I give this book two stars only because it is slightly better than the completely ridiculous Rainbow Six. Now Clancy has Jack Ryan as the military dictator of the U.S.; he is able to make alliances and join a war with nary a mention of Congress. Given Clancy's obvious love of the Rush Limbaugh view of America, this may not be surprising, but it doesn't make for a very good book. There are some good, if farfetched, descriptions of battle, although it is hard to believe the Chinese would be quite as stupid as Clancy would like us to think. As much as Clancy wants us to think of Ryan as a right-thinking hero, he seems not to realize what a fascistic character he has created, one whose own stupidity and unilateral actions lead to a nuclear threat to Washington, D.C. The hope that the Clancy of Red October will ever return seems utterly forlorn.