• The Cardinal of the Kremlin

  • By: Tom Clancy
  • Narrated by: Michael Prichard
  • Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (7,887 ratings)

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The Cardinal of the Kremlin  By  cover art

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

By: Tom Clancy
Narrated by: Michael Prichard
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Publisher's summary

Two men possess vital information on Russia's Star Wars missile defense system.

One of them is Cardinal -- America's highest agent in the Kremlin -- and he's about to be terminated by the KGB.

The other one is the American who can save Cardinal and lead the world to the brink of peace . . . or war.

Here is author Tom Clancy's heart-stopping masterpiece -- a riveting novel about one of the most intriguing issues of our time.

©2009 Tom Clancy (P)2010 Random House

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What listeners say about The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5,663
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    1,641
  • 3 Stars
    451
  • 2 Stars
    77
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5,385
  • 4 Stars
    1,248
  • 3 Stars
    349
  • 2 Stars
    62
  • 1 Stars
    43

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best books I have ever read or heard.

Incredible from start to finish. I don't usually agree with people who read Clancy, but the book is objective and fascinating. I never wanted to read or Luke Clancy, but this one really got to me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Me
  • 08-13-19

great book!

this was a great book! I do like the guy reading it and he did well. but sometimes I couldnt follow who was talking because he doesn't do accents very well. sometimes he would just forget to do any accent at all. but I still really enjoy his reading.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great espionage boom

I enjoyed the book. however, in the 19-ish hours to finish it I was still not very happy about the narrator. otherwise fantastic.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A worthy sequel to The Hunt for Red October

Incredibly well-written. A spellbinder that mixes International geopolitics, political science, and high tech aerospace science into a heady mix of intrigue and Cold War politics.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best Clancy book. Read after Red October

Best Clancy book I've read so far. Recommend reading this after The Hunt for Red October.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story -EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE

I'll have to agree with other users... the reading is incredibly dull, flat, emotionless and almost mechanic at times... if you manage to get over the first hour, the quality of the writer/story will grab you and make you keep coming back for more

There are portions in which the sound changes without any good reason (i.e. change of chapter)...suddenly the recording levels (bass, treble even volume at times) change. Makes you wonder if anybody actually applied any form of QC process to this product.

This is truly an EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE.

I will refer to a previous comment I've made... in terms of performance, Wil Wheaton has set the bar way high (Armada & Ready Player One)... comparing those to this one... this is just poor and lame

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Solid Performance

This was not my favorite Tom Clancy book. It was still captivating and I thought the narrator did a good job. If you only intend to read/listen to a couple Jack Ryan books, I'd suggest skipping this one. But to a real fan, it's still a great book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Still one of his best!

I read the book years ago, and loved it. I saw it in the Audible selections and decided to give it a listen. The narrator brought it to life for me and I caught myself sitting in my car until the story came to a suitable place to stop.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, poor preformance

Would you listen to The Cardinal of the Kremlin again? Why?

The story is great! The throwbacks to The hunt for Red October are a great addition.

How could the performance have been better?

It's a very monotonous performance. There's no difference in the voices of the different characters, which make it really hard to keep track of the very many points of view through out the book. Especially when Clancy jumps between parallel story lines, it takes a while to realize that you are now not at the same place anymore. The monotony compared to some of the other narrators in the Jack Ryan series also makes it feel boring at times, which is unfortunate since it is a great story!

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

At times, yes, but due to the monotony it was hard, and lost interest after a few hours.The book is also very long book, which makes it difficult!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Clancy always weaves a good tale

A continuation of the Jack Ryan spy thrillers set in the mid 1980s. The story was performed well.

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