricton. Now the best book madeby Tom was Rainbow Six and this came in a close second place. I had buht the book and then idn't expect that it would be that great because it's basd on WW3 and its 725 pg's long so i didn't ed it for the longest time. That was my mistake i should have read it right away. It took me under a week to read it was so good. He describes the war so well and the battle seens he wrote it was like i was there. He made the war even and not lop-sided (like he did in SSN) he made both sides win the battles. For some reason though i wanted the Russians to in this book i guess i'm just sick of always seeing the Yankee's win (there so full of themselves when it comes to war movies or books. They think there the best). Any way this is a must read for everyone unless you hate war.

Three Muslim terrorists striking a blow for freedom, destroy the Soviet Union's largest petrochemical plant. What they have done, unknowingly, is fire the first shots in World War III. NATO's forces develop Red Storm - a dazzling master plan of diplomatic subterfuge and intense rearmament. If Red Storm Rising has a problem it's that it starts so quickly that, when the inevitable pause for breath comes, it feels like an anticlimax. However, Clancy picks up the pace again from about page 150 on, and we're back on the roller-coaster ride of suspense and climax. Loads of battle situations, and the last 100 or so pages are amongst the most riveting and exhilarating I have ever read. So many similar but lesser works of fiction are based on taking you to the brink of WWIII, then drawing back... Clancy takes you to the edge, then roaring past it, leaving you in shocked disbelief that it's really happening. But the real genius behind this novel is the way that several different storylines are developed from the start, remining seperate until key points in the novel where they begin to interlock and the book becomes increasingly more difficult to put down! A refreshing departure from the Jack Ryan books.

Look, if a guy who reads mostly sci-fi and fantasy can understand this book, just about anybody should be able to--technical jibberish and all. Unless you've been living in a cave for the past 10 years. Yes, I did find the book's size intimidating, but once you start reading about the oil rig, things really start to heat up. After that, the book is a series of ups and downs. It starts to get boring, and just before you want to toss it aside, it starts to get interesting. You feel like you're riding a sine wave on an oscilloscope. This book could have used a condensing job. But considering it was Clancy's second book, it wasn't that bad. I prefered Hunt for Red October and Cardinal of the Kremlin. If you are a hard-core Clancy fan, then you must read this, if not, you might want to give it a try anyway.

I have just finished reading all of the Tom Clancy books, and I have to say this is my favorite. During the course of this mainly Jack Ryian odessy, I cam back and read this book 3 times. The first time I found it exciting, but I was rather confused by some of the technical details. The second time through I concentrated on figuring out what was going on in the parts that I didn't understand, and once I did, I reread the book. This time through I found myself identifying with many of the characters. Morris seemed to remind me of my uncles, and I thought that these people seemed totally realistic. I would recommend that anyone who has the time (it took me 2 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days to read it twice) to read such a book.

No kidding, whenever I thumb past this book in my bookcase, I mentally hear John Fogerty's voice. But seriously, my most recent reading of this book has me wondering why he never did a non-series book after this one. There's the Jack Ryan series. There's the developing Mr. Clark series (which is a spinoff from the Ryan books). There's the Op Center series. And there's the new Net Force series (yep, I guess there's a second one of those--haven't found it yet). Maybe the World War III scenario with the Russians is a dated concept, but there are lots of subjects that Mr. Clancy's fertile mind could base another one-shot book on. I love series reading, don't get me wrong, but there's something to be said about a one-book story.

Great work even if it isn't in the Jack Ryan/John Clark series. Worth a read or listen. If you are going to get an audio version (CD or Audible.com) then I highly recommend this google map as a guide; https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=205581761294091458713.000443778955edbe7e527&dg=feature&mid=1410358924

It is a map of nearly every location mentioned in the book of importance. Can't say enough good things about the map, the guy who created it did it as a labor of love.... enjoy.

This book fails as a novel because it can't make up its mind. It tries to be both a "techno-thriller" (a phrase invented for Clancy) and a traditional novel. Clancy is trying to portray a major European war in 1986, yet half the book is spent describing the budding romance of an Air Force lieutenant and an Icelandic maiden on the run. When a hackneyed and contrived romance gets far more scope than combat between NATO and the Soviets, you know the author has lost his sense of his strengths. This is a disjointed book. I would have much preferred that Clancy had the guts to write an 800 page novel that explored in depth what a NATO=Warsaw Pact war would have been like. Instead, we get a preposterous plot about the Russians invading Germany to create a diversion to later invade the Middle East to mitigate the destruction of a single oil refinery. Not only that, we get about 400 pages of the soap opera on Iceland. Before the howls of protest begin, let me say I am a closet Clancy fan. I also am a military historian and Navy buff. This is a topic that, I suspect, Clancy could have handled much better had he stuck to the war and left the dime store romances to others.

I've long been a fan of Tom Clancy although I prefer his earlier works (while he was an author and before he became a brand).

Most of his books fit the pattern where 75% of the action centers around the protagonist. This differs in that it's a true ensemble cast with several main characters in each of several major plot lines. The plot lines are woven together into a tapestry that plays out linearly in real time.

I suspect, but cannot prove, that Larry Bond and Tom Clancy wrote this one first but it was only after "The Hunt for Red October" (which does fit the pattern) became a hit that this book became publishable. A good thing too, because this was one of the best selling books in the 1980s.

The level of detail is immense. It's brilliant.

I also recommend "Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears", and "Without Remorse" as my personal favorites.

This book is , I believe, destined to become an American classic. It is certainly Clancy's best, even topping "Debt of Honor" and "Executive Orders". From beginning to end, this book is unbelievably thrilling. The story is excellent, and doesn't focus on one particular character, but instead devotes an even amount of time to several. Because of this, this may be the one book Clancy wrote where his notorious excessive detailing actually paid off, and made the story even more interesting and thrilling. Clancy also proves he knows what he's talking about when it comes to military tactics and strategy. The buildup prior to the conflict is also intensly thrilling and very realistic, as is the whole story. It has long been difficult for people to imagine what a conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact would have truly looked like. This book is probably the closest glimpse we'll ever have of the war that never was. Highly recomended.

As a special operations officer, I read this book years ago when it was first released-- before the Berlin Wall came down and we were worried about the Russians rolling through the Fulda Gap. Clancy takes a very difficult subject-- World War III-- and gives overly detailed snapshots of certain parts. Because he has no military background, while his technical details may be accurate, his potrayal of the men and women who actually would fight is weak and unrealistic. You want realism, try Bob Mayer's special forces series. DRAGON SIM-13 is a chilling look at a fail-safe scenario that could happen. EYES OF THE HAMMER makes Clear and Present Danger read like a comic book. Check them out-- Mayer is former special operations and knows what he's writing about.

This is my favorite Tom Clancy novel ! I truely enjoy each of his works but this one's just the best. While it doesn't have the character Jack Ryan (Clancy's alias-ego), it DOES have Bob Toland, Dan McCafferty and others, who I really enjoyed and felt connected to. The characters come alive in this sweeping drama about WW3 taking place in the European theater. I've read this book perhaps 25 times, which I'll admit sounds absurd, but it's just GREAT ! There is the requisite Clancy technical detail, AND there is excellent character development along with a very interesting plot and great descriptive scenes...I think this is a real masterpiece. Buy this book, take you time when reading it to visualize eath scene, and ENJOY !!

This novel is really a war game that focuses only on the military side of a possible WWIII scenario. What's missing are the facts of a third world war: the collapsing world economies, the broken alliances, the failed currencies, the disrupted food delivery systems, the millions of refugees in Europe, the panic in the streets, the police crackdowns, the political chaos at home and abroad. Presidents aren't mentioned; diplomatic efforts aren't mentioned. It's all rather clinical. Ships are blown up, planes are hidden behind interesting displays of chaff, subs sneak around each other, and all the characters speak the same, act the same and are one-hundred percent military (except for the occasional Soviet rapist). In this novel, China doesn't take advantage of the situation to invade Taiwan or Japan and absolutely no one thinks of the nuclear option. The Azerbijani terrorists who started the war (out of a private spat with the Soviets in their region) are never mentioned, nor are any of the other Soviet satellite countries, most of which are Islamic republics and, as it turned out, absolutely hated the Soviets. They aren't given any further role in this novel. Clancy gets all the gizmos and hardware right, with some nice surprises. But I felt Clancy wasted a good opportunity to examine the horrors of war, REAL war, and instead focused on the sexy hardware and what it might do if turned loose on the Soviets. This novel read like a giant game of RISK and seemed oddly bloodless by the end.

This book was fast paced and techno, but most of the action lay in dialogue between commanders so that the book could fit twenty battles where most would fit one, and despite the amount of dialogue between commanders I could never get to love the people enough to get emotional over the events. It was rather more like history to me. So and so won a battle, and so and so then got shot in the head because of another so and so's conspiracy, and then the other so and so lost a battle. But if you like books that are techno military without much emotion and with a bird's eye view of a hundred battle scenes buy this book; it's probably Tom Clancy's best. Else wise I would really recommend a book named: Cain by James Byron Huggins.

I began reading Clancy novels at age 14 while stuck at home over the summer. In recent years I've grown tired of Clancy's habit of gratuitously injecting his right-wing opinions (which really slow his books down), his clunkey, tech-laden prose, and his one-dimensional characters. But I still, at age 22, have a fondness for Red Storm Rising.
The plot is perfect for Clancy's story-telling skills: WWIII breaks out between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The emphasis is on story and action rather than on character and the story and action are terrific. One gets the sense that this is really how a Cold War WWIII could have been like. Even the ending is somewhat plausible. Excellant work.

I first want to say that I enjoyed Joshua's comments.The analysis by weapon systems was truly enlightening.I finally got my sons to read this book after many years of trying.They are both in Iraq playing with real guns at present.They look on the book now as a pc of nostalgic fiction,as opposed to the nightmare scenario,it was at the time.Only a few Americans know how close we came to the coming to pass of something like this.Former Soviet generals have also been quoted to the effect that they missed their chance to take us out,even w/o nukes.There is a lot of truth to this book-not as much as Red October-only a few know how much truth is in that "novel". Red Storm is a fun read for most guys and a few gals.The book points out the truth of the real strength of the American war machine-the character and courage of the individual American warrior.No country has produced men of the caliber we have seen since the Revolutionary war.If you read or hear the stories coming out of Iraq from the invasion to today-you know what I mean.The courage and sacrifice they show today would make Sgt York and Murphy proud.Clancy knows these men.He honors these men by his writing.One of many things we owe Pres.Reagan is the "discovery"of Tom.That's a good story on its own.

This book is a highly gripping account of what a war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. might have looked like. Tom Clancy keeps the story fresh by alternating between several sub-plots, which ultimately all converge. Clancy is a master storyteller who puts the reader right in the middle of the action. He provides just the right amount of technical detail when it comes to military equipment and operations. As a former Army officer, I learned quite a bit about the Naval tactics from this book. Clancy is also very good at choosing and developing his characters. The story could probably have been a little shorter without losing any of its punch, but overall a great work and a pleasure to read.

This is classic Clancy at his best. Along with The Hunt for Red October, it stands as one of the best two novels he ever wrote in my opinion.

The details of the technology and the tactics associated with 1980's warfare, NATO angainst the WarSaw Pact are astounding. The action is almost non-stop, and the battle scenes riveting and captivating.

For anyone wanting to read a great war story that you can't put down, and who wants to see a foretaste of the "shock and awe" warfare practised by the Unites States today...but practised on both sides when the cold war was at its height...you simply have to read this book.

Dear the store Shopper: There are two reasons you should buy this book. If you enjoy reading about believable American Heros of fictional fame, you have come to the right book. Dr. Jack Ryan is the man we have come to love, admire and respect. A man of character, a man of conviction, a vulnerable man, a man I would not mind my son growing up to be like. The second is this: Reading RSR is like taking a college course in combined arms from General Franks, personally. For those of you who know what it's like to be on the cutting edge: It's like kissing the purple tip of the silver bird before she glides to make all man sleep.

Some thirty years later, this is still one of the best, if not the best, "USA vs USSR what-if" book and one of the masterpieces of the techno-thriller genre. The story is viewed through the eyes of many characters, low and high ranked, but somehow this doesn't get confusing but rather makes you want to keep riding to see what happens in that substory. I remember I devoured this in two days back in 1992 and I still re-read parts every now and then. Highly recommended.

Every time I read this book, I wonder why they couldn't make it into a multi-week series, like "Lonesome Dove" or "Gettysburg." I think the Hollywood movies on Tom Clancy's books (not including Hunt for Red October) have gotten ridiculously far from the plotlines, and I don't even bother with them. But something made as a series would work. "Without Remorse" would beanother great one for that format.

This is an excellent book, it's a non-Jack Ryan book, and it moves right along. I wish it were another 200 pages longer. It's that good.

An excellent book, worthy of several readings. With the fall of the USSR, the story is dated, but no less exciting. It's entirely focused on a land war between NATO and the Soviets, set primarily in Germany, Iceland, and beneath the North Atlantic ocean. It is truly a benchmark for war-story development, technical details and action. Like most Clancy books, the characters are fairly one-dimensional.
It should be noticed that despite the large "TOM CLANCY" imprinted on the cover, this book is actually co-written by Larry Bond, an excellent military-writer in his own right.

Lets be honest here - this book is the benchmark which all World War 3/Future war novels are rated against. The action is non-stop, the plot is complex yet enthralling, and the scenario all too real and possible. While many authors make the mistake of either concentrating too much on the battles and not enough on the plot, or vice versa, Tom Clancy has produced a masterpiece that combines all the elements perfectly. I'm not going to run out the same old cliche "you can almost smell the smoke..." etc etc - it would be more precise to say that "you could be reading about this tomorrow in the papers, and then drafted to fight in it a week later". Superb.

I read this book years ago, and it gripped me all the way through. I read it again recently, and it doesn't really seem anywhere near as good as when I read it the first time. It is still worth a read, though, but I am comparing it to two other similar books, WWIII by Ian Slater, and WWIII by Sir John Hackett.

Firstly, the trigger for the war is pretty unconvincing. WWIII by Sir John Hackkett and it was far more convincing. In Sir John's book, it is a large number of seperate incidents that create a momentum of events which bring the two sides to war, much like the start of WWI.

Second, there is a bit of military hardware overload. It is very interesting to learn about various systems and equipment, but you just get flooded with it. You need a Jane's manual next to you to imagine whole sections of the book. The absolute worst part is the anti-sub warfare element, which was so boring that I ended up skipping whole paragraphs just to get through it.

Third - and I don't think Tom Clancy is the only author guilty of this assumption - Nato wins easily against the Warsaw Pact. I'm sorry, but though the West has an edge in technology, it isn't that great, and even less when you consider how outnumbered NATO forces are in Europe. Clancy is aware of this, and creates a number of handy 'coincidences' which allow NATO forces to prevent potentially devastating attacks. The Warsaw Pact does not get similar 'coincidences' in the book. With only one or two, they would roll right over the thinly stretched NATO forces. There is a book by Ian Slater about WWIII, which feels far more realistic about NATO's chances. In his book, the Warsaw Pact gets lucky on occasion, as much as NATO does.

Fourth, the ending is a bit sudden, and unlikely. In the two books I mentioned above, Sir John Hackett's makes the same mistake. Ian Slater's finishes with the war still raging, which is better than trying to fudge an ending to the book.

But there is a lot to enjoy. I was glad of the inclusion of the action in Iceland, which was a welcome distraction from the anti-sub related boredom. And you can see why the Warsaw Pact would invade Iceland, so they could ravage the Atlantic convoys. It's a smart bit of stragic thinking out of the box, and far more interesting than the slog in Europe. The love-story is a bit contrived, but forgiveably. And British soldiers do not speak with plummy, 1930's Noel Coward-esque accents. Other than that, well worth a read. With a copy of Jane's next to you.

Overall this is the first tour de force for Clancy. He really stated he could map out a large, detailed story and bring it down to the characters in the book. He always does a great job of running a number of sub plots through out the whole book and meeting them up at the end. That is always one of the fun things with one of his books, trying to determine ahead of time how the richly described characters are going to play off of one another for a great climax. The only reason I am not going to give this 5 is that I thought the end of the conflict was rushed.

The first time I read Red storm rising, I didn't want to stop reading it. It really grabbed me. I hated to have to put it down. But, by the same token I was aware that I was enjoying it so much that I didn't want it to end either. So, I found myself going back over details just to savor the way this story is told. I've read it four times now, and I'll read it again, and again. I think this was one of Mr Clancy's best books. Anyone who likes action with a lot of detail; detail so your sure you can see exactly whats going on----- READ Red Storm Rising.

First, I would like to point out one thing for those who have not yet read this book. This book is not a Jack Ryan novel. It was written just after "The Hunt for Red October" and just before "The Cardinal of the Kremlin (both of which are Jack Ryan books) but this one has nothing about Jack Ryan in it. I started reading it expecting a Jack Ryan book, and while I wasn't actually disappointed, it was surprising.

This book is a pretty good book, but it has a few problems. It is only Clancy's second military fiction book, and his inexpierience in writing seems to show up in some places. In quite a few passages, I found some seemingly unneeded information, and at times he started rambling on about a person's thoughts, even going for a few pages on information that for the most part seemed unneeded. Other times, the content just seemed to be a bit amateurish or unrealistic. There was also some American invincibility/superiority implied in some parts.

All in all, the plot was good, and the development constantly surprises you. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody wanting a good military fiction read, especially Clancy fans.

...but, regretably, a disappointment. The real stars in this book, indeed this genre, are the hard, cold mechanisms and bloody, detailed carnage while the characters meander throughout stereotypically automated, from time to time illustrating, almost emphatically, some emotion to convince the reader they are human afterall, androgynous background to explosions and esoteric borax. This is as much an escapist, guilty pleasure for the armchair soldier as Harlequin books are for SOME housewives. What this book does it does well-give a cheap thrill.

Red Storm Rising is an action packed book with a knack for small detail. Tom Clancy clearly shows that he has done an enormous amount of research in the writing of this book. In Red Storm Rising, Clancy gives us an insight as to what might take place if terrorists were to strategically bomb major oil rigs in Russia.
I was very entertained by Red Storm Rising and Clancy's writing keeps my attention very well. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in action books involving events that are not largely farfetched. When Clancy writes, he uses a style that makes you feel like you are watching a movie. There is a lot of dialogue and he reveals most of the plot through character communication. To make his story even better, he employs the use of metaphors in an attempt to bring to scale the situation at hand in the book. For example, in Red Storm Rising, when he refers to the terrorist attack on the oil rig he brings it into a better view by using metaphors so an uninformed reader can get an idea of the seriousness of the situation. He also uses allusions when he writes which shows off his broad knowledge of different countries' militaries and governments. Clancy also utilizes extremely precise details when he writes to paint a picture in your mind of exactly what is going on, otherwise known as imagery. If an explosion has occurred, he will tell you exactly what the scene is like, right down to the last victim. All these elements joined together make you feel like you are an expert on terrorism and weapons just by reading it. He mixes them together powerfully to make his book very poignant. The book overall is about the astronomical domino effect that one act of terrorism has on the world. Three terrorists sabotage a key oil rig in Russia to disrupt the countries economy. The terrorists are successful in their attack and they limit Russia's oil production and supply to 50% of its normal rate. They no longer have enough oil, diesel, or gas to run their country for the next couple of years. After delegations and government meetings, Russia decides that their only way out of the situation is to take control of major oil producing Middle Eastern countries. To do this though, Russia must go through NATO, which includes America and all of her allies. It is a view as to what World War III might be like in the future.

Tom Clancy's reputation had me expecting a little more from his first project. He did demonstrate a mastery of military technology, procedures and jargon. Thank God WWIII never happened in this way, this book will make you count your blessings. One of the things this book seemed to be missing was the human side of war, the only exception was the activity in Iceland which was excellent in that regard. The book was very entertaining and there was a lot of heart-pumping ACTION. For my next Clancy I'm going to try Without Remorse which is supposed to be a little more character-driven. Many writers strike it big on their first try and subsequent efforts seem to miss the mark, my gut feeling tells me that Clancy's work only got better with time and practice.

I was disappointed by this book, my first Clancy. I have read many excellent war novels, including several classic civil war books, other books from WW1 and WW2, and even dating back to ancient Rome and Hannibal. I found this book to be rather banal. A lot of techno-speak, and very little character development. The "high" points are one-night psychotherapy as a drunken bender, and a lackluster love story that feels like an add-on. Most of the characters do not even have names, but are referred to their acronymed title, viz., "CINCLANT" and "SACEUR." I am sure other Clancy readers don;t mind this, but the excellent Sean Connery movie of the "Hunt for ..." certainly emphasized the human side over the weapon-and-rank side. Even Allistair McLean's later books are better in this regard (the 'formulaic' ones).

Worst of all, is the original build-up of a Soviet plan to invade the Middle East which (SPOILER ALERT) never happens, instead it devolves into a bogged-down tank-vs-aircraft battle in Germany and a series of US-always-wins (after the first few pages) submarine battles.

The language in the book lacks any elegance.

I'm generous with 2 stars, and almost gave the book up several times as a lost cause. That I made it to the end is why it's not one star.

Written long before 9/11/01, the opening scenes describes how Muslim extremists infiltrate and destroy a major Soviet oil refinery... the rest is history... World War III history, that is. Of course it never happend, but it was eerie to read that opening scene again. I am writing this review (more comment) after my second reading of the book (the first was years ago). The scene makes me wonder what would have happended if the events of 9/11 occurred at the height of the Cuban missle crisis, or other tense moments of the cold war.
As other reviews state, this is a fast pace action book that is not big on character development, but I think that is actually a plus... in real war, how many combatants really get to know each other? I am not big on action war stories that spend half the book developing characters that die as soon as the war breaks out. When I want character development, I'll read Tolkien and Jordan... different genre, but NOBODY does character development better, and if/when their character die, it is at the end of the book, leaving you teary eyed and wanting more. Red Storm Rising leaves you exhausted (as if participating in the War Room w/o sleep) and pondering "What if?"

My 3rd read of this book in 15 years....for 2 reasons.
First off.....you won't find a more complete & realistic example of how modern warfare on a regional scale would play out. Clancy integrates air, land, sea & space assets in a tightly knit plot made all the more believable by his technical knowledge of weapons, tactics & military structure.
The other reason that I revisit this book is the reality of how plausible a scenario such as this could occur....for the same reason. I'm not speaking about the the story in this book......but the reason the story takes place. We all place the fate of our country in the hands of a few powerful men(and women). Other Nations do the same. We hope that those in charge make the right decisions & that their thought process is based on the here & now. The world has changed & so must the thinking of those we entrust with our future........for we are ever on "The Brink".

Never before has a book with the subject of something as terrible as war been so fun to read about. I got the chills when I read this book. It was so real and near and yet it seemd so far away. Tom Clancy is a excellent writter and this was the first book I have read by him. It was amazing, I must have gotten through it in a week. You have to be fairly in to the military part before you read it though. The Russian are short on oil and plan to attack NATO and the Middle East to get some back. A dramatic and sometimes funny book. Two thumbs up.

I can't imagine being Tom Clancy when the Cold War ended
"Damn, what am I going to write about now?"
Seriously though. His best work ("Hunt for Red October", "Cardinal of the Kremlin") was written during the Cold War when the Soviet Union was still our #1 existiential threat.
But the first chapter of "Red Storm Rising" is eerily topical. Hint: It involves Islamic fundamentalists blowing something up and triggering a crisis.
Highly recommend this book and anything written by Clancy except those horrible Op-Center books.

I had trouble latching onto the characters except for the military on Iceland. There were too many things happening. I do understand that is the way in war, but harder to make interesting in a book. I like his Jack Ryan book much better.

RSR (Red Storm Rising) is the story of an war launched by the Soviet Union against the West after a Muslim terrorist attack on a Soviet oil depot. 700 pages later the Ruskies loose (of course)
The picture painted of the Kremlin and the Russian military seems plausible enough to a western reader, as does the buildup to the war and the deceptions used by the Russians to keep the West off its guard. In classical action fiction style, it has several strands that intertwine and we have three heroes to guide us along - a Naval Intelligence guy, a US submarine commander and an U.S.Air Force weather forecaster in Iceland. The aircraft carrier Nimitz is bombed, Iceland is invaded and a fierce land war wages in Germany. We jump from front to front witnessing the action including rather too much time spent (for my taste) at sea and underwater. The pace is good but the book is too long. There's only a taste of romance, and that's in Iceland. Enjoy.

After a setting up the situation and main characters this book roars into a gripping depiction of what modern war with equally matched opponents might look like. Once the war starts it is hard to put down, despite the, for the most part, two-dimensional characters and a few of the less plausible plot threads. It is best when describing battle and high tech fighting equipment and barely passable when trying to work in a love-interest or dabbling in politics. It holds up even 25 years later as a good read.

Well, first of all, I have no respect for anyone who attends fundraising dinners for Oliver North, but I gave this book a try since "The Hunt For Red October" was pretty entertaining. I've tried three times get through this book, but to no avail. The plot is quite interesting, and there are some good moments, but the whole thing is bogged down by endless, redundant battle scenes that do absolutely nothing to move the story along. This book would have been great if a couple hundred pages (no exaggeration) were edited out. Tom Clancy could use some pointers from Frederick Forsyth, Jeffrey Archer and Joseph Finder. They do this stuff much better.

This book is amazing in scope, depth, and detail. Just the logistics alone of writing a war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. seemed like an impossible task, but Clancy managed to pull it off brilliantly. This book is a page turner. Military buffs will love the detail and dissection of the military strategies and tech info on all sorts of equipment.
Even though 'Hunt For Red October' was made into a hit movie, I've always felt that THIS is the book that should have been made into an epic film.
Highly recommended.

Absolutely one of the best books I have ever read. Non stop action and never wanted the book to end. I have read a few of the reviews and one in particular, Chris Mumby's, struck me as someone who needs to learn how to write intelligently before he reviews a book. Maybe wait ten years and then read the book again besides. This was the book that launched me into reading Clancy's other novels. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend "Red Storm Rising" to anyone interested in genre of WWW3 books.

One of the few books that I was not able to put down. It takes you from the drab into the extraordinary. Like a hurricane, you never know what to expect next, except that you had better hold onto your chair. Mr. Clancy is one of, if not the greatest suspense authors of our time! His vivid description of the modern era of warfare is nothing short of visionary. If there is one word that would describe how I felt after finishing his novel, (and there is a lack of proper words), the word would be WOW!!!

I have many, many, many different war books, fiction and non-fiction, but this is the best that has ever been written. I will read 2-3 of my other books and then pick this one back up to re-read it. I love this book and wish he would come out with a newer version with today's military hardware, global politics, and the world economic situation. It would be very interesting to see just how well Clancy could put a 2009 storyline together in the same magnitude of Red Storm Rising!!

"Red Storm Rising" is the type of book when after you have read it you know the only person who could of wrote it is Tom Clancy. It is the story of what the United States has spent billions of dollars to avoid: World War III.
The story takes place when Russia was known as the U.S.S.R (United Socialist Soviet Republic). The Russian economy is in dire straits and to make matters worst, an Islamic terrorist group destroys one of the U.S.S.R.'s largest oil field and refinery compounds, In which stores almost half the nations oil. Eventually Russia's Party leaders "agree" that they must seize oil from the Persian Gulf to keep their economy from falling. As a ploy the russians unleash a huge offensive campaign to distract NATO from what its real intentions are. Russia declares war and fights on all fronts. As the Russian offensive presses forward NATO forces find themselves fighting for Germany and most of Europe. Iceland is lost from the allies as a huge soviet invasion takes the island in a decisive attack and the few marines that escape find themselves playing hide and seek with soviet forces. As the NATO front lines in europe drop further and further back a trade off of victories in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans happens as the United States find themselves winning territory from the overwhelming Soviet fleets. Now the Americans must worry about what forces the russians have on Iceland which is in striking distance of America. Slowly NATO lines are brought back to past positions right before a huge Russian Offensive takes them back again. With Casualties raising on both sides each country must take drastic measures.
Rather than focusing on one specific character, Tom Clancy tells the story through many characters eyes. giving it a unique touch and enabling the reader to see things from all points of views. Tom Clancy makes the reader feel if you were actually on the front lines, fighting on the battleships or in the cockpit of each fighter. Each word adds up to the suspense and literally leaves the reader breathless. This is a must read!

Red Storm Rising By Tom Clancy
Red Storm Rising is Clancy's second book and also on of the best. Even thought it was the second book he published, it is the last book in the series I have read. The main plot concerns World War Three. It occurs after the majority of Russia's fossil fuels are destroyed in a refinery fire set off by Muslim terrorists. With the fear of letting the West see them weak, the Russian leaders decide to seize the Middle East. To do this, however, the must distract NATO by attacking Germany. The war is more realistic than some of the battles and wars waged in his other books. Most of those battles have been entirely lopsided for the Americans. In Red Storm Rising however, he shows a much more realistic side of what the war might have been like. He has both NATO and Russia winning major battles and trading punch for punch. The many subplots surrounding the fighting gives you an in-depth look into the war. The war is fought in three major places. The fist part is in Iceland, the second part is in Germany, and the third part is in the Atlantic Ocean. The fighting in Iceland starts of the war. The Russians invade and take over NATO's base on the island. The second part in Germany is the major offensive by the Russians. The third part in the water deals with Soviet submarines destroying supply ships that come from America. That tactic almost won the war for Russia, but some supplies were able to get through and repel the invaders. The book was very good and extremely interesting. There were many different subplots, which let you see the war through people on both sides. It does not portray one side on barbarians, but shows both sides equally. The book was also very interesting because of the different information. He has accurate information about a plane that the Air Force did not officially recognize it had until years after the book was written. It also had a very interesting and unexpected ending that is repeated in another of Clancy's stories.

This is one of my favorite Clancy novels. This was written when he had to put a great novel on the table to make money, and Red Storm Rising certainly is this. Aside from the several slow stretches and its lack of development for some of the characters, this book is a compelling look at a Soviet-NATO war that could have easily happened, this book seizes your attention and holds it until the very last page. The ending is good as well, although some will debate me on this. I'm waiting for the movie.

Tom Clancy differs from reality in a small way as far as the weapons of war are concerned. In the stealth jet parts of the story, his description of what would have happened is not entirely accurate. The stealth fighter as we know it was operational and in service during the story's time-frame. No stealth planes would have been shot down and it would have been more effective. However, Mr. Clancy can be forgiven because the project was labeled TOP SECRET at the time. Considering the fact that the existance of the plane was only a rumor at the time, the inclusion of the plane alone is rather surprising. Also, I was surprised by the fact that he said the plane was developed in by Lockheed. He was right on the nose on that one. I think I know why Mr. Clancy described the physical characteristics of the plane like he did. Around that time, a company took a model of the SR-71 Blackbird's, added engines, and called it the F-19, America's stealth plane. The head of the Skunk Works took some heat for that supposed leak. Mr. Clancy probably thought that the F-19 was really the stealth plane. Besides that minor detail, the book was accurate and very good. I particularly like Mr. Clancy's style of telling the story from different characters' perspectives. The ending was also surprising and brillant. The beginning of the book was not the type that I would expect, but it was a great one. On the whole, it was a great war epic that inclued almost every facet of war.

This book has a great beginning, but it is more like a naval operations technical manual than a novel. Some of it is hard to follow for us laymen, and the ending is quite predictable. This book is not a part of the Jack Ryan series. This is a stand alone book. That is what makes this book interesting to me. But again, it was hard to follow because I am not familiar with military operations, weapons, and equipment. This one is for hardcore Clancy fans, submarine fans, and military afficiandos.

Red Storm Rising begins with a rogue group of Muslim terrorists destroying Russia's most important oil refinery. Remember, this book was written while Russia was still a Communist country, and is still known as the Soviet Union. Russia's Party leaders eventually "agree" that they must seize oil from the Persian Gulf to keep their economy from falling. But, to draw the NATO forces from the area, they must launch a massive ground and air assault against Germany and other European nations. With this they also plan to put political pressure on these NATO countries. Air supiority is key for all fronts: land and sea. Iceland, as one would guess is an important air and naval base. From the SAMs and torpedos in the Atlantic, the dogfights and bombing runs in the air, and tanks and artillery fire on the once beautiful German landscape, the action never misses a beat in this engrossing page turner that will keep a reader with an intent focus on getting to the next suspenseful battle. Red Storm Rising perfectly mixes character development and explosive action which will make sense to anyone who has heard of the military and WWII. Unlike other Clancy books, this one doesn't focus on one character, instead it has many characters one will come to like and might even admire. None of this book feels stale or terse because no one author has ever attempted to write such a complex book to my knowledge.(This book was written by two people though: Tom Clancy and Larry Bond) If you are a fan of Tom Clancy, this is a must-read, and if you are not I would still whole-heartidly recommend this book as an excellent read. BAR-NONE.

'Red Storm Rising' is a remarkable look at a Soviet attack on NATO. Clancy, a master of making the complex understandable, gives a meticulously researched senario in which after an internal crisis, the Soviet leadership decide that thier only recourse is war. As with most Clancy novels, the characters are many and sometimes seem a little one-dimensional, but that hardly detracts from his fast paced story and action filled plot. A must for Clancy fans and a great read for lovers of military fiction.

The atomic winter of a Socialist militia threatening world domination, the atomic aftermath of the world that once was. But a band of men come together to form an alliance and pushback this plague. For it is no longer a Red Storm Rising, but a Red White and Blue flag rising.
Red Storm Rising is a novel about a conventional attack on NATO by the United Socialist Soviet Republic (U.S.S.R.) They first storm through Europe, just as the Nazi's had in many years past, for there is now the fear of world domination once again. They crept ever closer until they came to the Atlantic Ocean near the cost of the United States of America, stopping in a neighboring island of Iceland. This would be a major section for the Soviets to secure for it would be their newest airbase for launching attacks on American Fast Action Groups in the Atlantic and it would be perfect for launching attacks on American Soil.
In Iceland, Mike Edwards, an American Air force Meteorologist went to the control tower to make his daily checks on instruments and equipment. As soon as he takes a step away, he hears the alarm that their are inbound bandits. His immediate thoughts are to take action and send out a strike force to stop the incoming bombers. After that's completed he rushes down stairs to Air-Ops to coordinate all of the action. Soon after that, the Soviet attack was a success and he is now stranded on a hill with a field radio and nothing else. What once might have been celebrated more before the break up of the Soviet Union, in a post Cold War world, while it's still enjoyable, is not the same without the threat of the is actually occurring. There are many, many characters in this book including Soviet and American that are very descriptive and important to the story, one can not explain all of them but if you like naval battles and classic military warfare, described as realistically as possible without being their yourself, than you will enjoy this book more than any that have come before it and those to come afterwards.

I like it because it's not like other Tom Clancy's books which are conected (Op Centre, books with Jack Ryan...). It's clear that Clancy is navy man, as ground battles are not described as detailed as naval (air battles are a bit more detailed, but not much). Don't you think, that with US involved in Europe some other state would try achieve it's goals (remember how worried US were when involved in Kosovo)? Maybe Koreans would do something. But all in all, it's good book.

One of the best World War III scenarios I have ever read - in the dark days of the Cold War. Absolutely realistic, Clancy does a marvelous job of depicting the European battle theater had the Russians actually pushed into what was then the Federal Republic of Germany - or West Germany.
Startling in the degree of reality - and very well written. And, throwing in Iceland... very clever.

I am a fan of Tom Clancy and have read a number of his books. I had not read this, however, which is one of his first, being written just after "The Hunt for Red October." I picked it up and was not disappointed.

Essentially this book is reading a war game played out between the USSR vs. NATO. It is a "what if" scenario taking into account myriad factors according to Mr. Clancy's idea of what would occur. It is light on character development but heavy with what Clancy is known for: technically accurate, modern military action. The plot moves quickly, and every page I felt like I was learning some new fact about military hardware or doctrine. The characters are stereotypical American military men who nearly always seem to make the right decisions, as is often the case with Clancy. In his later books you start to see American characters that are less moral, but the line between good and evil is always clearly drawn.

As the reader, you are also keenly aware of Mr. Clancy's political and religious stance as he pulls no punches in proclaiming America as the world's greatest country, or Christianity's virtues. He is at times a little heavy handed with it, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the reader's own beliefs, but for me it never detracted from the story to the point where it was annoying as I found to be the case in some of his later books where he preaches to the reader through his characters.
One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the way in which Clancy humanizes the Russian Characters. At times, I found myself pulling for some of them which is the mark of a good writer in my mind. In many of his later books, the antagonists are purely evil with no redeeming characteristics. This detracts from the story in my opinion as they become symbols for ideas rather than actual people.

An interesting aspect of reading this book now after having read all of Clany's more recent books with his famous Jack Ryan character, is seeing how the enemy in the books has changed over time. Then it was the Russians, and now in later books it has gone from extremist Muslims to the Chinese. The story remains largely the same in these books, only the enemies change. The plot in this book is incredibly similar to that of "The Bear and the Dragon," only now that the Russians are no longer communists, they are our allies and not our enemies.

On the whole, if you like action and military technology, this will be a great book for you. If those subjects hold little interest for you, you won't find much to like here. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.

I have read most of Clancys books, and this is indefinetly his best, most exciting book of them all. It has great characters, wonderful story lines, very realistic and for back in 1988 it was VERY possible! One of my favorite things about this book is the absents of Jack Ryan. Ryans character was good in Red October, but after that he just went down hill. This is a great book, and to all of you poor people out there that have not read this book I highly recomend it!

I gotta say when i first started "Red Storm Rising" i was pessimistic. Without Jack Ryan, or John Clark how would it fare? Well "Bob Toland" is almost a carbon copy of Jack Ryan, which i find.. not so good. He`s an intelligence analyst at the NSA instead of CIA, and even get`s deployed to a Carrier early on. But this book isnt about character development, i think of it as a spin-off of Clancy work, it concentrattes on the Soviet/NATO war BRILLIANTLY. It was made mid-80`s so the technology is a little outdated with some things, but he describes the war jumping theatre to theatre just great. Im kind of hoping Clancy write`s a book like this (or one of his older ones like Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger) in his next book instead of all the polotical stuff like his newer ones. His biggest mistake, IMO, was making Jack Ryan president.

i liked this book.it was my first clancy novel.i bought it because of his reputation.also because i'm an ex navy machinist's mate and have heard that he knows his sh%t when it comes to the navy's ships/operation- even shaft alley patrols- stuff like that... i was very impressed and entertained by all the naval action here-espescailly the ASW(i was on IKE)

however- i bought THIS book because i thought it would be about the soviet empire overtaking the world--lol-- i would like to see an 'unhappy ending' once in a while. it was a very good read- dont get me wrong, but i was dissapointed in the outcome. i just dont see soviet tank divisions being eaten alive by un-reinforced allied forces,lol. very good book,though-- and i've already started my second clancy novel.

I read this book every year since it was published. I own 3 hardbound and 2 paperback copies of this book. This was the first time i've read it on my kindle. No matter what the format I enjoyed it every time. There is a lot of Larry Bond in this Tom Clancy novel.

I thought that Red Storm Rising was a really incredible tale of modern warfair. The detail that was used in this story was amazing. It seemed like Tom Clancy took in to account all of the factors that would go in to a modern war situation between two super powers like Russia and the NATO countries. I have read a few other pieces by Clancy including The Hunt For Red October which i also thought was very good. I really enjoyed reading Red Storm Rising, just like i have enjoyed other Tom Clancys. I love the way that Tom writes. All of the story lines are so interesting to me. I cant wait until I have the opportunity to be able to read his newest piece The Teeth and the Tiger. All in all i felt that Red Storm Rising was an excellent piece that I feel any war junkie like myself should read. It really gives insight to a world that I was prevously not familier with. I would defienatly give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recomened this book to people of all ages. ENJOY!!!

First of all, I can't figure out all the people who say this book has too much jargon to read. I first read it when I was 14 and it quickly became one of my favorites. Judging from some of the other reviews, I am not the only one to have grasped it at such a young age. Yes, it is a bit dated, and some of the details are not realistic. But Desert Storm (and subsequent conflicts) have borne out Clancy's faith in stealth aircraft, M-1 tanks, Tomahawk missiles, etc. Thank God we never found out for sure, but the scenario & outcome he presents for the war are plausible, once you get past his premise for starting the war (he had to pick something, didn't he?) Spellbinding action, real characters, a minimum of politics... I liked this one.

Tom Clancy is (or at least was) the king of the technothriller. Red Storm Rising, one of his few non-Jack Ryan books, is by far one of his best. The hypothetical scenario of an all out Soviet attack on NATO is covered from multiple vantage points including an SSN captain, an Air Force weather man, and Army cavalry.

While it seems a little strange to go back to the peak of the Cold War, this is a great read at any time.

note: this was a collaboration with Larry Bond, another amazing author and creator of Harpoon simulations

Red Storm Rising is a book about the Soviet Union and Russia's attempt to overtake the Atlantic so they can launch an offensive against the United States of America and maybe other NATO countries such as England and Germany. The story begins in 1980 at a very productive but old, Soviet oil refinery in Nizhnevartovsk. The refinery is blown up by Islamic terrorists that hope to be 'heard' by their God Allah by commiting this violent action. The devestation of the refinery leads Russia into chaos with a much smaller supply of oil. The story escalates as the Russian army makes a push on Iraq to gain control over the precious oil fields to setup refineries and also an attack on Iceland. Conquering Iceland is an important step because this allows the Russians to reach farther into the Atlantic and possibly into North America with their aircraft. The Russian's greed for land control is immense and they are desperate for more resources and materials to manage more war campaigns. The Soviet Union soon decides that to gain ultimate power, Russian military must first cripple NATO and start the worst non-nuclear war imaginable. This book is unique because the story is told through many different character's points of view. Tom Clancy tells the story through eyes of NATO and Russian naval captains who command both surface and underwater boats. Most of the character's actions would seem reasonable at time of war, making the story realistic. Almost every chapter in the book takes place in a different location during the war, on both the Russian and NATO fronts of battle. At the end of the book the Russians are defeated because they are severly outnumbered by NATO forces and are desperatly low on munitions, thus forcing them to retreat out of the countries they have occupied and return to their Soviet Union. Although the book is a long read, I enjoyed it because of the struggles between the two greatest military superpowers: the United States and Russia.

I really liked this book. It's been a while since I read it, but it was very well thought-out and entirely believable. From the events that spark the conflict to the actual troop movements, Clancy did his homework on this one. Although it is a bit dated, it is still a great story; all in all, it's very entertaining.
There are some people who just don't get Clancy, and this book won't be any better for them than any other, but for fans of the genre, this is a fantastic book.

This book is hands down one of of the best I have ever read. A conventional war in Europe with all the intrigue we've come to expect from the late great Tom Clancy and seen from all angles. Incredible characters and of course, all the technological military details. Read it, you won't regret it.

It is one if Clancy's best books, but don't be fooled by the cover. It is not a Jack Ryan novel. It shares nothing in common with any other work of his. If you like anything else he has written you are sure to enjoy this. If you have never read one of his books, this is a good place to start. It's anti-submarine warfare like you have never seen before, and an authentic break down of what very well could have happened during the Cold War

This book while lengthy is very well organized in the multiple plot lines. There is humor and suspense at every turn. The novel is based on the US Dept. of Defense analysis of the invasion of the Western part of Europe by the Soviet Union. This was a real assessment that was turned into a book. "Red Storm Rising" is Clancy's finest non-Ryan work. This book really doesn't fit with any other of his books so there is no need to worry the order to read this book. Some may not like the length; it is not quick read, but it will keep you interested throughout. I had a hard time putting it down even when I was dead tired and my eyes hurt. This work is fabulous and very realistic for the time period (early to mid 1980's).

In 1996 I read this as a 7th grader, not really understanding what it meant, not really understanding the horror of war. I had to get books and read about all of the military policies and geopolitical intricacies of the USA-USSR and NATO-Warpac conflict (Commitment to Purpose by Kugler is a good companion book although nonfiction).

Like Elton John's masterpiece discovered at the same time, "Live in Australia," I turn to it again and again.

I have read this book about 20 times in the past 8 years.

Like the previous reviewers said, "It's almost like being there." Only Team Yankee, a more-in-depth look at the front lines, is an equivalent. The Third World War, August 1985, is more encompassing (A previous reviewer complained RSR didn't talk about the failed currencies and riots and hunger. TWW does that, and talks about the worldwide impact). Team Yankee is a microcosm of TWW. RSR seems more like a Larry Bond book, "Red Phoenix," a fictional tale of the 2nd Korean War (still likely today!)

Some of the fact changes in this book are marginal but not really crucial to the book's plot:

1) Aegis cruisers CG 47-51 carried 88 missiles in 2 racks of 44, not 96 as mentioned. VLS (122 missiles) came with CG 52 Bunker Hill and later. Remember, DDG 51 class hadn't been developed yet so Kidd DDG 996 was the most advanced destroyer at the time.

2) The M-1s mentioned had 105mm guns, although the A1 might not have been readied yet for CENTAG or NORTHAG by summer 1985.

3) MiG-29 Fulcrums died in mass amounts in the air battle over Iceland. Like a previous reviewer said, they were not easy kills like -21 Fishbeds.

4) Was the T-80 operational by summer 1985 anyway? I remember people telling me in ROTC (I am a college student) that the -64 was the main tank for a long time. -72s were acquired by Poland and Eastern Bloc countries and were made by a different manufacturer.

5) There is no definite statement that the 688 class subs were able to dive "only" to 950 feet. A submariner said the exact diving depth is classified. Although the Alfa did dive to 1900 ft or so...

6) The description of the FFG-7 class was very realistic, especially about the Mk 13 single-arm launcher. The book had a fictional "Seahawk-Foxtrot" model. Most of them were B models, and had 2 on board instead of one F, which was a prototype.

Interesting parts about the book. A lot of foreshadowing:

1) The activation of the Battleships to retake Iceland (BB-61, Iowa). This was repeated in the Persian Gulf War.

2) The launching of DOOLITTLE. Doolittle was the first operation that used Tomahawks to knock out airfields. Up until that point the Tom hadn't been used and the traditional way was to go in with a large strike force. The Soviets had obviously prepared for this, but not for cruise missiles. Again, this operation foreshadowed the Persian Gulf War. The loss of 7 airfields changed the whole war at that point.

3) The F-19 Dreamstar. I remember the glow-in-the-dark Testors frisbee-shaped aircraft with rounded ailerons at the leading and trailing edges. This was in reality, the F-117A stealth.

4) The use of mobility in FM-100.5 and AirLandBattle to beat the Sovs. Alekseyev talks about the mobility of the American forces, when he says, "...two men and a jeep (he used the American term for it) pop up fire and vanish...reappear again down the road and attack..."

5) The luck factor with NATO. Soviet insistence on using what they had, and not being adaptable. In the end of the book it mentions two Category-A units in South Ukraine. Luckily, for SACEUR, they aren't used and B-units are coming instead.

6) The goalkeeper (an Aegis cruiser). It would make more sense for the US to have TWO Aegis cruisers protecting Nimitz, not just one. Although at the time there were only 5 (Bunker Hill being commissioned 9-20-86).

7) The neat combat tactics. Blackout of EMCON and tricking the Bear into searching and having fighters knock him down before he alerted the Backfires. Also the hard astern, full steam splitting manuever by Battleaxe and Reuben James to draw missile bait away from the convoys.

8) The use of the VCR to track vehicle movement and positioning.

9) The final discovery from Toland from the downed MiG pilot. It's all about the oil.

The end of the book seemed forced. The Russians could have won had they used category-A units in Ukraine instead of CinC-West being stubborn and refusing to accede to Alekseyev and Sergetov's hints. That helped NATO immensely.

Betting Western Europe on a pair of fives was a risk, but somehow, SACEUR won yet again.

This masterpiece that Tom Clancy has created is so thrilling, I suggest you sit down while reading it. It starts when an old Soviet oil refinery is blown up by Islamic terrorists, but doesn't end there. Not a chance. This random act of terror engulfs the entire world, when the Soviets decide they must take oil from the Middle East. They first must cripple NATO, and start the worst, non-nuclear war imaginable . . . RED STORM

Clancy did a great job explaining what was happening at each moment. I enjoyed the way he used characters which were connected through the past. The attention to detail he incorporated made it possible to picture the activities occuring. The possibility of WW-III as being a conflict over oil and subsequently power is a realistic scenario. I recommend this book to anyone intersted in nonstop action at the turn of a page.

Hunt for Red October made him famous, but Red Storm Rising made Tom Clancy great. The novel is a fascinating scenario that revolves around a 1980s Soviet oil crisis that leads to World War Three. Like his first book there is a large amount of submarine scenes, but RSR goes on to include a detailed air war and ground battles. though some of the plot lines no longer ring true (the F-19), it is still easy to enjoy. The sudden end was odd and it took me a page to figure out what was going on in Moscow, but was satisfactory. I've read many Clancy novels since this book, but it still remains my favorite.

By far, the BEST book written by Tom Clancy. I have read many of his books and this one is the best. Never any chapters or areas that drop off or put you to sleep. It is a non stop action book based on the what if scenario of WWWIII. The opening chapter starts with radical Islamist terrorism in Siberia and the action never stops. Clancy's use of military technological weapons and tactics is superb. The research used in putting this thriller together was extensive. The progress of the book is extremely realistic and is very relevant for TODAY even though the book is now eleven years old.Weapons on both sides, east and west have improved beyond the book but with the global changes brought on by the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it will always have a current place for readers, and offer a place a revelance to our times and beyond.

Absolutely amazing book. I've read it six or seven times, and enjoy it every time. I'd recommend this to anyone. This is without a doubt the best book Clancy wrote. If anyone in Hollywood would ever be smart enough to make a movie based on this novel I believe it would be an epic success, and would require an all star cast just to do it justice.

I've read the book, which I enjoy more than any of his other works. I used to own the audio version on cassette, which I bought for about $20 long ago. I went to look how much the cd would be, and dear God in Heaven, $70+ dollars??? Are you kidding me for a 2 hour abridged version of the story? Highway robbery.

It seemed impossible to dethrone "Red October" as the best Clancy's, but this one just did it! After having read these two novels I am afraid of going further, it seems impossible to create something more chilling, real-sounding, breathtakingly accurate. Tom Clancy should revise this book every 5 years or so and add new weapons systems and up-to-date military stuff. The plot really deserves it! And when is the super-movie scheduled for?

Just re-read the book- I may have liked it better this second time around, after 25 or so years. I'm commenting to make readers aware of this interesting bit: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/tne/pieces/choreographing-dance-vampires

This novel is very long and boring.When Clancy describes the submarine battles,the text results heavy and very difficult to follow.In fact,the novel contains too many technical details about the weapons.The book would be better if it contained more references about the persons.And I have to say that I think that this novel has a excess of 400 pages.(The Spanish edition of Plaza y Janes has almost 1000 pages in small format)

A great book. The book kept me wondering a little since it never left the European battlefields. I constantly wondered if the other countries of the Warsaw Pact were also fighting with Russia, and how did China and other countries of the world think about the war. Tom Clancy also needs to work on describing the characters' uniforms and arms. Other than these complaints it was a great book.

Though I've never been a supporter of war of any kind, I really enjoyed this book. It was the first Clancy book that I ever read and I have loved his work ever since.

The first time I read it was over ten years ago and I liked it so much I have decided to read all of Clancy's books all over again in the order they are to take place.

Not being one of the "Jack Ryan" stories did not take anything away from the entertainment value. It's got thrills, tense situations and plenty of hard battles.

I strongly recommend this book to lovers of espionage and action in general.

Red Storm Rising is an excellent book, and in my opinion it is Clancy's best. The sheer scope of the book is awesome, and it is something that I've enjoyed re-reading a couple of times. It's obviously not cutting-edge anymore as far as the tech references, but still a great plot and an exciting diversion.

Tom Clancy has a way of putting you in the midst of his work. Everything from the Russian experience to the intelligence gathering, you are in the loop and feel like your a part of it. Having been stationed in Iceland, his portrayal of the take-over was very detailed. I could picture every move and it made me remember a great assignment. I couldn't put this masterpiece down!!!

If you have not read any of Clancy's other books, this is a great one to start with. It's different then his other CIA spook, secret agent stuff, but it is the best Clancy I've read. It starts with a bang(literally) and then goes into great care in setting up a storyline that is one of the best I've ever seen.
The action is basically non-stop after about page 150. You find yourself in the middle of the dogfights between the F-14's and the MiG's. You can get a picture in your mind's eye of the Abrams tanks letting loose into the Russians. You almost hear the propellers turning on the submarines and Aircraft Carriers.
This book is about 800 pages, but I read it in about a week. I just couldn't put the thing down!
I wish that Mr. Clancy would write another book similar to this so that we can find ourselves with imaginations running. My hats off to you Tom!

Have been an avid reader of Tom Clancy books for years. In fact this is my second reading of this novel. And it was as enjoyable as the first time
His first novels were his best, and this is one of them. If you like a fast moving store line, this will fulfill that.

I read this book in junior high 8th grade in the late 80's and I read it in three sleepless and breathless days. Before this book I couldn't even finish books that were 20 pages in length. This singular book gave me my life long love of reading.

I had originally picked this book up right at the beginning of Desert Shield. Being in the Army and working on a post where we were processing soldiers/units to go to the desert and working very long hours. It took a couple days to get through the first 150 pages or so. On the day that I reached the chapter where you're sitting in cockpit with the pilot of a stealth fighter and he's going in on an attack run, I couldn't put it down from there. This was and is the best World War III scenario ever written. If you've not purchased and read this book, do so immediately! Thank you to Tom Clancy and Larry Bond for one hell of a book!

First off, I think Chris Mumby needs to realize a few points. Tom Clancy's work are fiction that are sometimes based off the truth with a little stretching of the imagination to make the story better. I read Red Storm Rising when I was 15 for a Western Civilization class I had in high school and ever since then I cannot wait until his newest book comes out, be it one of the Ryan/Clark line or the new Op-Center series. Back when Red Storm was written, the Russian Mafia was not as big of an influence as it today in the CIS. Furthermore, as a member of the military, it is true that I can read some of these novels and know that the information is totally wrong. How do I know this, because I have actually been there in some of the situations? The military is nothing like they show it in the movies and Tom Clancy does superb job in portraying what we do to protect the USA!

This book is so realistic for it's time is is frightening! This book is the first public mention of the Stealth program. That alone is frightening since we know what we know now. Since I cannot give a view from any other than Air Force, I can't vouch for the rest. But from my memory, everything here is as accurate as can be, even with inside info.

This is a very clever book, as far as I could make out, but very overrated. There were a few good, suspenseful scenes, but the military action was awfully repetitious. Perhaps the action is accurate and realistic, and it could potentially make an exciting movie, but it does not make good reading.

The basic premise, that the Soviet Union starts World War III in order to get oil, was ironic, given that President Bush has repeatedly been accused of attacking Iraq for the same reason. In both cases, I found the reasoning unconvincing.

Clancy's writing is pretty odinary, and often sloppy. I was particularly annoyed by the continual use of unexplained acronyms - I tried looking them up some of them in a book containing thousands of acronyms and could only find about half of them - and the military jargon was similarly confusing. Sometimes he would use a term extensively and then 30 pages later he'd explain what it meant. I suppose it would be all right for someone with more military background than I have, but a lot of the time I had no idea what was going on. I was also put off by the continual change of scene - I counted 17 scene changes in one chapter, and there are 43 chapters.

The military strategy and tactics are fascinating, but the plot of the novel is pretty basic. The characterisation is virtually non-existent - most of the characters sound the same.

This is the first Tom Clancy book I have read, and it makes me wonder how he manages to out-sell so many superior writers.

In this tale of World War III set in the time near the end of the Cold War, Clancy sets forth a beautiful plot: a submarine commander headed on a dangerous mission against the Russians, an anti-submarine frigate captain struggling with the loss of his last ship, a wing-wiper Air Force lieutenant and four marines desperately trying to survive in the wilderness of Iceland, a Russian army commander forced to fight a war that he knows he's not ready for, a Politburo attempting to hold onto power against all odds, and a Politburo member who wants to do the right thing for his country. Each part of the plot is fully developed; there are no loose ends at the end of the book. The action is edge-of-the-seat. If you need sleep tonight, don't start reading it today. This is truly one of the epic novels of our time.

Red Storm Rising is a good book, but it could have been better. I enjoy a good war novel, however, there were many acronyms which were either unexplained or explained much later. Too many characters are described in depth, only for the reader to find out that after reading a 2 page description of "whoever" that they won't ever hear about him again. The Hunt for Red October was much better, but the best Clancy is Without Remorse.

I'm sure if we lived during the Cold War era and read this book, we would all be truly scared to death. Clancy's scenario of how the the whole world is sucked into war is so scary because of how plausible and realistic it is (all because a couple of Islamo-fascists decide to blow up an oil factory). This is THE best Clancy book, by far.

Red Storm Rising is my favorite Clancy book. Keeps you riveted as you connect the dots of the air, land, and sea situations. I generally have two or three books going....like flipping channels...but this one stood alone. Fascinating read even if you don't understand all the military jargon.

This was the second Tom Clancy book that I had ever read. Clancy displayed very adequate know- ledge of modern military weapons that The United States now has at it's disposal. Some of the military tactics that were presented in this book were also impressive. This was a well written military book that certainly made for interesting reading.

I really liked this book. I also noticed the verbiage that Mr. Clancy put up front about how it was a collaborative effort with Larry Bond, etc. Some time after I read Red Storm Rising, I read Red Phoenix, which had Larry Bond's name on the cover, and inside he mentioned a Pat Larkin in a similar vein as above. What struck me as interesting was that the writing style and plot development (not the story line) for Red Storm Rising (Clancy/Bond) was almost a twin of Red Phoenix (Bond/Larkin), which led me to the inescapable conclusion that whoever wrote Red Phoenix also wrote Red Storm rising. In other words, I think the bulk of Red Storm Rising (maybe all of it) was actually written by either Larry Bond or Pat Larkin. So I will leave off with a question, which is, who actually wrote Red Storm Rising? I don't think it was Tom Clancy.

This book was one of my first "bigger", english, reading experience. I would say it's a lexicon of modern warfare, but written as a terrifying novel. In my opinion, the big difficulty of discribing a whole world war as a novel is that the protagonist can act only at one place at the same time, whereas a world war has more important events at the same moment(because of all branches of military service). Tom Clancy solved this problem in an elegant way. He switchs the scene, for instance, from the battleship captian, fighting submarines at the Atlantic, to the fighterwing commander, who stops the first wave of russian bombers heading towards germany, and so on. This style of describing the war leads the reader through various stories, which give you a picture of the whole war.

This book is about a possible scenario of World War 3 between the Soviet Union and NATO. As the story begins a terrorist group attacks one of the Soviet Unions oil fields. The field is crippled and throws the USSR into an economic crisis due to the alck of oil. They must do something drastic to save their country from a long economic depression.The members of the Soviet politburo propose a plan to invade NATO in Europe and take over the oil fields in the Middle East. A plan is reached to bomb a Soviet grade school and blame the attack on Germany. With that the first shots of World War 3 were fired.

It was a very exciting book and i learned a lot about modern warfare. There was extremely realistic storytelling. Tom Clancy did an excellent job. From beginning to end it was very tense and exciting. It was fun to read and pulled me in from page one. I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about war, or a lot of action.

This deserves 50 out of 10! Once the politics are out of the way, which incidentally, when the Soviets discuss the war strategies, are superbly done, this book kicks butt! Splendid action scenes on land and sea, and under it, great setpieces(Iceland in particular!) and laden with entertaining characters. A MUST READ> BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

Although it may not be fun if you read this book at the present time-it was great when I read it back in 1990. At that time, the Cold War had not ended. This books writes about a full fledged Conventional War between Nato and the Soviet Union. Only Clancy could have written about such a scenario. Great writer Clancy. Lucky whatever he wrote here didnt come true, unlike some of his other books.

If you love Tom Clancy's books or your just looking for a great read, this is the book for you. Clancy manages to interweave geo-politics, military action, dahm good chracters and a non stop thrill ride of a plot into a book you won't be able to put down. This book has everything or as Ronald Raegan would say it is the perfect yarn.

Well, first of all this is NOT a Jack Ryan novel. Jack is nowhere to be found in this book. The book is classic Tom Clancy-starts a little slow in order to lay a groundwork, and then takes off into a series of events that make it hard to put down. I've read it twice and loved it both times!

The brief review: The first thing that strikes you is the length of the book which weighs in at close to 800 pages. The action picks up from the beginning and very quickly the belligerent sides tear into one another over land, sea, and air. The strengths of the book are the detailed naval and submarine warfare exploits (both shown from American perspectives only). The land warfare is surprisingly weak in comparison, along with a soppy romance story that is given unnecessary exposure. After 700 pages a sudden and unrealistic plot device allows the end of hostilities in a draw.

******SPOILERS**********
As other reviewers have pointed out, the lack of deployment of tactical nukes is astounding. The Group of Soviet Forces Germany had close to 400,000 soldiers and 5000 tanks stationed in East Germany alone, during the time-frame of 1986 in the book. It is hard to believe that the Warsaw Pact forces streaming into West Germany from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and East Germany would proceed only as far as the Weser river after a month of fighting! Amazingly, there seems to be no hostilities anywhere else in Europe, the Middle East, or Asia.
The action set in Iceland drags on and on and should have been cut drastically. The USSR was one of the largest producers of oil in the world and would not have started a war over that. The beginning of the book seems to be inspired by Frederick Forsyth's 'The Devil's Alternative'. There is no mention of Soviet naval activities in the Pacific. Finally, what takes the cake is the overthrow of the Soviet government and takeover of the largest country in the world with a battalion of soldiers!

First off, this is really a great read. You won't be able to put it down......just what you expect from this guy, right? My only gripe and the reason it doesn't get 5 stars is the number of redundant submarine battles that he goes through. If I have to read through one of these one more time I'm gonna jump in front of the next torpedo I see and commit Hare Kare! This book is really long and could have probably been trimmed down a bit and this is one place I would start. Red october didn't have this much redundancy to it.

Still it's an excellent read and gives really good insight into modern warfare. Check it out at your local paperback trader!

Tom Clancy's gripping and uncannily realistic thriller. Communist Russia, facing a crippling fuel shortage, uses political cunning to force NATO into war so as to be able to 'liberate' middle- east oil facilities. Excelent characters on both sides. This book not quite as good as 'Red October' but deserves all five of its stars

I'd admit it. I used to love this book when I was like 13. Now I'm 21. 8 or so years of military amateurism and general maturity growth has changed my view. It is with the latter heart that I write this.

First, Clancy's strength - Technical. Superficially, it looks good, but closer looks suggest otherwise. If there's a fuzz zone (particularly common in Cold War texts), it is used for NATO's benefit. Soviet subs have no towed arrays, fighters have no IRSTs, tanks don't have dedicated loaders (autoloading or human) nor ammo that can penetrate early M1s (DU-armored tanks are years in the future). NATO of course has deadly fire control, God's-eye-view, near unjammable Intel assets .... etc. All of it adds up until the real miracle is that the Soviets are advancing at all. This is not only UNrealistic, but does nothing to promote exciting battles where all have a real chance.

Tactics. Kinda same as Technical. NATO made maybe 2 "real" mistakes without being made to pay the full price. The Soviets slowly fritter advantages away, and in contrived ways. Western theory holds that the Soviets lack of initiative will hurt them. Clancy seems to agree. Fine, let's see how it is implemented.

1) 3rd Shock Army schedules an attack. The commander of the Western TVD fires 3rd Shock commander for lack of progress. Instead of just sticking to the plan and attacking at the scheduled time, the deputy does not give the call. This is, actually, an act of initiative (though utterly stupid), and of course it buys the Germans a chance to counterattack.

2) A Soviet motor-rifle division NEARLY blows a hole through the American lines. An extra regiment is required. The only one close by happens to an OMG unit, and thus unmovable without talking to Moscow. Alekseyev mutters about Soviet inflexibility. This is not Soviet inflexibility, guys. If an American formation was declared out of bounds by the Pentagon, American commanders will be equally forbidden to move it. This is contrived stupidity to delay the attack, allow the Americans to reinforce, and wipe out the rest of the motorized rifle division and the tank regiment.

3) A division rushes through a hole in the advance. They fight their way towards bridges. A short-sighted Sov regimental commander calls for artillery to fire ON the bridges to stop the NATO escapees. In Soviet theory, he should only have direct and rapid access to his regimental arty group (a battalion of light howitzers). Soviet centralization should at least stop his stupidity at that level, since the divisional arty would be under divisional control, especially since they have their own fire missions already assigned and executing. But of course, the Soviets CAN'T be given that advantage, so divisional arty drops its own fire missions and fires on the bridge with rockets.

This stuff adds up, and the Soviets are defeated. Is anyone shocked?

Characterization: Cardboard cutouts. Protagonists are at best one and a half dimensional, goody-goody personalities. Subprotagonists like Sgt Mackall (commander of an Invincible M1 Tank) are maybe zero dimensional. Worst of all, you quickly get the idea they won't die. So much for sympathizing with them.

Conclusion: Read this off the library. Then read something like "Red Army".

I have read 10 Tom Clancy novels and this is my personal favorite one. The story is able to draw me into the intrigue and drama therein. It is fast paced and has a few surprises too. If you like Tom Clancy, you will like this 1980's fiction .

This book shows the mastery of Tom Clancy yet again. With its skillful blending of separate theaters and both sides of the conflict, the book also provides a realistic example of how a modern major conflict would run, and how the personal decisions in the face of danger may have a major effect on a character. Red Storm Rising is a must read for any Tom Clancy fan or anyone with a military interest.

This novel really had me gripped for the first 200 pages or so. It begins with a disgruntled terrorist from the Caucasus who takes part in an attack, leaving the politburo with an awful dilemma: go to war or leave the Soviet Union vulnerable and in economic dire straits. Of course they settle on war and the story begins. Unfortunately we hear little more from our terrorist baddies after the first chapter although the build up to war is well done. Clancy gets eleven out of ten for his technical and all round military procedural knowledge, but for those of us who are not military hardware anoraks there is a lot of effort required to keep up with the various subs, planes, ships and weapons; not to mention the ranks and names of the characters. Clancy has a knack for thinking the reader knows the characters as well as he does and uses ranks, names and eastern European nicknames interchangeably; that's fine for those of you who are familiar with military ranks and so on, but I had lost track of the names and ranks only quarter way into the book. Maybe three characters stuck in my head, but I wasn't clear on what they had been upto and was still left confused when he continued to refer to them by rank rather than name.

The sub and air battles had me in suspense and on the edge of my seat at times, but half way through the book and the infantry battles became more hastily narrated. People were dying left, right and centre with little of the suspense that preceded the earlier confrontations between aircraft and subs. At this point I didn't really care who was winning. I wasn't sure who the good guys and bad guys were due to a lack of any storyline involving public reaction or politicians - specifically western politicians who we hear nothing from in the book. I was really bored with the book at this point and felt that the infantry battles really dragged on.

The only attempt at anything other than battlefield drama is a USAF man named Edwards, who is the star of the most suspect romance you've ever read in any book. He rescues a vulnerable young lady, but turns out to be a man who fantasises about what he would do to vulnerable young ladies if he could only have met them somewhere else - and he's meant to be the good guy. A dubious character if you ask me, but as war crime romance goes this is probably groundbreaking stuff, although it may never have been done before for good reason: it was extremely corny.

Near the end of the book I felt Clancy was far too hasty in narrating the final submarine battle. Earlier in the book he narrated the emotion of horror and loss that military men go through extremely well. However, he inexplicably gives scant time to hundreds of allied soldiers and sailors dying in other incidents.

I feel this book would have really captured people's imagination more readily when it was published at the time of the cold war, but it really didn't offer enough to stand the test of time. Despite Clancy's strong points on technical and military procedures, the book seems to be missing the political and public reactions that would have made it worthwhile reading its 800 pages. For me the book is at least 200 pages too long and although it is very strong at times; mostly near the beginning and end, with some air and sea battles in between being the exception, it is also very weak for a good portion and for that reason I cannot justify any more than three stars. If you are purely a technical and military enthusiast you may thrive off of what the book does provide, but if you are not you'll be left feeling there is something missing.

I read this book in the early 1990s. Since then I have re-read it several times. Simply the best World War III depiction of the 80s and 90s. A great read even today, even if the Cold War is long over. The introduction hardly lasts 70 pages, and then its unfettered war, war and war. Brilliant!

Unfortunately, Clancy's work has deteroriated in recent years. His latest sponsored work, EndWar was a huge disappointment of an old man stuck in a Cold War past. Fortunately the pool of creativity is endless and new authors are replacing old has-beens. "War against Islam" by George P. Robertson is the Red Storm Rising of 2008. Another great book is Caliphate by Tom Kratzman...

This was almost required reading for me and fellow Navy Surface Warfare Officers in the 80's & it's still a great read today. Not surprisingly, it's relevance seems to me to be growing as the modern Russia seems to be trying to reconstitute its old Soviet territory core - though (thankfully) they are not modernizing their forces too much (yet).

As i read the reviews i noticed that some people pOinted out that the f19 did not exist, this is true however the cold war also never kicked off and we never foight the russians. Also some others said it was too long, i am a 13 year old guy and i read it in about two weeks. If you cant read this you should go back to eight grade english.

This book was very well writen and was one of my all-time favorites. However, it does have some aspects of unrealism. The "F-19" never existed. I think he just put it in there to give NATO a fighting chance. Otherwise, the Russians would probably have won, unless NATO used some special trick so that they would win.