“The Sum of All Fears” by Tom Clancy – Nuclear Armageddon

The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy (Book cover))
First off, yes, The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy was actually made into a movie with Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck, and although it hasn't exactly received the best reviews, it wasn’t a bad movie.

If you are planning on judging the book following what you have seen in the motion picture, I would urge you to take a deep breath and remind yourself how different books can be from movies.

In any case, for those hearing about it for the first time ever, the story starts off as a group of terrorists decide to rekindle the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviet Union, who are almost at peace with each other at the moment.

In order to accomplish their plan, the terrorists get ahold of nuclear weaponry and hide it on American soil, hoping that the conflict will also prevent Israelis from making peace with the Palestinians. In other words, the whole world is on the verge of nuclear wear, and deputy director of the CIA, Jack Ryan, is the man with the plan to stop it.

As with all Tom Clancy novels, this one was riddled with extremely detailed and (probably) accurate descriptions of various military procedures, not to mention that the reasoning followed by the military personnel and politicians is explained quite well.

There is no stone left unturned, and it never feels as if someone is acting out of character or is doing something that doesn’t fit in with the story in the slightest bit. It makes for a very long chain of logical reactions, leading to the ultimate climax where the fate of the world truly hangs in the balance, made even more thrilling by the fact that the potential Armageddon depicted in the book can very well happen in real life.

The story is gripping and suspenseful, even more than usual for a Tom Clancy novel. Even though it is true that in other novels the world is at stake, the threat has never felt more real or important than in this one.

The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy (Book cover))
Maybe it’s due to the fact that it has been put together by people who can’t accept failure and are willing to sacrifice literally all that exists in order to accomplish it. Maybe it’s due to the fact that, with a hidden nuclear weapon on their soil, not a single decision can be made easily by the Americans, not to mention that the Soviet Union themselves are gearing up for war should the inevitable come to pass.

All in all, a captivating novel filled with politics and terrorism, definitely recommended for anyone who likes this type of book or is just a Tom Clancy fan.


Tom Clancy (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013)

Tom Clancy (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013)


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With numerous books, movies and even video games under his belt, Tom Clancy was one of the most accomplished writers out there, being specifically known for his enthralling and accurately-detailed military novels, such as The Sum of All Fears and The Hunt for Red October.

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