Dead or Alive

A Jack Ryan Novel

By: Tom Clancy, Grant Blackwood

Narrated by: Lou Diamond Phillips

Length: 20 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Don't Miss the Original Series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Starring John Krasinski!

Tom Clancy delivers a #1 New York Times bestselling Jack Ryan novel that will remind readers why he is the acknowledged master of international intrigue and nonstop military action.

It is The Campus. Secretly created under the administration of President Jack Ryan, its sole purpose is to eliminate terrorists and those who protect them. Officially, it has no connection to the American government - a necessity in a time when those in power consider themselves above such arcane ideals as loyalty, justice, and right or wrong.

Now covert intelligence expert Jack Ryan Jr. and his compatriots at The Campus - joined by black ops warriors John Clark and “Ding” Chavez - have come up against their greatest foe: a sadistic killer known as the Emir. Mastermind of countless horrific attacks, the Emir has eluded capture by every law enforcement agency in the world. But his greatest devastation is yet to be unleashed as he plans a monumental strike at the heart of America.

On the trail of the Emir, Jack Ryan Jr. will find himself following in his legendary father’s footsteps on a manhunt that will take him and his allies across the globe, into the shadowy arenas of political gamesmanship, and back onto U.S. soil in a race to prevent the possible fall of the West....

Take another thrill ride with Jack Ryan.

©2010 by Rubicon, Inc. (P)2010 by Brilliance Audio, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Heart-stopping action...entertaining and eminently topical.” (The Washington Post)

“The best characters from all of Clancy’s previous novels are on the case.... For fans of the genre, Dead or Alive is likely to provide a long weekend’s pleasure.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Clancy is back at the top of his game.... In-depth research, continuous suspense, and scores of fascinating characters.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

Book 5: Narrator 2

I am a long time Tom Clancy fan and waited expectantly for this book. The plot line is complicated due to the many different story lines that run concurrently...there is also some confusion at times, if you are not paying close attention, when 'Jack' is sometimes Jack Sr and sometimes Jack Jr.

The over all story line is not particularly inspired as it revolves around international and domestic terrorism and the continued action of the Rainbow special forces group. However, if you like this genre, you will be entertained.

I see others enjoyed Lou Diamond Phillips as the narrator and he does a very good job with accents> However, he uses a reading style like he is a TV golf announcer on the 18th green - kind of a whisper/talk voice...he seems to use whispers as a point of emphasis...whatever it was, I often found that many minutes had passed before I realized that I had not been listening...I ended up buying the hardcopy book.

Disappointing

The best part of this book is the narration by Lou Diamond Phillips. He did an excellent job! There is too much going on, especially without smooth transitions. Even for Clancy, it jumps around too much with too much detail, It doesn't get really interesting until just before the end. He could have eliminated about half the book and told the same story. I don't like abridged books, but this one needs to cut down. It won't lose a thing. My real disappointment was his use of outdated technology. that is one thing Clancy has always been very current with. Unfortunately, that isn't the case here and it makes the story less believable in parts. I don't feel like I wasted a credit, feel like I but didn't get my money's worth

Vintage Clancy

A good story, well told. Narrator is excellent. Definitely vintage Clancy and I will listen to it again!

Repeats

I have noticed in the past few books where sections are read twice which is annoying

Dead or Alive Review

I enjoyed this book and recommend it to any Tom Clancy fan or anyone that likes books about secret government agencies.

Suits me

Would you listen to Dead or Alive again? Why?

I will be listening to this story again. While the unabridged version is on the long side this suits me and, for the price I paid provided very good listening.

What did you like best about this story?

The hero gets injured - a good change. I like the improbability of events as they unfold, but then I get around to thinking, is this for real? I love sitting, in retirement, in the sunshine listening to a good story which helps me to withdraw from reality.

Have you listened to any of Lou Diamond Phillips’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Extremely good value for money listening for retired male heros like myself.

Tedious

Way too long for the story. Full of machoisms. Cranked the sudio up to 1.75 to try to finish & hope for better writing. Not up to better Clancy stories.

Classic Clancy

Fantastic addition to the Jack Ryan story line. A bit more political than his early work but still a spy thriller through and through. Lou does a great job with the performance. The world is truly a less interesting place without Tom Clancy. RIP good sir.

GREAT story and GREAT reader

We put this on a speaker and listened to it together in front of the fireplace and loved every minute of it. The Emir sounds just like Osama Bin Laden. We were glued. Fast paced thriller. The male half of this duo thought it was a little too long but I did not.

Lou Phillips does a superb job in reading this from the pronunciation of names to the accents. He made it come to life. A good reader is all important and that he is!

Some of the reviews are correct. In this book our current President, Obama, sounds a lot like the current president in this book. If you love Obama you may be offended by this.

Recommended for Clancy fans

Another riveting read in the Clancy tradition: the right blend of real world and fiction. Lou Diamond Phillips gives an outstanding narration.