“Red Rabbit” is Cold War espionage on a broad canvas, a prequel that takes Jack Ryan back to his days as a CIA analyst. The plot turns on a communications man inside the KGB who discovers that Andropov means to have Pope John Paul II killed and decides to defect. Some readers find the novel repetitive and much longer than it needs to be, and its picture of everyday life in Britain unconvincing.

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About the book

Red Rabbit is a spy thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on August 5, 2002. A prequel, it is set after the events of Patriot Games (1987) and incorporates the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. The title refers to a KGB communications officer who learns about chairman Yuri Andropov’s plot to kill the pontiff, and the book also features CIA analyst Jack Ryan as he takes part in the protagonist’s defection. The book debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.

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Where the score comes from

The sources average 6.8 across 116 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 44% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Adventure average of 7.8. That is how 7.2 comes out.