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Jack Ryan, Jr. #1
The Teeth of the Tiger
When a terrorist leader and a drug warlord form a dangerous alliance, three new Hendley Associates agents--FBI agent Dominic Caruso, his Marine captain brother Brian, and their cousin, Jack Ryan, Jr.--encounter unexpected dangers.
640 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2003
2143 people are currently reading
11034 people want to read
About the author
Tom Clancy
977 books9,060 followersThomas Leo Clancy Jr. was an American novelist and military-political thriller pioneer. Raised in a middle-class Irish-American family, he developed an early fascination with military history. Despite initially studying physics at Loyola College, he switched to English literature, graduating in 1969 with a modest GPA. His aspirations of serving in the military were dashed due to severe myopia, leading him instead to a career in the insurance business.
While working at a small insurance agency, Clancy spent his spare time writing what would become The Hunt for Red October (1984). Published by the Naval Institute Press for an advance of $5,000, the book received an unexpected boost when President Ronald Reagan praised it as “the best yarn.” This propelled Clancy to national fame, selling millions of copies and establishing his reputation for technical accuracy in military and intelligence matters. His meticulous research and storytelling ability granted him access to high-ranking U.S. military officials, further enriching his novels.
Clancy’s works often featured heroic protagonists such as Jack Ryan and John Clark, emphasizing themes of patriotism, military expertise, and political intrigue. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, he became one of the best-selling authors in America, with titles like Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1989), and The Sum of All Fears (1991) dominating bestseller lists. Several of these were adapted into commercially successful films.
In addition to novels, Clancy co-authored nonfiction works on military topics and lent his name to numerous book series and video game franchises, including Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. His influence extended beyond literature, as he became a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team and was involved in various business ventures, including a failed attempt to purchase the Minnesota Vikings.
Politically, Clancy was a staunch conservative, often weaving his views into his books and publicly criticizing left-leaning policies. He gained further attention after the September 11 attacks, discussing intelligence failures and counterterrorism strategies on news platforms.
Clancy’s financial success was immense. By the late 1990s, his publishing deals were worth tens of millions of dollars. He lived on an expansive Maryland estate featuring a World War II Sherman tank and later purchased a luxury penthouse in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
He was married twice, first to Wanda Thomas King, with whom he had four children, and later to journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, with whom he had one daughter.
Tom Clancy passed away on October 1, 2013, at the age of 66 due to heart failure. His legacy endures through his novels, their adaptations, and the continuation of the Jack Ryan series by other writers.
While working at a small insurance agency, Clancy spent his spare time writing what would become The Hunt for Red October (1984). Published by the Naval Institute Press for an advance of $5,000, the book received an unexpected boost when President Ronald Reagan praised it as “the best yarn.” This propelled Clancy to national fame, selling millions of copies and establishing his reputation for technical accuracy in military and intelligence matters. His meticulous research and storytelling ability granted him access to high-ranking U.S. military officials, further enriching his novels.
Clancy’s works often featured heroic protagonists such as Jack Ryan and John Clark, emphasizing themes of patriotism, military expertise, and political intrigue. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, he became one of the best-selling authors in America, with titles like Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1989), and The Sum of All Fears (1991) dominating bestseller lists. Several of these were adapted into commercially successful films.
In addition to novels, Clancy co-authored nonfiction works on military topics and lent his name to numerous book series and video game franchises, including Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. His influence extended beyond literature, as he became a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team and was involved in various business ventures, including a failed attempt to purchase the Minnesota Vikings.
Politically, Clancy was a staunch conservative, often weaving his views into his books and publicly criticizing left-leaning policies. He gained further attention after the September 11 attacks, discussing intelligence failures and counterterrorism strategies on news platforms.
Clancy’s financial success was immense. By the late 1990s, his publishing deals were worth tens of millions of dollars. He lived on an expansive Maryland estate featuring a World War II Sherman tank and later purchased a luxury penthouse in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
He was married twice, first to Wanda Thomas King, with whom he had four children, and later to journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, with whom he had one daughter.
Tom Clancy passed away on October 1, 2013, at the age of 66 due to heart failure. His legacy endures through his novels, their adaptations, and the continuation of the Jack Ryan series by other writers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 817 reviews
August 23, 2019
WHOA this is a HORRIBLE book!!!! Bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD book. Even for one like me, who generally enjoys this type of thriller. After a promising couple of chapters, suspiciously written not only better than the rest of the book, but also at a much faster pace, this thing slows down almost to a halt.
Without any doubt, Clancy sketched out the overall plot and delegated the whole chore to a ghost-writer. You can see that also from the way some comments and observations are repeated in different chapters, used basically just as "fillers" to satisfy a writing contract. I find this so dishonest. At least other writers - like Clive Cussler - have given up pretending they do the writing, and they put "Clive Cussler and John the Ghost Writer" on the cover. (That way, you know upfront that the book is bad, and you don't buy it : ) ).
In "the teeth of the tiger", the writing is horrendous, but I was ready to forgive that in favor of a good plot. Well, there isn't a plot. Two american brothers working for a secret para-gov organization, assassinate 4 terrorists in Europe, while light-heartedly enjoying the stupidest touristic stereotypes about each town they visit.
That. Is. It. Absolutely nothing else.
But the worst of the worst are the dialogues between the twin brothers. Old Grandad from the '30s sense of humor.
Just a BAD book. Even if you like Clancy, stay away from this one.
Without any doubt, Clancy sketched out the overall plot and delegated the whole chore to a ghost-writer. You can see that also from the way some comments and observations are repeated in different chapters, used basically just as "fillers" to satisfy a writing contract. I find this so dishonest. At least other writers - like Clive Cussler - have given up pretending they do the writing, and they put "Clive Cussler and John the Ghost Writer" on the cover. (That way, you know upfront that the book is bad, and you don't buy it : ) ).
In "the teeth of the tiger", the writing is horrendous, but I was ready to forgive that in favor of a good plot. Well, there isn't a plot. Two american brothers working for a secret para-gov organization, assassinate 4 terrorists in Europe, while light-heartedly enjoying the stupidest touristic stereotypes about each town they visit.
That. Is. It. Absolutely nothing else.
But the worst of the worst are the dialogues between the twin brothers. Old Grandad from the '30s sense of humor.
Just a BAD book. Even if you like Clancy, stay away from this one.
November 1, 2016
I don't remember any previous Clancy books being this childish. Foolish dialogue, especially between the Caruso twins. I never got to like them because they talked like such idiots from start to finish. And those nicknames were utterly annoying. Jack Jr. is not much better. In fact, there isn't an intelligent person in this whole book.
One glaring example: The rookie spook, Jack Jr., talks openly in public to the twins about top secret info he's learned on the job, naming names of someone who will be their first "target." I immediately assume that Jack will soon be in big trouble for his "loose lips." Nope. Clancy never deals with it at all, even though the twins tell their superior that Jack filled them in. (Oh, you told them about this super-classified intel without authorization? No problem, kid.) What nonsense. And there were many other similar flaws. Like them ID'ing their target in Vienna by happening to remember seeing him in Munich. Just stupid. And get this: The 20-something Caruso boys, when comparing Ferraris to women, refer to Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara. Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara ?! Is Clancy out of his mind? They were both dead before either of these kids were born. Maybe Clancy himself fantasizes about those gals, but it's ludicrous to think his young characters would ever say such a thing.
And the former President's handsome young son can travel throughout Europe at will without being mobbed by reporters/admirers?
Did anyone notice that the terrorists headed to Sacramento somehow end up in Provo, Utah instead? Does anyone care by the end of the book?
The dialogue and character development in this book are nowhere near as thorough as the earlier books, and Clancy has started to write every character's thoughts and speech in his own words. Tag phrases that Clancy loves to use such as "selling Girl Scout cookies", "none of them are Mother Theresa's nephew" and "pukes" pop up in multiple characters' speech.
Simplistic one dimensional characters - the Americans are faultless good guys, never make any mistakes and have all the luck whilst the bad guys (Muslims obviously) are evil beyond belief, stupid and unlucky. At least there were no English characters in the book this time which deprived him of the chance to give them all names like "Rupert Smyth" or "Quinten St John Pilkington" - to all of Clancy's fans in America please believe me when I say that NO-ONE in England has names like that.
Dialogue - Painful...I lost count of the times the Caruso brothers called each other 'bro' - they are supposed to be educated and in their late twenties - would they really talk like a couple of teenage gang-members? Does anyone in the world actually say things like "bet your bippy, bro!".
I lost count of the times that Clancy used the phrase "in ordnung" whilst the characters were in Germany...as in "everything was 'in ordnung'"...yes Tom, we know they are in Germany, we know that the Germans have a reputation for being organised and we know that the German for "in order" sounds very similar the the same phrase in English...we are not stupid and do not need to be reminded of this fact over and over and over again.
The characters and issues are presented in such a black and white way that the reader is left in absolutely no doubt that this is actually how Clancy thinks...there is absolutely no attempt in the book to examine the motives of the terrorists other than that they hate America - no mention of Palestine no examination of American foreign policy...just the view that anyone American is 100% right and virtuous and anyone else either doesn't matter or is evil. It's tiresome.
His manly assassins are lily-livered. Half the book is about two soldiers, both of whom have killed before, agonizing over whether in their new assignment they could kill a terrorist in cold blood. (Where did he get these guys?)
Then, these super secret agents, killing outside the law or under any government control, make one huge blunder after another, to wit:
The check into the ritziest hotels where they will be sure to be remembered, instead of some down & out hole in the wall. They use American Express Black credit cards--so rare that their use will be sure to be remembered. They rent a Porsche to drive half-way across Europe instead of anonymously taking the train.
p. 17 and 19; Dominic disarmed and handcuffed the dead body then later the FBI took the knife from the subjects hand and bagged it.
p. 208 and 222; The target cities were Des Moines, Colo. Spr., Charlottsville, and Sacramento. Then magically on page 222 Sacramento is changed to Provo, Utah.
p. 176; During the test firing of the MAC-10s Juan assumed the noise could not be heard by a house 4 kilometers away but "In this he was mistaken." I would expect that stating that would have some significance -- however nothing ever came of it.
One glaring example: The rookie spook, Jack Jr., talks openly in public to the twins about top secret info he's learned on the job, naming names of someone who will be their first "target." I immediately assume that Jack will soon be in big trouble for his "loose lips." Nope. Clancy never deals with it at all, even though the twins tell their superior that Jack filled them in. (Oh, you told them about this super-classified intel without authorization? No problem, kid.) What nonsense. And there were many other similar flaws. Like them ID'ing their target in Vienna by happening to remember seeing him in Munich. Just stupid. And get this: The 20-something Caruso boys, when comparing Ferraris to women, refer to Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara. Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara ?! Is Clancy out of his mind? They were both dead before either of these kids were born. Maybe Clancy himself fantasizes about those gals, but it's ludicrous to think his young characters would ever say such a thing.
And the former President's handsome young son can travel throughout Europe at will without being mobbed by reporters/admirers?
Did anyone notice that the terrorists headed to Sacramento somehow end up in Provo, Utah instead? Does anyone care by the end of the book?
The dialogue and character development in this book are nowhere near as thorough as the earlier books, and Clancy has started to write every character's thoughts and speech in his own words. Tag phrases that Clancy loves to use such as "selling Girl Scout cookies", "none of them are Mother Theresa's nephew" and "pukes" pop up in multiple characters' speech.
Simplistic one dimensional characters - the Americans are faultless good guys, never make any mistakes and have all the luck whilst the bad guys (Muslims obviously) are evil beyond belief, stupid and unlucky. At least there were no English characters in the book this time which deprived him of the chance to give them all names like "Rupert Smyth" or "Quinten St John Pilkington" - to all of Clancy's fans in America please believe me when I say that NO-ONE in England has names like that.
Dialogue - Painful...I lost count of the times the Caruso brothers called each other 'bro' - they are supposed to be educated and in their late twenties - would they really talk like a couple of teenage gang-members? Does anyone in the world actually say things like "bet your bippy, bro!".
I lost count of the times that Clancy used the phrase "in ordnung" whilst the characters were in Germany...as in "everything was 'in ordnung'"...yes Tom, we know they are in Germany, we know that the Germans have a reputation for being organised and we know that the German for "in order" sounds very similar the the same phrase in English...we are not stupid and do not need to be reminded of this fact over and over and over again.
The characters and issues are presented in such a black and white way that the reader is left in absolutely no doubt that this is actually how Clancy thinks...there is absolutely no attempt in the book to examine the motives of the terrorists other than that they hate America - no mention of Palestine no examination of American foreign policy...just the view that anyone American is 100% right and virtuous and anyone else either doesn't matter or is evil. It's tiresome.
His manly assassins are lily-livered. Half the book is about two soldiers, both of whom have killed before, agonizing over whether in their new assignment they could kill a terrorist in cold blood. (Where did he get these guys?)
Then, these super secret agents, killing outside the law or under any government control, make one huge blunder after another, to wit:
The check into the ritziest hotels where they will be sure to be remembered, instead of some down & out hole in the wall. They use American Express Black credit cards--so rare that their use will be sure to be remembered. They rent a Porsche to drive half-way across Europe instead of anonymously taking the train.
p. 17 and 19; Dominic disarmed and handcuffed the dead body then later the FBI took the knife from the subjects hand and bagged it.
p. 208 and 222; The target cities were Des Moines, Colo. Spr., Charlottsville, and Sacramento. Then magically on page 222 Sacramento is changed to Provo, Utah.
p. 176; During the test firing of the MAC-10s Juan assumed the noise could not be heard by a house 4 kilometers away but "In this he was mistaken." I would expect that stating that would have some significance -- however nothing ever came of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2022
No one has ever given Tom Clancy the credit he deserves for being one of the few who saw the specter of 9-11. His book "Debt of Honor" used a jet to crash into Congress in 1995 years before 9-11. Here he uses the broken southern border as an entry point for Muslim terrorists to enter the United States guided by Mexican cartel members. Sounds like a ripped from the headlines plot from today, except this book is almost 20 years old. Tom Clancy loves his intricate plots with multiple characters and long, often rambling, narrative sections. Overall, I enjoy these books for the sheer genius and insight into history and the workings of covert organizations.
Sixteen Muslim men are smuggled across the southern border by members of Mexican drug cartel, given automatic weapons and let loose in the USA. What they planned to do was no business of the cartel. Whatever they did would take the eyes off of them and they got paid an insane amount of money to provide this service. Win-Win. The mission was to sting America and that they did.
Jack Ryan Sr. knew that a new age of terrorism had dawned and playing by the rules wasn't going to win this war, so he set about implementing a new way to fight it. The Campus was born. A totally off the book agency with no funding from congress and no rules to follow either. Hendley Associates is a wildly profitable trading firm with no clients and whose profits are used to fight the war on terror on The Campus.
Jack Ryan Jr. is a son looking for a way to make a difference. He stands in the shadow of a truly great man and wants to make his life count, but in a different way. When he joins Hendley Associates he has a pretty good idea what they were about, and it wasn't just trading. His analytical skills are useful and put to work tracking a terrorist organization the other agencies have largely ignored. If making a difference was Jack's goal - mission accomplished.
The Campus is always looking for people who want to make a real difference on the operational side of the equation. Dominic Caruso is an FBI rookie who knows that sometimes staying within the strictures of the law doesn't always equal justice. He has been recruited for the operations side of The Campus. Likewise, his twin brother, Brian - a Marine captain, has also made an impression and been recruited.
Their mission is to find and eliminate terrorists that the government can't touch and when an unspeakable act of terrorism takes place in the heart of America, they are ready to track down and destroy those responsible.
Sixteen Muslim men are smuggled across the southern border by members of Mexican drug cartel, given automatic weapons and let loose in the USA. What they planned to do was no business of the cartel. Whatever they did would take the eyes off of them and they got paid an insane amount of money to provide this service. Win-Win. The mission was to sting America and that they did.
Jack Ryan Sr. knew that a new age of terrorism had dawned and playing by the rules wasn't going to win this war, so he set about implementing a new way to fight it. The Campus was born. A totally off the book agency with no funding from congress and no rules to follow either. Hendley Associates is a wildly profitable trading firm with no clients and whose profits are used to fight the war on terror on The Campus.
Jack Ryan Jr. is a son looking for a way to make a difference. He stands in the shadow of a truly great man and wants to make his life count, but in a different way. When he joins Hendley Associates he has a pretty good idea what they were about, and it wasn't just trading. His analytical skills are useful and put to work tracking a terrorist organization the other agencies have largely ignored. If making a difference was Jack's goal - mission accomplished.
The Campus is always looking for people who want to make a real difference on the operational side of the equation. Dominic Caruso is an FBI rookie who knows that sometimes staying within the strictures of the law doesn't always equal justice. He has been recruited for the operations side of The Campus. Likewise, his twin brother, Brian - a Marine captain, has also made an impression and been recruited.
Their mission is to find and eliminate terrorists that the government can't touch and when an unspeakable act of terrorism takes place in the heart of America, they are ready to track down and destroy those responsible.
October 10, 2010
Tom Clancy
The Teeth of the Tiger
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2003
431 pp. $27.95
0-399-15017-X
Terrorism can cause death, destruction, and hatred. In the novel The Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy, we learn about terrorism from the points of view of the Islamic terrorists, of innocent bystanders, and of the people that have dedicated their lives to stopping it. This novel is about two twin brothers, named Brian and Dominic Caruso, that get thrown into the fight against them. The Teeth of the Tiger fits into its genre of action/mystery in many ways.
The Caruso brothers get recruited by a top-secret organization called “The Campus” to find and eliminate known terrorists and supporters of them. “The Campus” is so top-secret that not even the current president knows about it. They sort through e-mails and phone calls to try and find terrorists. The Caruso brothers were hired to act upon the information the analysts find and eliminate the known terrorist threat using a drug called succinylcholine injected through a hypodermic needle. It completely shuts down every system in the body. This novel is full of action and is perfect for any action-lover.
We also get a point of view of things from an analysts’ point of view. We get to learn about some of the targets they are tracking, and they put together evidence over a long period of time. It gets very intense and you can not put the book down. This book is also full of mystery and any mystery-loving reader would love this novel.
All-in-all, this novel is a great read for anyone looking for action, mystery, or suspense. I would highly suggest this book to anyone.
The Teeth of the Tiger
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2003
431 pp. $27.95
0-399-15017-X
Terrorism can cause death, destruction, and hatred. In the novel The Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy, we learn about terrorism from the points of view of the Islamic terrorists, of innocent bystanders, and of the people that have dedicated their lives to stopping it. This novel is about two twin brothers, named Brian and Dominic Caruso, that get thrown into the fight against them. The Teeth of the Tiger fits into its genre of action/mystery in many ways.
The Caruso brothers get recruited by a top-secret organization called “The Campus” to find and eliminate known terrorists and supporters of them. “The Campus” is so top-secret that not even the current president knows about it. They sort through e-mails and phone calls to try and find terrorists. The Caruso brothers were hired to act upon the information the analysts find and eliminate the known terrorist threat using a drug called succinylcholine injected through a hypodermic needle. It completely shuts down every system in the body. This novel is full of action and is perfect for any action-lover.
We also get a point of view of things from an analysts’ point of view. We get to learn about some of the targets they are tracking, and they put together evidence over a long period of time. It gets very intense and you can not put the book down. This book is also full of mystery and any mystery-loving reader would love this novel.
All-in-all, this novel is a great read for anyone looking for action, mystery, or suspense. I would highly suggest this book to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2011
As a long time reader of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series, I avoided reading Teeth of the Tiger for several years because I knew it wouldn’t live up to the original series. Unfortunately, my fears turned out to be totally justified.
The original Ryan novels, all of which I gave at least four stars here on goodreads, were some of the most complex and suspenseful books I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. In short, they were the gold standard of the international thriller genre—imitated by many, surpassed by few.
Unfortunately, all of what made the original series so excellent--multifaceted plots, exhaustive detail, and intrigue—were, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent in Teeth of the Tiger. The plot was extremely one-dimensional, the pace was agonizing, and there was a distinct lack of any form of exciting conclusion or ultimate event—something at which the Clancy of old was a master. The only saving grace for me was the nostalgia factor. It was fun catching up with familiar characters, though only via conversations between newer characters. The closest we come to Jack Ryan the elder, for example, is knowing he is on the other end of a phone call—wholly unsatisfying, for those of us who craved Ryan books of old.
What’s more, the quality of Clancy’s writing has gotten drastically worse. His attempt to capture how young people talk was simply painful. The majority of the dialogue between two of the main characters was horrible, reading both as unrealistic and forced. The same conversations seemed to take place repeatedly, many times using the exact catch phrases and themes over and over again. It seemed like extraordinarily lazy writing, especially for an author of Clancy’s caliber.
On the whole, I’d advise any long time Clancy reader to skip this installment. Your time would be better spent reliving some of the moments that made the original Ryan series so great, none of which you’ll find in this novel.
The original Ryan novels, all of which I gave at least four stars here on goodreads, were some of the most complex and suspenseful books I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. In short, they were the gold standard of the international thriller genre—imitated by many, surpassed by few.
Unfortunately, all of what made the original series so excellent--multifaceted plots, exhaustive detail, and intrigue—were, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent in Teeth of the Tiger. The plot was extremely one-dimensional, the pace was agonizing, and there was a distinct lack of any form of exciting conclusion or ultimate event—something at which the Clancy of old was a master. The only saving grace for me was the nostalgia factor. It was fun catching up with familiar characters, though only via conversations between newer characters. The closest we come to Jack Ryan the elder, for example, is knowing he is on the other end of a phone call—wholly unsatisfying, for those of us who craved Ryan books of old.
What’s more, the quality of Clancy’s writing has gotten drastically worse. His attempt to capture how young people talk was simply painful. The majority of the dialogue between two of the main characters was horrible, reading both as unrealistic and forced. The same conversations seemed to take place repeatedly, many times using the exact catch phrases and themes over and over again. It seemed like extraordinarily lazy writing, especially for an author of Clancy’s caliber.
On the whole, I’d advise any long time Clancy reader to skip this installment. Your time would be better spent reliving some of the moments that made the original Ryan series so great, none of which you’ll find in this novel.
December 19, 2016
I love the Caruso brothers, but the morality discussions among them are too tiring. The ending was too abrupt.
May 14, 2020
History: I really liked ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘Patriot Games.’ I now believe that Clancy, before he made it big, had his manuscripts reshaped by editors. Then came his bloated phase, where he was too rich to accept help from his betters, ‘thrillers’ of 500,000 words with a 100,000-word story hidden inside, like a vein of tin in a mountain of lead. When I saw ‘The Teeth of the Tiger’ was a normal size, I thought maybe Clancy had seen the light.
Not hardly.
This appears to be an immediate-post-9-11 novel. The Islamists are back for more; here they make a plan to smuggle shooters into the U.S. for the purpose of attacking soft targets.
What’s wrong with this limp, literature-free book? What isn’t?
Characters: three young men, one an FBI agent, one a marine, and one Jack junior, son of Jack Ryan senior, are recruited into a super-secret anti-terrorism organization. They are handsome, athletic, smart, dedicated, patriotic. They respect their parents, women, the flag, and hard work. They are perfect, and as such, they are clones. Nobody has a personal problem, nobody has a relationship, nobody has a contrary opinion. As a substitute for character development, each of the clones muses about the rules of warfare, i.e. when is it okay to kill an enemy of America. They muse this like clockwork, every other scene through the book and always come to the same, comic-book conclusion: it’s good to kill the bad guys. On the other side, the bad guys hate America, Americans, the west, women, infidels, non-believers, and Jews. They are also cloned, indistinguishable as they indulge in alcohol, whores, good food, and other luxuries. So, it’s the golden retrievers versus the jackals. Yay!
Plot: bad guys have a complex plan to infiltrate the US and attack soft targets. Everything goes perfectly; the reader has to suffer a dozen chapters of getting in cars, riding, walking, sitting in motels, eating takeout food. Good guys are training to be ninja killers. Nothing goes wrong with this; they eat, they sleep, they practice shooting, climbing ropes, following people, hiding in doorways. No challenges, no tension, no interest or feeling from the reader other than an impatient cry to get on with it. Finally, two-thirds of the way through, an action chapter. The bad guys attack. As win-the-lottery luck would have it, the good guys are shoe shopping when the attack begins. They dispatch the bad guys with ease, using their training, ability, and the guns they’re required to carry in public, quote, to get the feel, unquote. Really? One guy’s FBI. I bet he’s used to carrying his gun. Oh, but they don’t get to be the heroes unless they’re armed. How convenient. After that, it’s time for the golden retrievers to punish the organizers of the attack. They do this, repeatedly, always without problems, tension, or challenges. Lots and lots of eating, lounging in motels, riding in taxis, sitting around and sipping coffee. By the end, they have eliminated some underlings and plan to get the head guy (a stand-in for Bin Laden) in the next book. Oh. So, this book is only 150,000 words long because it’s only the setup for the next book.
Prose: Clancy was a lazy, boring writer. He conveys ideas, especially his simplistic world-view (shared by all good guy characters) that America is great, politicians are a drag on society, the press jeopardizes lives, and the military is made up of identical, dedicated patriots. Clancy can’t use humor, perhaps never had any. This makes flat writing flatter. And to make his pedestrian prose worse, he doesn’t have enough ideas, so he repeats himself endlessly, to the point where removing duplicates would bring the novel down to a reasonable size. Mostly, a Clancy novel is description of meaningless, mundane things, cars, buildings, food, traffic, weather, TV. Here’s an actual quote from the book: ‘The nice thing about electronic communications was that they did not take very long.’ What insight! So that’s why we don’t use the Pony Express anymore.
Not hardly.
This appears to be an immediate-post-9-11 novel. The Islamists are back for more; here they make a plan to smuggle shooters into the U.S. for the purpose of attacking soft targets.
What’s wrong with this limp, literature-free book? What isn’t?
Characters: three young men, one an FBI agent, one a marine, and one Jack junior, son of Jack Ryan senior, are recruited into a super-secret anti-terrorism organization. They are handsome, athletic, smart, dedicated, patriotic. They respect their parents, women, the flag, and hard work. They are perfect, and as such, they are clones. Nobody has a personal problem, nobody has a relationship, nobody has a contrary opinion. As a substitute for character development, each of the clones muses about the rules of warfare, i.e. when is it okay to kill an enemy of America. They muse this like clockwork, every other scene through the book and always come to the same, comic-book conclusion: it’s good to kill the bad guys. On the other side, the bad guys hate America, Americans, the west, women, infidels, non-believers, and Jews. They are also cloned, indistinguishable as they indulge in alcohol, whores, good food, and other luxuries. So, it’s the golden retrievers versus the jackals. Yay!
Plot: bad guys have a complex plan to infiltrate the US and attack soft targets. Everything goes perfectly; the reader has to suffer a dozen chapters of getting in cars, riding, walking, sitting in motels, eating takeout food. Good guys are training to be ninja killers. Nothing goes wrong with this; they eat, they sleep, they practice shooting, climbing ropes, following people, hiding in doorways. No challenges, no tension, no interest or feeling from the reader other than an impatient cry to get on with it. Finally, two-thirds of the way through, an action chapter. The bad guys attack. As win-the-lottery luck would have it, the good guys are shoe shopping when the attack begins. They dispatch the bad guys with ease, using their training, ability, and the guns they’re required to carry in public, quote, to get the feel, unquote. Really? One guy’s FBI. I bet he’s used to carrying his gun. Oh, but they don’t get to be the heroes unless they’re armed. How convenient. After that, it’s time for the golden retrievers to punish the organizers of the attack. They do this, repeatedly, always without problems, tension, or challenges. Lots and lots of eating, lounging in motels, riding in taxis, sitting around and sipping coffee. By the end, they have eliminated some underlings and plan to get the head guy (a stand-in for Bin Laden) in the next book. Oh. So, this book is only 150,000 words long because it’s only the setup for the next book.
Prose: Clancy was a lazy, boring writer. He conveys ideas, especially his simplistic world-view (shared by all good guy characters) that America is great, politicians are a drag on society, the press jeopardizes lives, and the military is made up of identical, dedicated patriots. Clancy can’t use humor, perhaps never had any. This makes flat writing flatter. And to make his pedestrian prose worse, he doesn’t have enough ideas, so he repeats himself endlessly, to the point where removing duplicates would bring the novel down to a reasonable size. Mostly, a Clancy novel is description of meaningless, mundane things, cars, buildings, food, traffic, weather, TV. Here’s an actual quote from the book: ‘The nice thing about electronic communications was that they did not take very long.’ What insight! So that’s why we don’t use the Pony Express anymore.
July 22, 2010
Fine Clancy, 400-pg. thriller: revenge on Muslim terrorists...
If you've suffered through some of Clancy's 1000+-page thrillers as we have, we think you'll appreciate his latest. Having just about played his Jack Ryan character for all it was worth, we now get the author's first to feature Jack junior, who appears to be taking up right where his father left off when Dad was also in the "spook" business. Adding to the interest are two Ryan cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso: -- ex-officio Marine and FBI respectively. All three young men have a new job assignment with a clandestine commercial outfit known as the Hendley Associates located in suburban Maryland (Clancy's real life environs). The company is a financial management firm that keeps an ultra low profile in both its business milieu and the local community. What the company really does is operate as a non-government adjunct to the CIA and the FBI -- one with all the access to classified intelligence that the official agencies do but one with a mission condoned by ex-President Ryan to operate on imperatives it feels necessary. Translation -- they can kill bad guys.
We watch Jack Jr. learn the financial and intelligence analysis ropes while his cousins are in training of a different sort -- how to track and execute "targets" with a space-age pen-injection needle that delivers a poison that causes an immediate and painful death in its recipient, but breaks down quickly in the dead body so that nothing but a massive heart attack remains for the medical examiners to fret over.
While these guys are learning their new duties, the story alternates with four groups of terrorist Muslims from Saudi Arabia who infiltrate the US, with some help and automatic weapons from some drug-dealing Mexicans. The four groups spread out to four "heartland" areas of the US and proceed to mass murder a bunch of innocent civilians in local shopping malls ere they are all taken down and lose their lives (and proceed according to their belief to Paradise). Enter the newly trained crew to hunt out and "handle" people involved in their caper and you get a pretty good drift of the plot.
We felt the storytelling was typically good Clancy -- the alternating plots were entertaining and that some hefty revenge was imposed upon the higher up culprits was satisfying. Some racial and ethnic stereotyping may bother some readers, and of course the Muslims make numerous anti-Semitic references to Israel and its citizens and defenders. The length of the book was refreshingly just about right. Although it ended somewhat abruptly, the stage is set for many more Clancy additions to this story line if he so desires. Meanwhile, we think most readers will enjoy this tale of international intrigue and terror.
If you've suffered through some of Clancy's 1000+-page thrillers as we have, we think you'll appreciate his latest. Having just about played his Jack Ryan character for all it was worth, we now get the author's first to feature Jack junior, who appears to be taking up right where his father left off when Dad was also in the "spook" business. Adding to the interest are two Ryan cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso: -- ex-officio Marine and FBI respectively. All three young men have a new job assignment with a clandestine commercial outfit known as the Hendley Associates located in suburban Maryland (Clancy's real life environs). The company is a financial management firm that keeps an ultra low profile in both its business milieu and the local community. What the company really does is operate as a non-government adjunct to the CIA and the FBI -- one with all the access to classified intelligence that the official agencies do but one with a mission condoned by ex-President Ryan to operate on imperatives it feels necessary. Translation -- they can kill bad guys.
We watch Jack Jr. learn the financial and intelligence analysis ropes while his cousins are in training of a different sort -- how to track and execute "targets" with a space-age pen-injection needle that delivers a poison that causes an immediate and painful death in its recipient, but breaks down quickly in the dead body so that nothing but a massive heart attack remains for the medical examiners to fret over.
While these guys are learning their new duties, the story alternates with four groups of terrorist Muslims from Saudi Arabia who infiltrate the US, with some help and automatic weapons from some drug-dealing Mexicans. The four groups spread out to four "heartland" areas of the US and proceed to mass murder a bunch of innocent civilians in local shopping malls ere they are all taken down and lose their lives (and proceed according to their belief to Paradise). Enter the newly trained crew to hunt out and "handle" people involved in their caper and you get a pretty good drift of the plot.
We felt the storytelling was typically good Clancy -- the alternating plots were entertaining and that some hefty revenge was imposed upon the higher up culprits was satisfying. Some racial and ethnic stereotyping may bother some readers, and of course the Muslims make numerous anti-Semitic references to Israel and its citizens and defenders. The length of the book was refreshingly just about right. Although it ended somewhat abruptly, the stage is set for many more Clancy additions to this story line if he so desires. Meanwhile, we think most readers will enjoy this tale of international intrigue and terror.
March 31, 2011
Oh how the mighty have fallen! Some of my favorite novels are The Hunt for Red October and Executive Orders., products of a true master. By the time he wrote this novel, though, Mr. Clancy seemed to have lost it his touch. Red Rabbit was at best passable and The Teeth of the Tiger continued the decline. Full of platitudes (“if possible, the service in Vienna was even better than in Munich”) and repetitions, it makes one believe the rumors that he does not write anymore, and the novels are group efforts by his staff. Supposedly, Clancy supervises and approves. It’s very sad to see what was once a great author who has declined so much.
Having said that, The Teeth of the Tiger is still a somewhat entertaining novel, arguably worth a read for the Clancy fan. The story is about a US agency so deep undercover that it is not even part of the government (insert worrying comments about vigilantism here) and terrorism against America. Unfortunately it is predictable to the point of annoyance on the part of this reader., I really wanted to like this book, and was having a pretty good time. Unfortunately the ending, while in fact coming to some sort of conclusion, does leave a lot of stuff just hanging there.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=549
Having said that, The Teeth of the Tiger is still a somewhat entertaining novel, arguably worth a read for the Clancy fan. The story is about a US agency so deep undercover that it is not even part of the government (insert worrying comments about vigilantism here) and terrorism against America. Unfortunately it is predictable to the point of annoyance on the part of this reader., I really wanted to like this book, and was having a pretty good time. Unfortunately the ending, while in fact coming to some sort of conclusion, does leave a lot of stuff just hanging there.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=549
January 16, 2010
How many times can I claim that some book is the worst book I ever read before I'm pegged as always crying wolf? Well, this one is a contender. You will be dumber for having read it.
Clancy has never been a talented writer, but his earlier books at least had imaginative or entertaining plots. His last few efforts have been catastrophes, and this one is the worst of the worst. See if you can stomach this: two twin brothers, nicknamed Aldo and Enzo, are assassins working for a quasi-governmental organization (the Campus) that is accountable to no one. Jack Ryan, who is supposed to be governed by some kind of principles, has issued them pre-emptive pardons. This strikes me as legally questionable. Oh yeah, and the brothers are Jack Ryan Jr.'s cousins.
The Campus is funded by insider trading. The people that work there unilaterally decide which foreigners deserve to be killed by undercover US agents. Jack Ryan Jr. works there as well and cannot shut up for one second about what his dad did once upon a time. Though the actual Jack Ryan is not in the novel technically, his son is constantly talking about him. The assassinations ordered by the Campus are carried out by the brothers with a syringe that is disguised to look like a pen. They stick people in the butt with it and it looks like they had a heart attack. It is cowardly and stupid and the people taking this action are murderers, though you are supposed to believe they are heroes.
As you can imagine, Jack Ryan Jr. ends up going overseas and has to help commit one these crimes. I ask you to imagine for a moment how realistic it would be that Chelsea Clinton or one of the Bush twins would be hired by a secretive organization and then asked to undercover assassinate an enemy of the US on foreign soil. Do you think that would work out well? In addition, Aldo and Enzo drive around Europe in a Porsche, dress in extremely expensive suits, and check into the same hotel as their target at one point. Great spies, these two. They also kill one target without even being sure it's the right guy.
This was published in 2003, the height of rah-rah nonsense that overtook our nation for a while. Most Americans with functional value systems had an awful hard time handling this, even in that environment. If you check out the amazon ratings, it has something like 800 reviews and a rating of about two stars. That is nearly unheard of from a major author. This is a disgraceful ending to the Jack Ryan series that never should have seen the light of day.
Clancy has never been a talented writer, but his earlier books at least had imaginative or entertaining plots. His last few efforts have been catastrophes, and this one is the worst of the worst. See if you can stomach this: two twin brothers, nicknamed Aldo and Enzo, are assassins working for a quasi-governmental organization (the Campus) that is accountable to no one. Jack Ryan, who is supposed to be governed by some kind of principles, has issued them pre-emptive pardons. This strikes me as legally questionable. Oh yeah, and the brothers are Jack Ryan Jr.'s cousins.
The Campus is funded by insider trading. The people that work there unilaterally decide which foreigners deserve to be killed by undercover US agents. Jack Ryan Jr. works there as well and cannot shut up for one second about what his dad did once upon a time. Though the actual Jack Ryan is not in the novel technically, his son is constantly talking about him. The assassinations ordered by the Campus are carried out by the brothers with a syringe that is disguised to look like a pen. They stick people in the butt with it and it looks like they had a heart attack. It is cowardly and stupid and the people taking this action are murderers, though you are supposed to believe they are heroes.
As you can imagine, Jack Ryan Jr. ends up going overseas and has to help commit one these crimes. I ask you to imagine for a moment how realistic it would be that Chelsea Clinton or one of the Bush twins would be hired by a secretive organization and then asked to undercover assassinate an enemy of the US on foreign soil. Do you think that would work out well? In addition, Aldo and Enzo drive around Europe in a Porsche, dress in extremely expensive suits, and check into the same hotel as their target at one point. Great spies, these two. They also kill one target without even being sure it's the right guy.
This was published in 2003, the height of rah-rah nonsense that overtook our nation for a while. Most Americans with functional value systems had an awful hard time handling this, even in that environment. If you check out the amazon ratings, it has something like 800 reviews and a rating of about two stars. That is nearly unheard of from a major author. This is a disgraceful ending to the Jack Ryan series that never should have seen the light of day.
June 8, 2008
The fact that it took me months to finish a Clancy book already says it all. I usually read them pretty much straight through in a couple days.
The trio of Jack Ryan Junior and his indistinguishable cousins, Aldo and Enzo or Brian and something were never very sympathetic characters. Page after page was devoted to them but in the end you couldn't fill an index card with insights into their personality and motivations.
The plot drags and the stakes are so low it's like trying to go back to playing nickel slots after a night of no-limit hold'em. Granted, the terrorists' plot is certain feasible and somewhat terrifying, but nothing compared to past Jack Ryan universe books.
The payback by the good guys comes up short as well. As I approached the end of the book I kept waiting for things to speed up, but instead I got Aldo and Enzo's drive through the Italian countryside and their burning desire to stop for a bite to eat.
The book then abruptly reaches an ending meant to set up the sequel(s), but I doubt I'll bother to read them.
The trio of Jack Ryan Junior and his indistinguishable cousins, Aldo and Enzo or Brian and something were never very sympathetic characters. Page after page was devoted to them but in the end you couldn't fill an index card with insights into their personality and motivations.
The plot drags and the stakes are so low it's like trying to go back to playing nickel slots after a night of no-limit hold'em. Granted, the terrorists' plot is certain feasible and somewhat terrifying, but nothing compared to past Jack Ryan universe books.
The payback by the good guys comes up short as well. As I approached the end of the book I kept waiting for things to speed up, but instead I got Aldo and Enzo's drive through the Italian countryside and their burning desire to stop for a bite to eat.
The book then abruptly reaches an ending meant to set up the sequel(s), but I doubt I'll bother to read them.
April 9, 2013
"The Teeth Of The Tiger" is proof that authors can (and often do) run out of steam and need to take breaks from an idea thread. The background plot / organization is thin and a bit convoluted. We have, somehow, leaped in time to where Jack Ryan Jr. is an adult and has graduated college. We're also introduced to two heretofore unknown cousins, Mike and Dominic. Though their last name is different, I couldn't help but notice those are the also the names of recurring naval officer Bart Mancuso's sons.
All of this makes me feel that Clancy has gone to the Jack Ryan-related well once too often with this book. And it reads as though Clancy threw it together in a short amount of time, to meet a publisher's deadline for a finished product. This author did FAR better with his early works, and the last one I would consider good (and it was only borderline good) was "The Bear And The Dragon." The second largely John Clark Themed book, "Rainbow Six," was the last book of Clancy's to be an engaging read.
All of this makes me feel that Clancy has gone to the Jack Ryan-related well once too often with this book. And it reads as though Clancy threw it together in a short amount of time, to meet a publisher's deadline for a finished product. This author did FAR better with his early works, and the last one I would consider good (and it was only borderline good) was "The Bear And The Dragon." The second largely John Clark Themed book, "Rainbow Six," was the last book of Clancy's to be an engaging read.
April 4, 2014
Unfortunately I had to give up on this book, simply because the pace was too slow. After a promising start, nothing else happened after 200 pages and I simply didn't want to waste my life carrying on. I'm disappointed this book wasn't ripped apart by the editors as there's no excuse to fill 200 pages with needless waffle, boring dialogue and slow,slow pace.
June 2, 2019
This barely got a three from me. What I have liked about Clancy's book is his finger on "what's happenin". I've never thought that he was a good writer. This book was just a dumbed down prologue for a new series to add to his estate. Just did not seem plausible.
January 12, 2020
Tedious and unpleasant.
January 23, 2024
"L'importante era il denaro. Con i soldi si poteva acquistare il potere. Con i soldi si poteva comprare la gente e la protezione, e non solo difendere la propria vita e quella della propria famiglia, ma anche controllare il proprio Paese".
Per la prima volta Jack Ryan, il personaggio principale della saga scritta dallo statunitense Tom Clancy, cede il ruolo di protagonista al figlio Jack Ryan Jr. E tutta la trama del libro si può riassumere semplicemente così: nella prima parte c'è la pianificazione e l'attuazione di un attentato terroristico da parte di fondamentalisti islamici in territorio americano; nella seconda c'è l'indagine (e l'eliminazione fisica di chi ha orchestrato e finanziato lo stesso atto terroristico) da parte di un segretissimo ente americano istituito dal presidente Jack Ryan prima che scadesse il suo mandato.
Da questo, quindi, sembrerebbe di avere tra le mani un libro a tutta adrenalina dalla prima all'ultima pagina... invece, è di una lentezza esasperante!!! Oltretutto, e in modo alquanto assurdo, l'azione viene spesso interrotta dalle estenuanti e minuziose descrizioni delle armi e delle tecnologie presenti in quasi tutte le pagine. Altra cosa davvero inconcepibile: succede tutto nelle ultime 40 pagine (delle 450 che compongono il libro).
Non ho altro da aggiungere, se non che questo è il peggior romanzo di Tom Clancy che ho letto sino ad ora. Consigliato agli amanti del genere "spy", ma nulla di più.
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]
Per la prima volta Jack Ryan, il personaggio principale della saga scritta dallo statunitense Tom Clancy, cede il ruolo di protagonista al figlio Jack Ryan Jr. E tutta la trama del libro si può riassumere semplicemente così: nella prima parte c'è la pianificazione e l'attuazione di un attentato terroristico da parte di fondamentalisti islamici in territorio americano; nella seconda c'è l'indagine (e l'eliminazione fisica di chi ha orchestrato e finanziato lo stesso atto terroristico) da parte di un segretissimo ente americano istituito dal presidente Jack Ryan prima che scadesse il suo mandato.
Da questo, quindi, sembrerebbe di avere tra le mani un libro a tutta adrenalina dalla prima all'ultima pagina... invece, è di una lentezza esasperante!!! Oltretutto, e in modo alquanto assurdo, l'azione viene spesso interrotta dalle estenuanti e minuziose descrizioni delle armi e delle tecnologie presenti in quasi tutte le pagine. Altra cosa davvero inconcepibile: succede tutto nelle ultime 40 pagine (delle 450 che compongono il libro).
Non ho altro da aggiungere, se non che questo è il peggior romanzo di Tom Clancy che ho letto sino ad ora. Consigliato agli amanti del genere "spy", ma nulla di più.
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]
March 14, 2021
Clancy's novel on revenge with all 4 of the bad guys dying horribly with the third bad guy needed 3 body bags to pick up all the pieces !! Sparkling dialogue with action packed pages, makes for a fun read.
September 6, 2008
If I hadn't picked this one up at a local library sale for next to nothing I would not even have bothered. Sadly, this one starts off with a real kick and then fizzles into a really lame pulp novel--and not even a good one at that.
I had pretty much given up on Clancy, but then enjoyed Red Rabbit and The Bear and The Dragon almost as much as his original novels.
Now, I feel like I put my foot in a cowpie out in an Oklahoma pasture.
Let me set this one up for you:
Jack Ryan is out to pasture, no longer president. However, back when he was president he established a "private spy" organizational system with ties to NSA, CIA, FBI, and other intelligence gathering groups.
His son, Jack, jr. somehow sniffs out the existence of this organization and takes time to apply for a job. He gets hired. Big surprise, huh? His cousins, fraternal twins Dominic and Brian Caruso, are also recruited for this organization. The purpose of this group-- to identify and SNUFF the bad guys. How do they do it? Not with guns... no... but they stab the enemy with a syringe loeaded with a new drug-- a synthetic curare that is 99% undectable during an autopsy... Some stupid training exercises, then these guys get away with killing terrorists targets all over Europe-- no questions asked, since it looks like the victims just had heart attacks.
Finally, young Jack, jr., with no training, is sent into the field to assist his cousins... A conclusion that is unsatisfying and only serves to set up for another stupid insipid assinine ridiculous idiotic insane unreal goofy and overall STUPID storyline.
I think it is time to boycott Clancy's books...They have nothing to add. He starts them out fun, and then screws them up completely.
I had pretty much given up on Clancy, but then enjoyed Red Rabbit and The Bear and The Dragon almost as much as his original novels.
Now, I feel like I put my foot in a cowpie out in an Oklahoma pasture.
Let me set this one up for you:
Jack Ryan is out to pasture, no longer president. However, back when he was president he established a "private spy" organizational system with ties to NSA, CIA, FBI, and other intelligence gathering groups.
His son, Jack, jr. somehow sniffs out the existence of this organization and takes time to apply for a job. He gets hired. Big surprise, huh? His cousins, fraternal twins Dominic and Brian Caruso, are also recruited for this organization. The purpose of this group-- to identify and SNUFF the bad guys. How do they do it? Not with guns... no... but they stab the enemy with a syringe loeaded with a new drug-- a synthetic curare that is 99% undectable during an autopsy... Some stupid training exercises, then these guys get away with killing terrorists targets all over Europe-- no questions asked, since it looks like the victims just had heart attacks.
Finally, young Jack, jr., with no training, is sent into the field to assist his cousins... A conclusion that is unsatisfying and only serves to set up for another stupid insipid assinine ridiculous idiotic insane unreal goofy and overall STUPID storyline.
I think it is time to boycott Clancy's books...They have nothing to add. He starts them out fun, and then screws them up completely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2022
es una novela de espionaje norteamericana que equivale a crónica de una muerte anunciada. Y no me refiero a ese libro espectacular. Desde hace un tiempo, me cuesta leer libros demasiado ideológicos cuando no coinciden con mis principios. En la contratapa del libro aparece el autor con un vestuario típico militar. Eso ya me debió decir mucho. Este libro es una especie de saga secundaria a Juegos de Patriotas. Disfruté bastante esa película y su continuación, pero es el primer libro que leo de Clancy. Aquí tenemos al hijo de Jack Ryan, que se llama igual. En la serie de Amazon lo representa el actor que protagoniza The Office. Al igual que el personaje que actuó Harrison Ford en los 80, su hijo es un buen chico, casi un pan de Dios. Un patriota. Y sus primos son idénticos. Personajes bastante planos e insustanciales. La narrativa es pormenorizada pero no histórica, se concentra en describir armas, lugares y automóviles. Muy masculino todo. Si bien entretiene pese a los lapsos de descripciones extensas, me agotó mi paciencia el tono ideológico caricaturizado. De un lado los santos, muy inteligentes, fuertes y guapos, del otro extremo los demonios, algo estúpidos, inmorales y malos. En verdad, la credibilidad de la historia es bajisima, ninguna similitud con la realidad. Por favor, no crean que tomo partido, no. Sólo que no creo que sea así. Un libro muy apto para hombres bien anticuados que buscan leer adrenalina. Yo no lo recomiendo al resto. Pero veré la serie a ver si mejora algo. #losdientesdeltigre #tomclancy
November 4, 2008
Tom Clancy is one of the best conspiracy and political writers in my opinion. His books are famous for being well-researched and realistic. Many of his creations have also been turned into best-selling games.
I do not think this was one of his better books as it read like a mediocre conspiracy novel. It didn’t have the same researched and authentic feel as the other books but was just as dense.
This is the last Jack Ryan book even though this book is about Jack Jr. And maybe it was just me but it seemed like the exact same person. Normally, Tom Clancy has very strong, developed plot with the perfect amount of action at the perfect parts. This time though, the book is filled with action with just enough dialogue to justify it as a coherent storyline. The book itself is still good but is disappointing compared to the author’s older work.
The book is based around ‘The Campus‘, and organization created by Jack Ryan Jr. It is separate from the government and funds itself by playing the stock market. The organization is then not restrained by American law and is also armed with several pre-written presidential pardons from Jack Ryan Sr. An Islamic fundamentalist group attacks from the U.S./Mexico border. This book is about the struggle against them.
This book is still good for any conspiracy or action reader, but don’t expect the same material all the way through from Clancy. I’d say the book would be good if you felt like some action and wanted a lighter read.
I do not think this was one of his better books as it read like a mediocre conspiracy novel. It didn’t have the same researched and authentic feel as the other books but was just as dense.
This is the last Jack Ryan book even though this book is about Jack Jr. And maybe it was just me but it seemed like the exact same person. Normally, Tom Clancy has very strong, developed plot with the perfect amount of action at the perfect parts. This time though, the book is filled with action with just enough dialogue to justify it as a coherent storyline. The book itself is still good but is disappointing compared to the author’s older work.
The book is based around ‘The Campus‘, and organization created by Jack Ryan Jr. It is separate from the government and funds itself by playing the stock market. The organization is then not restrained by American law and is also armed with several pre-written presidential pardons from Jack Ryan Sr. An Islamic fundamentalist group attacks from the U.S./Mexico border. This book is about the struggle against them.
This book is still good for any conspiracy or action reader, but don’t expect the same material all the way through from Clancy. I’d say the book would be good if you felt like some action and wanted a lighter read.
March 27, 2009
I used to love Tom Clancy. So either his writing has gotten worse, or my standards have changed.
This book is bad in several respects. It has virtually zero editing. There are passages that are literally verbatum, often used as similies or metaphors, used in different parts of the book. It's fairly distracting.
The premise is ok, and in typical Clancy style, offers some insight into the thought processes of people in important, powerful and dark places.
The story itself is pretty bad. Mostly predictable, and poorly justified in terms of motivation. Although Clancy spends considerable time justifying everything.
Finally, it just takes way too long to tell. The Cliff (Coles) notes version would be about 2 pages long. Clancy must get paid by the word.
Still, if you like Clancy a lot, this is entertaining enough for some pulp reading. Just don't expect more.
This book is bad in several respects. It has virtually zero editing. There are passages that are literally verbatum, often used as similies or metaphors, used in different parts of the book. It's fairly distracting.
The premise is ok, and in typical Clancy style, offers some insight into the thought processes of people in important, powerful and dark places.
The story itself is pretty bad. Mostly predictable, and poorly justified in terms of motivation. Although Clancy spends considerable time justifying everything.
Finally, it just takes way too long to tell. The Cliff (Coles) notes version would be about 2 pages long. Clancy must get paid by the word.
Still, if you like Clancy a lot, this is entertaining enough for some pulp reading. Just don't expect more.
January 3, 2021
This may be one of the shortest Tom Clancy books I've read in a while Stephen SA pretty good plotline however there are definitely a lot of fillers in the plot. He could have definitely made this even shorter than what it was. But he has done a good job of introducing Jack junior.
May 20, 2023
Ok, so it's been a while since I've read a Clancy book. However, as much as they often focus on the nuts & bolts of any operation and service there is always some tension, something to make it interesting. Here? Not so much. We got some training, but there wasn't really much training in this training. Mostly characters discussing the morality of their work again and again. Not that I mind characters struggling with moral choices, but these talks here sounded so naive and not for a moment I bought that these characters are really in conflict. When it came to bad guys we got multiple chapters of them just driving. So fascinating. And the biggest problem? When the operations just started, the bad guys offered no resistance at all and got eliminated one by one without any effort. Yeah, I get it that probably that's how covert assassination work in real life, especially if all the necessary prep work was done... however a) it doesn't make for the most exciting plot, b) while we could be shown some intelligence gathering and mission preparation that made sure the assassinations go smoothly, we didn't get any of this here. It was just our protagonists bumping randomly into bad guys, watching them for a couple of hours and killing them with no opposition on tension. Usually Tom Clancy knows how to focus on the less glamorous aspects of covert work without making the book boring. Not in this one.
November 29, 2024
2.5
I just wanted to know what Tom Clancy was all about. I know I’m not the target demographic. Honestly, the writing was pretty good. The story was very slow from the start, but it did come together at the end.
This story was so obviously written in 2003. There was some language to describe certain religious groups unfavorably, and I really didn’t like that. Also, this is definitely written for men. The only female characters were sex workers who helped to identify the men to be targeted.
At this point, I’m not sure I would read another book by this author. I get why the target audience likes these, I’m not just the target.
I just wanted to know what Tom Clancy was all about. I know I’m not the target demographic. Honestly, the writing was pretty good. The story was very slow from the start, but it did come together at the end.
This story was so obviously written in 2003. There was some language to describe certain religious groups unfavorably, and I really didn’t like that. Also, this is definitely written for men. The only female characters were sex workers who helped to identify the men to be targeted.
At this point, I’m not sure I would read another book by this author. I get why the target audience likes these, I’m not just the target.
May 22, 2015
Tom Clancy created a tough act to follow with his Jack Ryan series. The end of the cold war and 9/11 reshuffled the deck of threats to the United States and The Teeth of the Tiger attempted to do the same for Clancy. As spy thrillers go, The Teeth of the Tiger is good. It actually has better pacing and less techno-drag than his late Jack Ryan novels did, coming in at a nearly anorexic 431 pages. The problem is that good is never good enough for Clancy fans and Jack Ryan can never be duplicated. In his place are his son and even more family members. Honestly, Jack Ryan, Jr. could have been any young recruit and probably should have. Besides, is it at all believable that the son of a President could ever go anywhere without a herd of paparazzi following behind them?
Clancy painted himself into a corner when he made Jack Ryan president. Once that happened, there was nowhere for his character to go other than out to pasture. So Jack Ryan Jr. became a young clone of Jack Ryan allowing Clancy to start over. Unfortunately, lightning really doesn’t strike twice.
What we are left with isn’t a bad book or bad characters. The Teeth of the Tiger is actually a pretty good story. But the characters are less interesting because we already know their entire back story, so there is nothing to reveal. It would have been better if Clancy had just started fresh. Instead, this feels like a print of a great painting – it is pretty to look at, but it doesn’t have the depth and texture of the original.
Clancy painted himself into a corner when he made Jack Ryan president. Once that happened, there was nowhere for his character to go other than out to pasture. So Jack Ryan Jr. became a young clone of Jack Ryan allowing Clancy to start over. Unfortunately, lightning really doesn’t strike twice.
What we are left with isn’t a bad book or bad characters. The Teeth of the Tiger is actually a pretty good story. But the characters are less interesting because we already know their entire back story, so there is nothing to reveal. It would have been better if Clancy had just started fresh. Instead, this feels like a print of a great painting – it is pretty to look at, but it doesn’t have the depth and texture of the original.
December 8, 2012
This unnecessary ode to boredom is set in Clancy's once visceral world of Jack Ryan. The elder Ryan is very much a shadow hanging over this, as his son is one of 3 main characters. We find Jack Jr. all grown up and working for a intelligence consulting firm secretly set up by his father years ago. Jack's job is ostensibly similar to the job his father first had at CIA, as an intelligence analyst. The book also follows the story of two brothers, one an FBI agent, the other a Marine, both recruited by the same organization to become hitmen. The idea is that they can work outside of government oversight and clean up the messes that even the CIA is unable to touch. To call the characters cardboard cutouts is being far to generous. They don't even reach the level of poorly drawn archetypes. Being Clancy's first post 9-11 novel, I was hoping that he had something to say about the restructuring of intelligence in it's aftermath. It turns out that he thinks that boring characters doing literally nothing for 300 pages while occasionally lamenting on the governments inability to kill terrorists with impunity, but never actually killing said terrorists, is pertinent conservative commentary. I don't mind Clancy's penchant for American jingoism, but if he's going to wrap his story around spies and hitmen, it would be nice to have them spy and murder occasionally. I cannot recommend this book to anyone. It is quite probably the dullest piece of fiction every conceived. Go read "The Hunt for Red October" again instead.
January 3, 2025
Español mas abajo.
I used to like Tom Clancy's books in my youth and I now, with the pandemic an all, decided to follow up; you know sort of like visiting an old friend after many years and see if we still like each other. I myself with my daughters no longer in the childhood age, am enjoying this youg adult story about a guy trying to make a name for himself outside the shadow of his VIP Dad; although I liked it a lot, it seemed to me like it was just the introduction to a series of books trying to grab a slingshot impulse from the Jack Ryan Saga; the son of Jack Ryan saga. I'm already reading the next book in the series "Dead or Alive" and it is a lot richer and full. So yeah this is just like the presentation of the new series, but still I'm having fun.
Me gustaban los libros de Tom Clancy en mi juventud y ahora, con la pandemia y todo decidí seguir; ya sabes, como visitar a un viejo amigo después de muchos años y ver si todavía nos caemos bien. Yo mismo, con mis hijas ya pasando la adolescencia y convirtiéndose en jóvenes adultos, estoy disfrutando esta historia de un adulto joven que intenta hacerse un nombre fuera de la sombra de su padre VIP; aunque me gustó mucho me doy cuenta que es solo la introducción a una serie de libros intentando coger un impulso de resortera de la Saga de Jack Ryan; la saga del hijo de Jack Ryan. Ya hasta estoy leyendo el próximo libro de la serie "Dead or Alive" y es mucho más rico y completo; así que... Sí, esto es como la presentación de la nueva serie, pero aún así me estoy divirtiendo.
I used to like Tom Clancy's books in my youth and I now, with the pandemic an all, decided to follow up; you know sort of like visiting an old friend after many years and see if we still like each other. I myself with my daughters no longer in the childhood age, am enjoying this youg adult story about a guy trying to make a name for himself outside the shadow of his VIP Dad; although I liked it a lot, it seemed to me like it was just the introduction to a series of books trying to grab a slingshot impulse from the Jack Ryan Saga; the son of Jack Ryan saga. I'm already reading the next book in the series "Dead or Alive" and it is a lot richer and full. So yeah this is just like the presentation of the new series, but still I'm having fun.
Me gustaban los libros de Tom Clancy en mi juventud y ahora, con la pandemia y todo decidí seguir; ya sabes, como visitar a un viejo amigo después de muchos años y ver si todavía nos caemos bien. Yo mismo, con mis hijas ya pasando la adolescencia y convirtiéndose en jóvenes adultos, estoy disfrutando esta historia de un adulto joven que intenta hacerse un nombre fuera de la sombra de su padre VIP; aunque me gustó mucho me doy cuenta que es solo la introducción a una serie de libros intentando coger un impulso de resortera de la Saga de Jack Ryan; la saga del hijo de Jack Ryan. Ya hasta estoy leyendo el próximo libro de la serie "Dead or Alive" y es mucho más rico y completo; así que... Sí, esto es como la presentación de la nueva serie, pero aún así me estoy divirtiendo.
April 8, 2014
A mediocre attempt to capture the (admittedly jingoistic) magic of his previous novels. Pathetic, disproportionate, ridiculous, uninterested in consequences, and - the greatest sin - forgettable. I used to like Clancy novels as a kid, but this may be the last one I ever read. There's one cool observation in the novel: FBI agents shoot enemies once, because an economy of force should always be used; Soldiers shoot twice because, to paraphrase, "anything worth shooting once is worth shooting two times".
This is a book worth shooting two times.
This is a book worth shooting two times.
December 22, 2018
I didn't like this one as much as the previous books. It seemed a lot lighter in tone, not sure I liked the plot nor the son of Jack Ryan and his attitude. Was this trying to appeal to a younger audience, it almost seems to have been written by a different author, although the credits say this is the last novel completely written by Clancy in this series... A boys own adventure with fast cars, unlimited expense accounts and killing off bad guys as if on a sports hunting trip.
August 7, 2008
I wish I could give this one negative stars, it is absolutely atrocious. I actually have liked most of Clancy's books, but he blew it with this one, he must of been on deadline. Stay away, stay far away from this or you will never look at a Clancy book again. Barf.
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