Is 'The Hunt for Red October' Tom Clancy's masterpiece?

I recently finished reading a famous novel that I’ve wanted to read for a long time, Tom Clancy’s 1984 naval warfare, techno-thriller, “The Hunt for Red October.” This was Clancy’s first novel, and it went on to be a worldwide best-seller and launched Clancy’s career as a heavyweight writer.

I’ve had the chance to read a number of Clancy’s novels over the years, but for some reason I’d never taken the time to read the novel that many consider his masterpiece. I finally broke down the other day and decided to read this great book when I saw that it had been listed at No. 87 on a recommended reading list called “101 Crackerjack Sea Books.”

(This list was released in the summer of 2006 and was compiled by writer Dean King for Bookmarks Magazine. To see this list in its entirety, visit http://leepeacock2010.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-many-of-these-101-crackerjack-sea.html.)

Originally published in 1984 by the U.S. Naval Institute, “The Hunt for Red October” details the fictional cat-and-mouse search for the Soviet nuclear missile submarine, Red October. The captain is disgruntled with the oppressive life in the USSR and has convinced a handful of officers to defect to the U.S. during their sub’s maiden voyage. The U.S. wants the sub and its leaders for their intelligence value, and the Soviet want to either capture the sub or sink it before it can fall into American hands. What follows is a novel that’s required reading at military academies around the globe, including the Soviet Naval Academy. “Red October” is also reputedly a favorite book among a number of past presidents, including Ronald Reagan.

Like me, many of you will probably be familiar with this story thanks to the 1990 movie based on the novel. Directed by John McTiernan, the movie starred Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Fred Thompson and James Earl Jones. Connery plays Soviet sub captain, Marko Ramius, and Baldwin plays U.S. intelligence officer, Jack Ryan. Ryan plays prominently in a number of other Clancy novels, a few of which are referenced in “Red October.”

Of the Clancy novels that I’ve read, I have to say that “The Hunt for Red October” is probably my all-time favorite. Other Clancy novels that I’ve read and enjoyed include “Red Storm Rising” (1986), “Patriot Games” (1987), “Clear and Present Danger” (1989), “Without Remorse” (1993) and “Red Rabbit” (2002). Clancy books that I haven’t read include “The Cardinal of the Kremlin” (1988), “The Sum of All Fears” (1991), “Debt of Honor” (1994), “Executive Orders” (1996), “SSN: Strategies for Submarine Warfare” (1996), “Rainbow Six” (1998), “The Bear and the Dragon” (2000), “The Teeth of the Tiger” (2003), “Dead or Alive” (2010), “Against All Enemies” (2011) and “Locked On” (2011).

In the end, I really enjoyed reading “The Hunt for Red October,” and I gained more than a little satisfaction in crossing it off my long “books I’d like to read someday” list. How many of you out there have read this book? What did you think about it? Which of Clancy’s novels is your personal favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.