YMMV / The Cardinal of the Kremlin

• Unintentional Period Piece: The plot of the novel is tied to a quite specific period of the Cold War (START, SDI, heroic Afghan freedom fighters), and it dated very quickly. Only five years later, the film adaptations of the series skipped straight over it.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: John Clark. So much that he was given a larger role in the following book and was retconned to being a part of the team that took out the French terrorist camp in Patriot Games.

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