Why did I read it?
Remembered enjoying the film a while back and thought the book would be worth a read for a bit more detail.
What's it all about?
For those that haven't seen the film, Red October is a Russian submarine captained by respected submariner Marko Ramius. Taking place during the Cold War, Ramius and his officers aim to defect to the US taking their brand new submarine with them. Independently, the US and Russsians get wind of the attempted defection and without alerting each other to their true intentions both sides race against time to locate the submarine. CIA analyst Jack Ryan gets thrown into the action as the CIA contact to the US military's mission following his theory that Ramius was attempting to defect and not launch missiles at the US.
Should you read it?
The Hunt for Red October is a really gripping pressure-cooker thriller and probably one of the best cold war thrillers out there. In comparison with the film adaptation, Clancy's original story includes a few extra sub-plots and twists as well as additional characters (US President and Russian ambassador). I never realised quite how boiled down the film version was. Clancy's additional detail and demonstrated research into the operation of submarines may put off some readers and perhaps understandably so, but I found it both interesting and complimentary to the plot.
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