I liked this book better when it first came out in 1994, although IIRC I rolled my eyes a few times back then too. Clancy does decent dialogue and you can't say his research is lacking - we learn the specifications and capability of practically every weapon in the Navy arsenal and much of the Air Force. While your eyes are slowly glazing over from all the techno-dumps the frequent shifts in POV help get your attention back. The plot is pretty far-fetched, but you can go with it if you don't think too hard. What I found irritating this time around was the one-dimensional, even racist, depiction of the Japanese characters. And the women. To give him credit, Clancy puts several women characters into positions of power but then gives them all this pat-on-the-head, isn't-she-so-smart treatment. Clancy also doesn't like environmentalists - we get lots of digs at them - although he seems to like whales, and everyone smokes. Otherwise it's all war or politics - we get no glimpses of family life except a couple with Ryan's wife. Familiar characters from previous Ryan novels show up, but you don't need to have read them for this story. But the ending...well. It's still painful for me, 20 years since 2001, to read that ending. Anyway - it's easy to find criticisms of the details, but Clancy did know how to tell a good story and he had a great character in Jack Ryan. I finished it in a couple days. It's leaving my bookshelves - I can't imagine wanting to read it a third time - but it was worth looking over again.
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