Executive Orders

A monster of a book but worth every cent, this Jack Ryan tale is woven into a great tapestry. The charicters are sublime and they all work. His knowledge on warfare, be it truth or fiction, is of the highest calibre. If you only get one Clancy, get this one but be warned, it is very hard to turn off. Ideal for when you have a week of painting the house or you are confined to quarters!

I would hesitate to name any single one of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books as my favorite, but if I did Executive Orders would probably be it. What an excellent book! When I started reading this series sometime in the late 80's it never dawned on me that Jack Ryan would ever become president. Still Clancy comes up with a plausible if unlikely sequence of events to propel Jack Ryan into the presidency of the United States. My only problem with the whole scenario is that I find it hard to believe that there are any politicians with as much common sense as Jack Ryan demonstrates in this book. Prichard does a good job as narrator of this book although there might be some better choices for narrator. Some people don't care for the detail that Clancy puts into his books or the length of this book in particular. I don't understand that myself. To my way of thinking I got this audio book for entertainment. Isn't 51 hours of entertainment better than 5 hours of entertainment? Would I recommend this book? I sure would!

Several reviews suggested that Tom Clancy and his reader, Michael Prichard, had missed the mark with this edition of Jack Ryan. I am about half through with the book and find it exceptional and the narration is quite good.

Perhaps if you have not read any of the other books in this series, or not seen any of the pictures, you might get lost in the plot. However, anyone who is a fan of Tam Clancy and these charcters should find this an outstanding read. The complaint about the detail is understandable, but this is what Clancy has built his readership.
I was concerned with the negative reviews, but very happy I purchased this book, and find the unabridged version much to my satisfaction.

I have been listening to the complete "Ryanverse" from start to finish. The different readers have different styles but I haven't had an issue with either.

Admittedly its a shock switching from one to another after listening for 40-50 hours but after an hour or so it doesn't matter to me. If it was possible to pick one I would stick with one but so it goes. The Clancy books are a good read or a good listen and that upwards of 55 hours you do get your moneys worth.

I think it is fair to say that Tom Clancy's tales would not be for everyone! For starters, there's the sheer volume of listening that's required! And then the stories themselves are woven together with many threads. This particular story seems so completely improbable that it is a tribute both to Tom's lively imagination and the Narrator, Michael Pritchard's delivery, that the end result is a story which seems completely plausible!
I'm sure others would disagree on that point but I found the descriptions of the various phases of the book quite believable. Tom's writing style has always appealed to me. His account of the battle phases carry comprehensive details of the weaponry used & it's effects. It could all be made up or it could be meticulously researched but the end result is beyond question!
If you drive a lot, like I do, or you simply have the time necessary for such a story, then I would recommend it!

This is one of my favorite Clancy novels. It is an amazing story and to think it was witten several years prior to 9/11!

I was a little diasappointed by Michael Prichard's reading of the unabridged version. In my opinion, the gentleman that does the abridged version did a much better job with a variety of accents.

This is one book I enjoy lisening to over and over again. The detail of the tank and air battles are great.

I love Tom Clancy but this book goes on forever and get bogged down in the military and political intrigue. It doesn't help that the narrator is too soft spoken for me to understand easily. I liked the book okay overall and it is sure a bargain if you pay by the word but I rate this pretty low compared to some of his other great books. It does tell an essential part of the Jack Ryan storyline so it's still a must read if you want to know Jack...

Wow....painfully slow over detailed. Wanted to put me to sleep. I usually like this particular narrator, but even he sounded bored and tired while reading. Slightly interesting educational stuff.

I have read most of Tom Clancy's work. I have enjoyed it all. Upon joining Audible I looked for the opportunity to hear his work and see if the stories were as alive as reading. Notwithstanding the mediocre narration in Executive Orders, the answer is yes. Sure I would have preferred a better performance but for me the story is the reason why we read or listen. If you are a new to Tom Clancy, I recommend you read or listen to Debt of Honor first. Doing so will really set the stage for Executive Orders and introduce you to Jack Ryan.

I love Tom Clancy books. Read Debt of Honor and loved it. I decided to listen to Executive Orders. I am only about 1 hour into the 51 hours and I am in pain, the narrator is terrible. He speaks in a monotone, there is no inflections, no excitement, no trying to make different voices for different characters. I'm considering stopping and just reading it myself. I'm sure the story is great, but the narrator is just ruining it.