Clear and Present Danger (A Jack Ryan Novel)

Another of Clancy’s best. The movie they made based on this book was good but left so much of the story out.

My husband and son loved this book. They read it already.

I won't add to the already excellent user and critical reviews other than to post one nitpick observation: All the original novels in hardcover had "signature" fonts, artwork, and layout, and most importantly, the artwork was relevant to the story. A photo of two obviously much older F106A Delta Darts of the Montana Air National Guard, which have zero role in the story, is typical of the careless approach to the paper back covers. These aircraft technically were in service until the late 1980's before completely being phased out (which started in 1983), but have *nothing* to do with this story! It's not that hard to get it right, the original has a Sikorsky Helicopter which actually figures prominently in this story, not two second-line fighters who come no closer to the story line than the Canadian Border. Even some stock artwork of a Tomcat would have made more sense! I warned it was a "nit", but given the number of people who read these books with an appreciation of the level of effort Clancy made to be reasonably accurate w/re to equipment, I can only ask, "Did he ever see this cover? He would have had kittens!" :)

good story

Excellent thriller keep you wandering what comes next if you like action and a thriller novel this is the novel you want to read better than the movie

What makes Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels so special, is that they are not simply just action spy thrillers with espionage, explosions, etc. They feel more realistic, like as if the issues raised in the books were ripped straight out of a newspaper headline, and 'Clear and Present Danger' is no exception, as it raises the issues of U.S. American Policy; the War on Drugs; the abuse of political and military power by a government bureaucracy with no accountability; etc., and was even written with relevance to not just the War on Drugs but also the Iran–Contra Affair during Reagan's Presidency in the 1980's. But even then, the book's sociopolitical issues still feels relevant today, even in this post–Trump era. But anybody who is a Jack Ryan fan, or a general fan of political thrillers, 'Clear and Present Danger' is worth the read, and oughta be read alongside watching the movie, as well. SPOILER ALERT: Unlike in the movie where Jack Ryan is more of a main central character, in the book, he is more of a secondary character who becomes important by the second–half. And the film's ending did leave me feeling somewhat a bit frustrated, but calmed down after reading the book's ending.

I always thought of this as Tom Clancy's first post-Cold War book but in fact it was published in 1989 and has several references to the Soviet Union. But, of course, the focus of the book is on the drug war rather than Russia. Even if you have seen the movies starring Harrison Ford many times, you will not be bored by this book. The plot is different in many respects. The book takes you back to the world of the 1980's. The drug war is described as if it is still a relatively novel thing and Clancy employs dated sounding terminology such as repeated references to "the druggies." There are about 250 pages in the later half where the plot seemed to me to stall a bit. But keep reading through to the end. To me, this book was not quite as good as Cardinal of the Kremlin but better than all the preceding Jack Ryan books.

The book was way better than the movie, the book was more realistic and explains the story better. typical Clancy detail.