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))

Riveting

I sped through it! I can’t wait for the next one. LDP is an awesome narrator.

Bringing Clark and Chavez into the Campus. Thanks for that.

Lou Diamond Phillips did a great job. Been a fan and it was a pleasent surprise to find him being the voice actor. Great move and hope he does more.

Pretty Good

After the last novel "Teeth of the Tiger" which was flat and of no substance, this was a definite improvement. It was great to have the old guard come back and I really like the way Tom Clancy integrated the old characters with the new. That said, the timeline of the plot of the "bad guys" is convoluted. That was the only thing that prevented this book from being a great story. Tom Clancy had an original idea, technically correct, great characters but I think he spread himself too thin and it caused the timeline of the book to be both confusing and inaccurate.
As far as the narrator, much to my surprise, Lou Diamond Phillips did a good job reading this book. So If you love the characters from the old Jack Ryan series, and want to see them in a more modern setting then this is a pretty good book. If its your first time reading a a Jack Ryan series, I would not recommend this book at all. Try starting with the Hunt for Red october.

Clancey Is Back For Real!!!

The novels Tom Clancey recently has written were just not up to snuff. Dead or Alive shows he still has what it takes and can take us into the deapths of the spy world in the modern era. This book sets the stage for what could be many to follow. We can only hope. A fantastic listen.

Good Grief

Clancy's politics pretty much destroy an entertaining terrorist killing story. He types his non-right wing characters as if he had a High School educated T Party member mentality. In the post 9/11 world it would be very difficult to find anyone who would not applaud the deaths of some Afghan Taliban Al-Queda nut jobs in cave. Much less a President who would prosecute some soldiers for eliminating them in their sleep. Simply beyond belief and so very silly. I doubt you could find anyone in Washington now who isn't fulling in support of eradicating every one of those murderous nut jobs.
For Clancy it seems if you have a care about the environment and decry the thieves on Wall Street you must be against the young mostly minority people who defend the nation and that's really just too stupid to stomach.
Still I enjoyed reading the exploits of the young mostly black men who took out the people responsible for state sponsored terrorism and simply ignored his ignorant and transparent wing nut BS. Clancy could be so much more subtle and accurate and still score some political points but anybody that buys his characterizations is already past any reason or intelligence so what does it matter?

Made me uneasy...

Though I consider myself a fan of Tom Clancy's writings, I found this book to be so similar to previous writings that I had to force myself to finish it. There's the additional consideration that even though I know its just a story, I, the reader have to wrestle with (along with the characters, I admit) the ethics of vigilante justice. The world is a dangerous place and though I recognize this truth, I don't like to hear about people who unilaterally decide that this guy is a bad guy and should be removed from the scene. To be sure, in the end all the bad guys in this book really are bad guys, but still this moral ambiguity exists, and that steals some of the Hollywood magic from the story.

Though Lou Diamond Phillips' performance was good, it was not stellar. He does not come close to the performance heights of a Stefan Rudnicki, or a Scott Brick or a Michael Kramer.

If you want a thriller, try one of the Clive Cussler novels. They might be quirky and full of "goodness, can they do that?" but I have yet to read or listen to a story from his pen that makes me wonder whether I am rooting for the good guys. This Clancy novel had me...concerned.

Clancy doing what he does best

Which is throwing eleven-teen-billion balloons into the sky in the first 1/5th of the book, spend 3/5th crocheting them together and the last 1/5th showing you what you couldn't figure out for yourself as he knits those strings into a lovely ball gown worthy of the Oscars.

The story is nothing new in Clancys work but the performance by Lou Diamond Phillips saves what could have been a dry book (with it's minute details of the exact piece of iron and the bullets that fire from it ad nauseum. LDP can make even these things interesting.

There are the requisite number f good guys who get killed being where they don't belong and bad guys getting caught being bad guys.

This novel takes place after Ryan Sr. leaves the white house and Jack Ryan Jr is moe into the action than good old dad.

A good story line, not great, but good brought up nicely by the performance. Kudos to Clancy for choosing Lou Diamond Phillips for the performer. Great accents, great women's voices.

Fully enjoyed this book.

Exiting, well told, too many characters

It is good, sometimes too much detail but it is fine I would read his books again

Great narrator, subpar Clancy

Lou Diamond Phillips could narrate the phone book and make it exciting. He excells in foreign accents. He is the only reason I continued to listen to this book.

The plots in this series is getting too predictable. Another formula novel. Too many "good guys" who think nothing of "double-tapping" a half dozen gomers in about two minutes; just another day in the field. These co-authors aren't up to par with what made Clancy great. His name shouldn't be associated with this.

Great, may purchase book as well

Would you consider the audio edition of Dead or Alive to be better than the print version?

I have not read the book but may do so. Really enjoyed audio version, I have listened to twice.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like many of the characters but I think John Clark. He has matured but still able to provide those tense positive outcomes.

Which scene was your favorite?

There were many, but the probably would say John Ryan Jr.'s alertness leading to killing the assasin's attempt on his father.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment that particularly moved me was the loss of one of the Caruso brothers.

Any additional comments?

Glad that I listened to twice, was able to pick up on some things that I missed the first time.