SSG: Spy/Spec-Ops Group discussion

Hi all, first time poster to this group, and hopefully I'm posting this in the correct place.

I'm a fan of the modem Spy Thriller genre, I've inhaled the works of Vince Flynn, Daniel Silva, Barry Eisler, etc., but most of what I've read has been firmly set in the modern day, which is one of the aspects I enjoy.

Now, I'm considering starting Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series - prompted in a large part due to it's stature within the genre & my enjoyment of the Amazon series - and was wondering how dated the start of the series reads.

The... apprehension... of a dated read is probably the biggest reason I haven't read the series yet.

Would welcome some thoughts on the subject.

Cheers!

Be aware that Tom Clancy died in 2013 ago and that the more recent books marked as 'A Tom Clancy Book' have in reality been written by a surrogate writer supposedly chosen by Clancy's family, so are not really from Tom Clancy, who mostly wrote about the Cold War era.

^What Michel said. However, even though it is dated it is very good writing. The John Clark/Kelly stuff is late 70's early 80's and the early Clancy stuff is much better than the later stuff written by him. The material written by Greaney in the transition from non-Clany is very good and more up-to-date. For the record, Clancy is the one that got me hooked on the Genre.

His non-Jack Ryan stuff is as good or better than the Ryan series. Without Remorse is my personal favorite and I really enjoyed Red Storm Rising.

RED STORM RISING was indeed a great book. Concerning the books written by Greany, what really pissed me off about them was the fact that their covers had (in giant letters) the titles starting with the words 'A TOM CLANCY BOOK', with Greaney's name in much smaller letters, something I find to be a dishonest trick, to say the least.

Jarrod wrote: "^What Michel said. However, even though it is dated it is very good writing. The John Clark/Kelly stuff is late 70's early 80's and the early Clancy stuff is much better than the later stuff writte..."

I agree, but will say that's the publishers doing and not the author. I do believe that they collaborated at least on the few books where Clancy was still alive. I still re-read his original books from time to time.

Michel wrote: "RED STORM RISING was indeed a great book. Concerning the books written by Greany, what really pissed me off about them was the fact that their covers had (in giant letters) the titles starting with..."
Replied to the wrong one initially, but same comment. cheers.