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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Naval combat; some deaths; military thriller violence
Language
Some
Adult military language; some profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Barely any
Cold War tension; the weight of nuclear stakes throughout
What this book is about
Marko Ramius, the Soviet Navy's most brilliant submarine commander, writes a letter to the Soviet defense minister and points his state-of-the-art submarine Red October toward the American coast. CIA analyst Jack Ryan has forty-eight hours to convince the U.S. Navy that Ramius is defecting before they sink him. Clancy's 1984 debut novel launched a genre—the techno-thriller—with its obsessive attention to military hardware and a plot of such taut ingenuity that it was reportedly read by President Reagan in one sitting.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Cold War nuclear stakes throughout
Naval combat and thriller violence
Reader Verification
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