Red Storm Rising

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 battl

I will not discuss the plot here. I just believe that this novel is Clancy's best. If you like to read about Soviet vs NATO conflicts (both strategical and battlefield scenarios), here is THE book... The plot is so good and so well written that you will not be able to put this book down even after you have finished reading it.

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!

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.