I bought the book the day it came out in my town. I finished it inside of three days. I absolutely loved it. The story takes off pretty quick, and I love the flow to it and basically what is done (no spoilers). Which brings me to my only gripe…
It was too damn short!
I’ve become acustomed (maybe spoiled) to 700-900 page novels from Clancy. His newest weighs in at a light 440 pages.
Any comments on the book – good or bad? how about the series in general?
440 pages, eh? I may give this one a shot…
I have long been of the opinion that Tom Clancy has been in desperate need of an editor, starting perhaps with The Sum of All Fears. (Do we really need to know the backstory and motivation of every single character? Including ones who’s only purpose for briefly being in the story is to be the motivation of someone else?) After Executive Orders, which had a lengthy, complicated subplot that could have been entirely removed from the book without affecting the main story at all, I just gave up.
Again, I should state that this is just my opinion. Obviously, there are a lot of people who disagree with me… 
Well…One of the reasons I loved Clear and Present Danger was because of the many different characters and branching story lines, but I can see what you’re getting at. Sum of all Fears could have been a helluva lot shorter.
I honestly think this is Clancy’s weakest book. There’s no tension whatsoever, the “good guys” are never in danger and the set-up is horribly contrived. It ultimately boils down to 440 pages of Jack Ryan’s previously unheard of nephews - and I might add that SFAIAA Ryan and his wife are both only children - going around killing people as easily as wiping their asses.
It was a fluff airport read, and Clancy is capable of much more.