• The Sum of All Fears

  • By: Tom Clancy
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 37 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (7,812 ratings)

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The Sum of All Fears  By  cover art

The Sum of All Fears

By: Tom Clancy
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

Against all odds we have made it into the last half of the 1990s. The Cold War looks solved, Arabs and Jews are talking, confrontation is on the wane. In this new harmony, one discord - what becomes of unemployed terrorists?

You can bet they aren't going to retire quietly. Shunned by the Soviets, isolated by Middle Eastern realignment, one cadre hits on a scheme to jump-start the war machine. It's brilliant in its simplicity. With a single act they bring the world to nuclear boil. Jack Ryan and Dan Murray sweat to defuse a cataclysmic response.

©1992 Tom Clancy (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

“A whiz-bang page-turner!” (The New York Times Book Review)

The Sum of All Fears delivers!” (People)

“A nonstop roller coaster ride to a nail-biting climax...ingenious.” (Publishers Weekly)

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What listeners say about The Sum of All Fears

Average customer ratings
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    3 out of 5 stars

Riveting and multilayered plot.

Being a Baby Boomer and product of the Cold War, I found the tensions between US and USSR/Russia intriguing. Perception vs reality was quite evident in this story. This may be my favorite in Clancy’s Jack Ryan series.

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Very dry, very slow, extremely boring

I love Clancy, I love the show, but this book is… great for falling to sleep.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Edge of seat...!

By far the best book I've read from Clancy...! I highly recommend it to anyone who likes espionage thrillers...!

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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

A Tom Clancy Classic

I enjoyed it at times, though the narrators voice seem to be overdoing various characters voices

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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

Scott Brick, over dramatic as always

The setting and story are AMAZING. I wont spoil anything, but the narrator is as over dramatic in this book as he is in everything else he narrates.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A slow burn but a rewarding one

You always know where this story is going. It is going to take its sweet time getting there but this is why it is arguably one of Clancys best works. It is a very slow burn but it builds so good tension with a wonderful supporting cast. While it helps having read Hunt for Red October, Patriots Game and Clear and Present Danger ahead of this one, it is frankly not mandatory. You can start your Clancy adventure with the "last of the old". The first of the new would be Debt of Honor.

Reader does a good job with the terms and the different voices. I wish he did more of the Clancyverse.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Classic TC

Great book in horrific detail. It’s good to hold a horrible thought and potentiality in your head long enough for it to hurt occasionally.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Spellbinding

I’d read most all of the Ryan novels years ago so it’s nice going back and listening to them. I was glued to the story all the way through. Clancy has a way of starting out slow introducing all the characters in short bites, then building up to the finale with a quicker and quicker pace. Even after reading this book I was at the edge of my seat listening to this story.

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

Complex hard to follow

So many moving story parts that made it difficult to follow. I was happy to stick it out until the end.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A great listen

Scott Brick does another excellent job at narrating a very intense and sobering tale. I really enjoy these Jack Ryan stories.

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