Product Description

Tom Clancy's second classic No 1 bestselling thriller -- a chillingly authentic vision of modern war -- now reissued in a new cover. Three Muslim terrorists who destroyed the Soviet Union's largest petrochemical plant thought they were striking a blow for freedom. What they had done, unknowingly, was fire the first shots in World War III. Desperately short of oil, the Kremlin hawks see only one way of solving their problem: seize supplies in the Persian Gulf. To do that, they must first neutralise NATO's forces and eliminate their response -- and so they develop Red Storm, a dazzling master plan of diplomatic subterfuge and intense rearmament. The battle lines are drawn and Armageddon beckons!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11879 in Books
• Published on: 1988-11-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

Review
From the reviews of Red Storm Rising: 'Packed with more nerve-shattering tension than anything in print today! gripping, audacious, brilliant storytelling at its very best.' Washington Times 'Chilling authenticity! has the fascination of being on a high-speed train which is about to crash. The description of a submarine patrol racing for the safety of the icepack is as vivid as I ever hope to read.' Today

About the Author
Since the publication of The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy has established an unrivalled position as the world's leading thriller writer, with a string of million-selling novels and three major Hollywood films to his name. He is also the author of SSN and the non-fiction books Submarine, Armoured Warfare, Fighter Wing and Marine, and the co-creator of the Op-Centre series.

Customer Reviews

Simply the Best
I first read this many years ago and it is one of the only books I have read more than once. This is simply the best book I have ever read. Totally gripping and full of action but not devoid of interesting characters. The battle scenes kept me completely enthralled and the authors tactical descriptions are excellent (some may have been copied for use in real life conflicts). This war story is not all blood and gore. Clever tactical plays made by both sides aid the realism as does the occassional fall of luck. If you don't read anything else by Tom Clancy read this. I think I may just go and read it again!

Re-review
I have just finished this book for the umpteenth time.

Forget the fact that the Soviet Union no longer exists, rewind your brain to a time when the threat was very real and saviour the exquisite storytelling.

Without having to wory about the threads that run through all of the "Jack Ryan", "Op-Centre" or other series, Clancy is free to concentrate all of his abilities on this one story. The action is fast flowing and the attention to procedure and detail is as accurate as ever.

For me personally, the strongest testament to this book is; even though I have read it several times, I still found myself unable to put it down at 03:00hrs and go to bed!

Brilliant, if dated, World War III epic.
Red Storm Rising broke new ground as it was the first time in literature that World War III was depicted without the use of nuclear weapons (though it comes close). This was the first Clancy book I ever read and I thought it brilliant. The characters are great, the battle scenes are vivid and tense, the intrigue well thought out.
The NATO-Warsaw Pact scenario has obviously dated, but there are moments in the book that betray its age - the F-19, speculation about the Victor-III subs pod, and the way the MiG-29s are described (the description is of the old artist conceptions before the plane was publicly unveiled). Being a Brit, I found the portrayal of the British characters were close to being comical and stereotypical. The same goes for the Norwegian sub captain, and French and German characters. The climax is pretty good, but it came across a little rushed.
Rather brilliantly though, the book, despite its mammoth length, rarely falters in pace. Just when it seems to be slowing down, we'll jump to another scene and it'll pick up again.

Personally I prefer this book to most of the Jack Ryan novels. I noticed some reviewers accused this of being jingoistic. There's no real flagwaving going on here, unlike the Ryan books. And the Americans aren't always perfect. One Admiral's arrogance results in the sinking of several ships including a French aircraft carrier, and the USS Saipan with 2000 Marines onboard. Later, "Beagle's" reported sightings of Soviet fighters on Iceland are registered as "unconfirmed" resulting in a disastrous bombing raid which sees several B-52s getting shot down by MiG-29s.