Cook was a KGB agent. Answers first and last question.
Radiation issues were falsified by Ramius as excuse to get his men off the boat.
The book IS really much better, lest someone else take offense at humor...
I did read the book once upon a time, and enjoyed it. It does jump around from one scene to the next and doesn't all come togther until the climax. You go from Ryan to Dallas, to Red October to Sec of State each chapter as I recall.
I think Clancy was the one to popularize that kind of parallel storyline style of writing. I'd find myself caring a lot more about on story than another thread and then when they started merging having to go back and figure out what I missed!
None of Clancy's books ever really made a decent movie but the closest was Patriot Games.
