Clear and Present Danger

By: Tom Clancy

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 30 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Colombian drug lords, bored with Uncle Sam's hectoring, assassinate the head of the FBI. The message is clear: Bug off!

At what point do these druggies threaten national security? When can a nation act against its enemies? These are questions Jack Ryan must answer because someone has quietly stepped over the line.

Does anyone know who the real enemy is? How much action is too much? Which lines have been crossed? Ryan and his "dark side", a shadowy field officer known only as Mr. Clark, are charged with finding out. They expect danger from without...but the danger from within may be the greatest of all!

Take another thrill ride with Jack Ryan.

©1990 Tom Clancy (P)2010 Random House

Critic Reviews

“The issues raised are real ones, and a jump ahead of the headlines.” (The New York Times)

“Absorbing reading...You won’t stop until you hit the last pages!” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Rousing adventure...A crackling good yarn!” (The Washington Post) 

A sophisticated story badly narrated.

The story is constructed on several different layers and by itself needs a lot of concentration.
Cut over between mini chapters are hard to recognize as the narrator speaks in a very boring tone. I had to rewind very often to catch the change of scenes. When reading a book you have a visible break whereas in an audiobook the narrator should ensure this.

Jack Ryan: the thinking person's James Bond

Preface: I have been a fan of Tom Clancy novels long before I started audiobooks. I love the jargon, the level of detail, the technology described so completely. I like the military, political and even the personal intrigue. Also, as you might guess from the review headline, I think Jack Ryan makes a great hero character.

This is a fine story about America's attempt to use a covert military operation to stem the drug trade from Columbia, an action sanctioned by the president during an election year. The political infighting is fascinating - a study in personal gain, leverage, and back-stabbing. The operation itself is described with an enormous amount of detail, from the planning, supplies, strategy, tactics, and of course, weapons. Great stuff, if you're into it.

The narrator, Michael Prichard, was competent, but undistinguished. Many of his "voices" sound very similar, and at times it's difficult to keep track of which character is speaking, especially in a 3-way "conversation". Still, he is easy to understand and his pacing and pronunciation were very good. Still he's not as good as some other narrators.

Overall a failure

I've enjoyed reading the Ryan series by Clancy. I'm listening now to most of the books. I have listened to Michael Prichard's narrations before and thought well of them. I don't know why it didn't go well in this instance.

The narration did not carry the intensity of the novel well. He's done far better and hopefully this is just a fluke.

Perhaps the story doesn't lend itself to a single narrator. Regardless of the why it simply didn't gel.

Michael prichard doesn't do different voices

Michael prichard doesn't or can't change the voices for the different characters. this makes it hard to follow who's who and what is going on. the story itself is great though.

Started Slow but got there in the end

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I can't put my finger on why this story seems to start slow. The narration at the beginning did not grab, but by the end the narration was more on point.

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

The story started slow, but I was determined to continue. I can remember reading the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and almost stopped listening because of the minutiae at the start; and if I had stopped, I would not had the pleasure of that great masterpiece. In about the 2 hour mark, the story did get more intriguing and the character development of Mr. Clark and Chavez started to take shape. Jack Ryan is not the main character in this book and his role is more Inspector Clouseau than Jack Ryan.

Any additional comments?

I decided to start the Jack Ryan series from the start and listen to them in order. As an Audible member since 2001, I had purchased a few of the books early in the series that were abridged, and found the stories disjointed. So I had stopped listening to Clancy. I have since upgraded all books to unabridged and what a difference it makes to the stories.

Terrific Book. Much better Narrator

Tom Clancy does it again. The book kept my attention throughout and was hard to put down. Michael Prichard does a great job on this reproduction of the book. Unlike the other reading by J. Charles, Prichard is easy to understand and reads at an understandable rate. I can only hope that he narrates some of the other books.

Great but not 5 stars.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It set up and covered alot of really ugly issues. I love the intricate chess game.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tie between Clarke and Cortez. Both were hyper intelligent and thought quickly and effectively when things were going crazy. Both were professional and true to what they were.

Have you listened to any of Michael Prichard’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes i have. About the same. Hes terrible for voices, especially women and or accents. But he can narrate and convey a mood like no other.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

For every action...

Any additional comments?

Another fantastic character driven plot by Clancy. This one didn't feel quite as intimate as some others but the story had a very cause and effect / domino sort of feel to it. The writing does a very good job of convincing you that the situation is dire and ugly. It gives you an intimate picture of what something is. It never felt like the author just said "because is said so".

Sitting on th the Edge of your seat!

Would you listen to Clear and Present Danger again? Why?

Yes and the reason is, it is so detailed there are so many things you can miss the first time through.

What did you like best about this story?

In the Jack Ryan series I always likeJack Ryan, but I also liked Mr.Clark and Mr. Chavez. the parts they play are very intense.

Have you listened to any of Michael Prichard’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, Much the same. He is a very fitting narrator for the Jack Ryan series.

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

When the helicopter landed on the small boat out in the middle of the ocean during the hurricane to bring the surviving men to safety.

Any additional comments?

I always enjoy the Tom Clancy books and especially the Jack Ryan series. I just really enjoy his personality.

Terrible narrator

Okay, so he is not the worst narrator but he cannot do any accents or distinguish voices, which in a Jack Ryan Novel is imperative. He does not even try, so if you are encountering characters from oh, Russia for example, forget it. I am not sure why Prichard got the gig for Clancy books because he absolutely is nothing like listening to Scott Brick. Listen to Hunt for Red October with one accent after another. Then try this book, and hear him butcher Spanish accents and give an Aussie accent by saying one word "mate" in his own voice. Very disappointing even for the biggest Ryan novel fan.

Narrator is a snooooooze

The story is very slow and dreadfully boring. The narrator is horrible. His different voices foe each character are laughable. His Spanish accent is pathetic.
It’s so poorly performed. Story may have been ok otherwise. Hard to say. Unless you just need the story to put you to sleep.... skip

For me better than the film

Clancys books are long and complicated with much scene interchanging and I wondered how they would transfer to audio. In my opinion its not a bad job. I enjoyed it and I think Clancys plot line is better judged than the edits they made to publish the film. I was not disappointed by the narrator (who for me was neutral not droning, I dont think I could have stood it if the narrator had been 'dramatic') and I like my purchases to be as long as possible :-) For me good bang for the buck.

Great Audio Book

It was with some trepidation that I downloaded this book. It's a very long book and I was worried that it would be over complicated and 'waffly'. On the contrary it's very easy to follow. It is obviously well researched and does give a lot of background detail, but this adds to the plot rather than detracts from it. It's a very fluid story that draws you in to the narrative and doesn't want to let you go.
The narration is good, fairly neutral but with voice acting thats sufficient to differentiate between the characters.
It certainly did not seem overly long, I was just sorry when I'd finished it. A really great story, highly recommend.

Clear and present danger

To listen a full book is better than watch a film late does not use all the things in the book

Overwritten and awful narration

What would have made Clear and Present Danger better?

Leave out the endless technical descriptions and explanations. The book could have been half the length without taking anything away from the story. Narration was an incessant drone, awful

What was most disappointing about Tom Clancy’s story?

I saw the film and can say it was one of those rare occasions when the film is better than the book. It covers the story without the endless boring detail. Some detail yes, but this is excessive in the extreme.

How could the performance have been better?

New narrator.

30 Hours of droning

Having seen the film I was keen to listen to this audiobook. I suspect the story would be good but I only managed around 40 minutes listening to the irritating narration. The narrator, Michael Prichard has a tendency to pause often and for too long. It sounds like he can't be bothered and simply drones on for 30 hours. I wonder if a different narrator could have cut the length down to under 20 hours. I had hoped to get all of the Tom Clancy unabridged audiobooks but I couldn't stand it if they are all read by Prichard.