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- Saturday Dad Reads Week of August 30
Saturday Dad Reads Week of August 30
A Classic Military Thriller, Nato and Back to School time
Welcome to this week’s edition! Here’s what we’ve got lined up:
📕 This week’s Book Summary and Review: Red Storm Rising
🧑🦰 Author Bio: Tom Clancy
💣️ Dad’s Knowledge Bomb: NATO and the Warsaw Pact
📣 This week’s Dad Rant: The Grind Begins Anew
Summary
Red Storm Rising is a “military techno-thriller” that explores a World War III scenario between NATO and the Soviet Union during the late Cold War era. The story begins with a terrorist attack on a Soviet oil refinery, which severely cripples the USSR’s energy supply. In response, Soviet leaders devise a plan to seize the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Launching a massive military offensive against Western Europe aimed at destroying the NATO alliance and associated forces, the Soviets look to gain free reign in the Middle East. If successful and with NATO in shambles, the Soviet Union could stand alone as the world’s only remaining superpower. The novel unfolds through a series of interconnected operations and strategic maneuvers, showcasing Clancy’s attention to military detail and geopolitical complexity.
📕 Review
Has Tom Clancy ever written a novel or non-fiction piece that is between 275-350 pages in length? By my count, the answer to that question is a resounding no. I follow that initial query with another: Could Tom Clancy have written a novel that was between 275-300 pages in length? The answer to my own question is “I don’t care. I wouldn’t want him to.”
I grew up on Tom Clancy. As a kid, his books were ever present in our house. Every time he had a new book come out, it was the one thing my old man would ask for as a Christmas gift, the ultimate Dad Lit gift. However, I honestly can’t remember ever seeing him crack one of them open. He always got the hard covers and the spines and pages were unusually pristine. It was the near perfect copy of The Hunt for Red October that I credit as one of the books that got me hooked into reading. However, what really fueled my enjoyment of the Clancy Universe were the Rainbow Six video games that I originally played on my Nintendo 64. I later blew through the book and still count John Clark and Ding Chavez as two of my favorite literary characters of all time.
Clancy has never disappointed me to date and Red Storm Rising was no different, despite coming in at a whopping 600+ pages and a 37 hour Audible version (I read the hardcopy and listened along). For starters, I loved the premise of the story as the ultimate Cold War war game. The Soviets, after suffering a devastating terrorist attack on their oil production facilities, decide to go to war in the hopes of defeating NATO and gaining unfettered access to the Middle East’s oil supplies and the Persian Gulf. With nearly 40 years of hindsight and given what we now know about the state of the Soviet Union in the last decades of its existence, the plot doesn’t seem all that likely. However, for the time it was written, this was the ultimate “what-if” doomsday scenario of World War III unfolding.
Throughout the book, the perspective is constantly shifting and Clancy incorporates perspectives from both NATO and the Soviets. We also get to see the story through various lenses: military intelligence (Bob Toland), small unit/“boots on the ground” (Edwards), tankers in Western Germany, submariners, and those conducting anti-submarine warfare in the North Atlantic among others. I loved the continuous shifts and the authenticity of it all. Clancy doesn’t pull any punches with his word choice. Dialogue and descriptions are highly technical and accurate. I found the cat and mouse game of anti-submarine warfare to be among my favorite parts. The dialogue and technical accuracy heightens the tension and transports you to the bridge of the USS Pharris or USS Chicago.
Overall, if I had to give a blanket statement to what I appreciated the most about Red Storm Rising, it would be that this is the literary equivalent of a Michael Bey movie with constant action and explosions everywhere. Clancy doesn’t waste the reader’s time with endless scenes of flashback and character development. From the start, he lives in the “present” of the novel, showing us his vision of how World War III would unfold.
In the end ☕️☕️☕️☕️cups of coffee for this one. Cheers to another classic from the master of military fiction!
Tom Clancy was a bestselling American author renowned for his detailed and realistic military and espionage thrillers. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Clancy studied English literature at Loyola College and initially worked as an insurance agent. His passion for military history and technology led him to write The Hunt for Red October, which was published in 1984 by the Naval Institute Press. The novel launched Clancy into literary stardom. Over his career, Clancy wrote numerous bestsellers, including Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears, many of which were adapted into successful films. His works often featured the character Jack Ryan and helped define the techno-thriller genre.
Beyond novels, Clancy expanded his influence into nonfiction, video games, and multimedia franchises. He co-authored books with military figures and lent his name to popular game series like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. He was also a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles and remained active in political and military commentary throughout his life. Despite not serving in the military due to poor eyesight, Clancy maintained close ties with defense communities until his untimely passing at age 66. His legacy continues through the "Ryanverse" series, which has been carried on by other authors since his death in 2013.
💣️Knowledge Bomb: NATO and the Warsaw Pact
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established in 1949 as a collective defense alliance among Western nations, primarily led by the United States. Its founding members included countries such as the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and several others in Western Europe. NATO's primary purpose was to provide mutual defense against the threat of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. The alliance emphasized political and military cooperation, and its guiding principle, Article 5, states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all. Over time, NATO expanded its membership and evolved to address broader security challenges, including terrorism, cyber threats, and peacekeeping missions.
In contrast, the Warsaw Pact was formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states as a direct response to NATO. Officially known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, the pact included countries like East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and others under Soviet influence. While it was presented as a mutual defense alliance, the Warsaw Pact primarily served as a mechanism for the USSR to maintain control over its allies and coordinate military strategy. The pact dissolved in 1991 following the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War, while NATO continued to grow and adapt to the changing global landscape.
📣 Dad Rant: Back to the Grind
It has begun.
If you have kids, then you know what the “it” is I am referring to.
If you don’t have kids, you can probably still figure it out. It’s late August which can only mean it is back to school time.
Back to the routines and structures that we spent all summer forgetting we had. I’m a person who thrives on routine. Even in the summer, I keep a pretty consistent schedule. Working as an assistant principal and working through June, July, and August makes for a pretty easy transition.
However, my kids and my wife hate structure and fight against it. Trying to get these clowns to just go to bed each night takes an act of divine intervention. Then, when they can’t find something to wear, my daughters turn into the girl from The Exorcist and my wife has to use the power of Christ to compel them to just find something so they can get out the door. The also have a collective dislike of school which you can probably chalk up to the fact that they only hate it because their dad is a principal.
They especially hated when I told them that the first day of school was easy. Everyone’s excited and everything is new. Then, you come home and realize you have to go back again the next day and the day after until we hit a total of 180 days. The second day and beyond is always worse.
For the first time ever, they came home after the second day of school last night and said: “Dad, you were right.”
Saturday Dad’s Rating System
I’m not a published author. Therefore, I’m never going to shit all over something that someone poured themselves into. That being said, each book will be rated on a scale of 3-5 coffees. Here’s what that means:
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ - You’re going to want to get comfortable and fill that cup up 3 times. This one’s solid!
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ - You’re going to want to give yourself a few hours of alone time. Fill that bad boy up 4 times and buckle up.
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ - Send the kids to grandma’s house and call off work. You’re not going to be able to put this one down. Make a whole pot and settle in for the long haul!