While that sailor is being treated in a US Naval Hospital, the Soviets are worried that he will wake up and reveal that he is from the Red October.

One of the submarines that is chasing the Red October strains its engines and sinks. He advises the president to offer the defectors asylum. Jack Ryan, newly arrived from England, tells the President that the Red October is planning to defect. The American and Soviet naval vessels come to many close calls as they meet each other in the Atlantic. The Americans offer to assist in the rescue mission as a way to stay in control of the situation. The American President meets with the Soviet ambassador, who claims that it is a rescue mission. This provokes the American and British militaries because of so many submarines and ships in the Atlantic Ocean. The Soviets send out all of their ships and submarines out to look for the Red October. Ramius sends a letter to the Soviet Navy, informing them of his plans to defect. The officers fool the crew with a fake radiation scare so that they will be ready and willing to leave the submarine when it is time to defect. Ramius kills the political officer on board and tells the crew that their mission involves absolutely zero radio contact. Motivated by his wife's death due to Soviet incompetence, Ramius and his top officers plan to defect to the US. An intense exploration of the problematic peace between the two world powers, the novel keeps the reader in suspense as people at all levels, both military and civilian, race to avert a global nuclear crisis.Ĭaptain Marko Ramius commands the Soviet flagship submarine, the Red October. Jack Ryan, a CIA specialist, is called in to analyze the situation and help the United States (US) government avoid a military conflict that would disturb the balance of peace between the US and the Soviet Union (USSR). Set during the tense times of the Cold War, the daring defection of a top level Soviet submarine captain puts the whole world in danger.

The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy