History Literature / TheCardinalOfTheKremlin

* InterServiceRivalry: Taken up to eleven between the Red Army and KGB. At the top, it's simple power politics - Defense Minister Yazov and KGB Chairman Gerasimov are in opposite factions on the Politburo, hence the latter's attempts to compromise the former. It's equally intense in the ranks, though. Filitov considers the "chekists" to be incompetent meddlers, whose main contribution to World War Two was spying on their own men and executing those who'd been forced to retreat. Bondarenko considers their guards to be amateurs playing at war, and takes great pleasure in embarrassing them on his morning exercise run [[spoiler:(That said, he does develop some respect for the ones who stand and fight alongside him when the Archer attacks Bright Star, and personally decorates one of them after the battle is over)]]. Even Vatutin's sympathetic counterpart from military intelligence lampshades this, asking him how he thinks the military will react if the KGB were to try torturing a confession out of a war hero.

* IncendiaryExponent: Filitov's last heroic feat in WW2 was, after his tank was set ablaze by a German round, to stay inside and ''shoot back at the tank'' while on fire, and then continue to lead his regiment for several more days without medical treatment. Of course, his right arm does end up becoming next to useless due to this.

* InterServiceRivalry: Taken up to eleven between the Red Army and KGB. At the top, it's simple power politics - Defense Minister Yazov and KGB Chairman Gerasimov are in opposite factions on the Politburo, hence the latter's attempts to compromise the former. It's equally intense in the ranks, though. Filitov considers the "chekists" to be incompetent meddlers, whose main contribution to World War Two was spying on their own men and executing those who'd been forced to retreat. Bondarenko considers their guards to be amateurs playing at war, and takes great pleasure in embarrassing them on his morning exercise run. Even Vatutin's sympathetic counterpart from military intelligence lampshades this, asking him how he thinks the military will react if the KGB were to try torturing a confession out of a war hero.

* {{Badass}}: Many.
** The Archer, who is the first character introduced in the novel. Lost his family to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, deals with the angst by shooting Soviet aircraft down and generally making a royal nuisance of himself. Also a ReligiousBruiser - he is a devout mujaheddin. Serves as a foil to Gennady Bondarenko, and his [[spoiler: death at Gennady's hands is surprisingly moving.]]
--->'''The Archer''': ''Allahu Akhbar!''\\
'''Colonel Bondarenko''': Yes, I suppose He is.
** Gennady Iosifovich Bondarenko, initially introduced as a gofer that Filitov uses to obtain information on Bright Star, soon establishes himself as one of these through [[spoiler:personally leading the defense of the Bright Star complex against invading Afghan freedom fighters]].
** Mikhail Semyonovich Filitov is thoroughly established as being one of these over the course of ''decades''. Fought for Russia against the Germans, famous for killing Germans ''whilst on fire.'' Even as a crippled old man, he's considered extremely tough and even scares the ''bodyguards'' of various Soviet officials.
--->'''Col. Filitov''': I killed for the motherland! I bled for the motherland! I '''burned''' for the motherland!
** Through innuendo and guesswork, the people that meet Clark assume he is very much this trope, though how accurate their assumptions are is not examined until other novels.

* ForWantOfANail: The action that causes the detection of CIA's longest-lived and most valuable agent is a bump on a train. It causes a courier to drop a roll of film containing sensitive documents, which itself isn't that big a deal. But he does it within view of an agent of the KGB's counterintelligence department.

* TheChessmaster: Multiple instances.
** Nikolay Borisovich Gerasimov, Chairman of the KGB. Once [[spoiler:Filitov is caught as a Western spy]], he uses the information as leverage against two of Narmonov's allies on the Politburo in an attempt to gain the seat of General Secretary for himself.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Marshals Ustinov, Sokolov and Yazov were the actual Defense Ministers of the Soviet Union at the time of writing of ''The Hunt for Red October'' and ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin''. Of course, due to the time gap between publishing of the two novels, [[ArtisticLicenseHistory Filitov manages to somehow serve as senior aide to all three within the span of a year]].

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Both Ed Foley and Mary Pat Foley use this as cover for the fact that they're both CIA agents.

* InterServiceRivalry: Taken up to eleven between the Red Army and KGB. At the top, it's simple power politics - Defense Minister Ustinov and KGB Chairman Gerasimov are in opposite factions on the Politburo, hence the latter's attempts to compromise the former. It's equally intense in the ranks, though. Filitov considers the "chekists" to be incompetent meddlers, whose main contribution to World War Two was spying on their own men and executing those who'd been forced to retreat. Bondarenko considers their guards to be amateurs playing at war, and takes great pleasure in embarrassing them on his morning exercise run. Even Vatutin's sympathetic counterpart from military intelligence lampshades this, asking him how he thinks the military will react if the KGB were to try torturing a confession out of a war hero.

!!!This book contains examples of:

* AscendedExtra: ''Cardinal of the Kremlin'' is the first published novel in which John Clark appears. So great was his popularity that he was given a major supporting role in the next book, ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger''.

* MoscowCentre: The KGB takes a primary role in the novel.

One year after the events of \'\'Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober\'\', during the START[[labelnote:*]][=STrategic=] Arms Reduction Treaty[[/labelnote]] talks of the mid 80\'s, Jack Ryan serves as a CIA representative during the negotiations as both sides work to reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a mujaheddin called \"The Archer\" fights against the Soviet oppressors, using American Stinger missiles to terrifying effect. Back in the US, the secretive Tea Clipper program seeks to develop a laser defense weapon against nuclear missiles launchers, fearful that the Soviets are working towards the same end.

--->\'\'\'The Archer\'\'\': \'\'Allahu Akhbar!\'\'\\\\

** Marko Ramius, \'\'Red October\'\'\'s commanding officer and one of the leading characters from the previous novel, makes a few appearances in \'\'Cardinal of the Kremlin\'\'.

* DoubleAgent: Peter Henderson, Agent \'\'CASSIUS\'\', who had been previously compromised in \'\'Hunt for Red October\'\', makes his second (and, chronologically, final) appearance.

''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' is the third Literature/JackRyan novel to be written by Creator/TomClancy, and the fifth to occur chronologically. It was published in 1988, and takes place in 1987.

One year after the events of ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'', during the START[[labelnote:*]][=STrategic=] Arms Reduction Treaty[[/labelnote]] talks of the mid 80's, Jack Ryan serves as a CIA representative during the negotiations as both sides work to reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a mujaheddin called "The Archer" fights against the Soviet oppressors, using American Stinger missiles to terrifying effect. Back in the US, the secretive Tea Clipper program seeks to develop a laser defense weapon against nuclear missiles launchers, fearful that the Soviets are working towards the same end.

And in the middle of it all, a US agent known to a very select few as CARDINAL sends top secret Soviet information to the CIA. And he's just been compromised...

Focusing much more on spy games than any other novel in the Ryanverse, ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' is set against the backdrop of the "warming" of the Cold War, as the US and USSR start serious talks to reduce the threat of nuclear war while still butting heads around the world. The Strategic Defense Initiative (AKA Star Wars) features prominently, as does the similar Soviet program, and there's plenty of technology porn and spy thriller, though very little action.

* TheAlcoholic: Klementi Vladimirovich Vatutin of the KGB's counterintelligence division. It's mentioned that, as a borderline alcoholic, he has difficulty falling asleep at night unless he has a couple of drinks first, and this is made note of by Gerasimov himself as well.

* AscendedExtra: ''Cardinal of the Kremlin'' is the first published novel in which John Clark appears. So great was his popularity that he was given a major supporting role in the next book, ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger''.

** The Archer, who is the first character introduced in the novel. Lost his family to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, deals with the angst by shooting Soviet aircraft down and generally making a royal nuisance of himself. Also a ReligiousBruiser - he is a devout mujaheddin. Serves as a foil to Gennady Bondarenko, and his [[spoiler: death at Gennady's hands is surprisingly moving.]]
--->'''The Archer''': ''Allahu Akhbar!''\\
'''Colonel Bondarenko''': Yes, I suppose He is.

** Mikhail Semyonovich Filitov is thoroughly established as being one of these over the course of ''decades''. Fought for Russia against the Germans, famous for killing Germans ''whilst on fire.'' Even as a crippled old man, he's considered extremely tough and even scares the ''bodyguards'' of various Soviet officials.

* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Played straight. [[spoiler:When Gus Werner leads the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team to save Major Gregory from the KGB officers who kidnapped him, he does this to the last surviving officer by shooting at his hands.]] He comments later that he didn't know why he did it, despite having trained other men specifically not to do it.
* CallBack: The events of ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'' have long-lasting implications for everyone involved in this story, and frequent references are made to that story.

** Nikolay Borisovich Gerasimov, Chairman of the KGB. Once [[spoiler:Filitov is caught as a Western spy]], he uses the information as leverage against two of Narmonov's allies on the Politburo in an attempt to gain the seat of General Secretary for himself.
** Jack Ryan himself performs this as well in response to the above. [[spoiler:By using [[FeedTheMole political disinformation]] and the ''Red October'' scandal against Gerasimov, he threatens the latter with disgrace and removal from power, forcing him to betray his country.]]
* DeepCoverAgent: Misha Filitov, one of the Soviet Union's greatest war heroes, had been giving information to the West for ''thirty years'', shortly following the death of his children and wife.

** Marko Ramius, ''Red October'''s commanding officer and one of the leading characters from the previous novel, makes a few appearances in ''Cardinal of the Kremlin''.
** [[spoiler:Enforced on Chairman Gerasimov and his family, very much against the former's will.]]

* DoubleAgent: Peter Henderson, Agent ''CASSIUS'', who had been previously compromised in ''Hunt for Red October'', makes his second (and, chronologically, final) appearance.

* FalseFlagOperation: Vatutin suspects this of Eduard Vasillyevich Altunin's death, when he discovers his mutilated body on top of some rail tracks. Gerasimov later uses this as an excuse for [[spoiler:kidnapping Gregory]].

** Ryan's "Canary Trap" is a refinement of the method of feeding a suspected mole information to see if it ends up in the hands of the enemy: each copy of a sensitive document contains a unique permutation of certain details, so that if any leaks occur it will be possible to narrow down which copy was leaked.
** The FBI get a known Russian mole to feed false information to Gerasimov regarding [[spoiler:Ryan and the nuclear treaty talks, in order to further increase Ryan's "credibility" and to give Ryan additional ammunition with which to threaten Gerasimov.]]
* ForWantOfANail: The action that causes the detection of CIA's longest-lived and most valuable agent is a bump on a train. It causes a courier to drop a roll of film containing sensitive documents, which itself isn't that big a deal. But he does it within view of an agent of the KGB's counterintelligence department.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Marshals Ustinov, Sokolov and Yazov were the actual Defense Ministers of the Soviet Union at the time of writing of ''The Hunt for Red October'' and ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin''. Of course, due to the time gap between publishing of the two novels, [[ArtisticLicenseHistory Filitov manages to somehow serve as senior aide to all three within the span of a year]].
* IncendiaryExponent: Filitov's last heroic feat in WW2 was, after his tank was set ablaze by a German round, to stay inside and ''shoot back at the tank'' while on fire, and then continue to lead his regiment for several more days without medical treatment. Of course, his right arm does end up becoming next to useless due to this.
* KillSat: The U.S. missile defense system in ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' works by means of bouncing a laser beam off of orbital mirrors.
* LastStand: [[spoiler:Bondarenko's defense of the Bright Star complex when the Archer and his men perform a cross-border raid. Bondarenko successfully holds off the Archer's men, killing him in the process, while defending the complex staff and waiting for reinforcements to arrive.]]
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Altunin's death, by genuine misadventure, is assumed to be this by the Russian authorities.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Andrey Ilyavich Narmonov is effectively Clancy's version of Gorbachev.

* NotSoDifferent: Sergey Nikolayevich Golovko is introduced as Ryan's counterpart at the treaty talk, and is friendly with Ryan. Though they are on opposite sides of the debate at hand, they find that they agree on quite a lot.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Both Ed Foley and Mary Pat Foley use this as cover for the fact that they're both CIA agents.
* PsychoLesbian: Beatrice Taussig, an administrator at Tea Clipper, essentially [[spoiler:hands her male co-worker over to the KGB in order to (clumsily) attempt to [[ComfortingTheWidow seduce the guy's fiancee]]]].

* SaltTheEarth: [[spoiler:Gerasimov leaves orders that should bringing Gregory back to the Soviet Union prove impossible, he is to be killed and thus deny his knowledge to the Americans as well.]]
* TheSmartGuy: Major Alan Gregory is emphasized as this early in the novel, touted as being one of the biggest driving forces behind Tea Clipper. [[spoiler:It's one of the major reasons why Gerasimov decides to attempt to kidnap him.]]

* {{Technobabble}}: This actually becomes a hindrance to using the Canary Trap to find leaks in Tea Clipper, as the language used by scientists is so precise that altering it too much could completely change the meaning of what they're trying to say.
* TakeAThirdOption: Faced with two alternatives that both mean the end of his career, Gerasimov decides to [[spoiler:attempt to kidnap Alan Gregory and use his knowledge to bolster Bright Star, hoping that the prestige of doing so will allow him to survive the disgrace of ''Red October'', the loss of Agent Cassius, and weakening the Soviet side of the nuclear arms negotiations.]]
* TortureTechnician: The unnamed doctor in charge of the KGB's sensory deprivation tank project.
* WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk: Played with when Vatutin apprehends Filitov, as his intention is to use the sensory deprivation tank. He is denied permission to, however, because Filitov's advanced age could result in his death.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The plot is tied to a very specific period of the Cold War (START, SDI, heroic Afghan freedom fighters). Only five years later, the film adaptations of the series skipped straight over it, in part because it was already unavoidably dated.

* FeedTheMole: [[spoiler:The FBI get CASSIUS to feed false information to Gerasimov regarding Ryan and the nuclear treaty talks, in order to further increase Ryan's "credibility" and to give Ryan additional ammunition with which to threaten Gerasimov.]]

** FeedTheMole: [[spoiler:The FBI get him to feed false information to Gerasimov regarding Ryan and the nuclear treaty talks, in order to further increase Ryan's "credibility" and to give Ryan additional ammunition with which to threaten Gerasimov.]]

** MakeItLookLikeAnAccident

** TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:Gerasimov decides to attempt to kidnap Alan Gregory and use his knowledge to bolster Bright Star, hoping that the prestige of doing so will allow him to survive the disgrace of ''Red October'', the loss of Agent Cassius, and weakening the Soviet side of the nuclear arms negotiations.]]

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Marshals Ustinov, Sokolov and Yazov were the actual Defense Ministers of the Soviet Union at the time of writing of ''The Hunt for Red October'' and ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin''.

''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' is the third Literature/JackRyan novel to be written by Creator/TomClancy, and the fifth to occur chronologically. It was published in 1988, and takes place in 1986.

* ArtisticLicenseScience: The work of the SDI scientists seems to be on the verge of a breakthrough for the entire novel. As we now know, SDI lasers were barely ever more than a pipe dream, and never had a working prototype, especially not a free-electron laser (SDI focused on chemical and X-ray lasers instead). Later books in the series would go on to admit that neither Russia or the US was able to make a laser powerful enough to reliably shoot down a missile, resulting in the projects eventually getting shelved.

The fifth novel in the Ryanverse, chronologically, and the third to be written.

18 months after the events of ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'', during the START[[labelnote:*]]STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty[[/labelnote]] talks of the early 80's, Jack Ryan serves as a CIA representative during the negotiations as both sides work to reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a mujihaddin called "The Archer" fights against the Soviet oppressors, using American Stinger missiles to terrifying effect. Back in the US, the secretive Tea Clipper program seeks to develop a laser defense weapon against nuclear missiles launchers, fearful that the Soviets are working towards the same end.

* {{Badass}}: The first novel in which John Clark appears. Through innuendo and guesswork, the people that meet him assume he is very much this trope, though how accurate their assumptions are is not examined until other novels.

* NotSoDifferent: Sergey Golovko is introduced as Ryan's counterpart at the treaty talk, and is friendly with Ryan. Though they are on opposite sides of the debate at hand, they find that they agree on quite a lot.
* SpyThriller: The best example of it in the Ryanverse, as most of the action is the work of spies and the agencies that are trying to catch them, rather than military action.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: The work of the SDI scientists seems to be on the verge of a breakthrough for the entire novel. As we now know, SDI lasers were barely ever more than a pipe dream, and never had a working prototype, especially not a free-electron laser (SDI focused on chemical and X-ray lasers instead). Later books in the series would go on to admit that neither Russia or the US was able to make a laser powerful enough to reliably shoot down a missile, resulting in the projects eventually getting shelved.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: The work of the SDI scientists seems to be on the verge of a breakthrough for the entire novel. As we now know, SDI lasers were barely ever more than a pipe dream, and never had a working prototype, especially not a free-electron laser (SDI focused on chemical and X-ray lasers instead).

During the START[[labelnote:*]]STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty[[/labelnote]] talks of the early 80's, Jack Ryan serves as a CIA representative during the negotiations as both sides work to reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a mujihaddin called "The Archer" fights against the Soviet oppressors, using American Stinger missiles to terrifying effect. Back in the US, the secretive Tea Clipper program seeks to develop a laser defense weapon against nuclear missiles launchers, fearful that the Soviets are working towards the same end.

Focusing much more on spy games than any other novel in the Ryanverse, ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' is set against the backdrop of the "warming" of the Cold War, as the US and USSR start serious talks to reduce the threat of nuclear war while still butting heads around the world. The Strategic Defense Initiative (AKA Star Wars) features prominently, as does the similar Soviet program, and there's plenty of technology porn and spy thriller, though very little action.