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The Cardinal of the Kremlin
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Plot Summary of The Cardinal of the Kremlin
"The United States has a highly placed spy in the Russian Government and must try to beat the KGB to him. His codename is CARDINAL. It is during the peace talks of the Cold War, and as the raveling plot unfolds, you'll see that there is more to the story than rescuing an agent."
Anthony Selbe, Resident Scholar

"As the Soviets invade Afghanistan, they begin work on a laser-based defense system. Meanwhile, a top aide to the Union's Defense Minister is leaking secrets to the United States. If the Soviets are successful, they will throw the world back into the chaos of the Cold War...But this man has seen the horrors of war, and will betray his own country to keep the world at peace, even at the cost of his life...A spy thriller..."
Jacob Hurt, Resident Scholar

"CIA employee Jack Ryan becomes involved in a race to rescue a long time undercover spy located in Moscow code named Cardinal.As Cardinal loses his cover and is captured and interrogated, Ryan developes an intricate plan to not only rescue Cardinal, but also to affect the defection to the West of the head of KGB to save the current Soviet government. Included are vivid descriptions of Afghan rebel attacks against Soviet Star War sites."
John Juergens, Resident Scholar

"In The Cardinal of the Kremlin, Jack Ryan has to save a CIA intelligence source in Russia, and in the process he forces the Director of the KGB to defect. Also, there is a parallel plot about the development of American and Russian laser-based Anti-Ballistic Missle systems, and the espionage that surrounds their development.             "
Matt Line, Resident Scholar

"Russia and America are developing new satellites and will do anything to get the others secrets."
Matt Parker, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Cardinal of the Kremlin
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - main char. spying/sabotage
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Search for technology? - special war tech.

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - spy
Age: - 20's-30's - 60's-90's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - spy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - KGB - Russians

Setting
United States Yes
Europe Yes
European country: - Russia
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - Russia - The 'stans
Misc setting - fort/military installation - scientific labs

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to torture
How many deaths? - 8 or more
A lot of techno jargon? Yes
Kind of jargon? - military technology
Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Cardinal of the Kremlin
The Man With The Red Tattoo by Raymond Benson
Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda by Tom Clancy
The Fist Of God by Frederick Forsyth
Privacy by Gini Wilson
The Stone Leopard by Colin Forbes


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Tom Clancy Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Jacob Hurt  

SCHOLARS:
Matt Line  Walid Khalid  Keith C  Anthony Selbe  Ben Noonan  Dan  Matt  Christopher Scroggin  Selman Ercan  


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