I remember Games better than The Hunt for Red October. I recall preferring it to October for at least one reason (there may have been more but I don't recall them). Patriot Games had background noises, sound effects. October didn't except for an explosion sound. I recall liking the background sounds and wishing the other one had background sounds.
The Hunt for Red October had Richard Crenna’s reading. Patriot Games had Martin Sheen's reading. Most audio books don’t use sound effects, sometimes it helps, sometimes not. At least most of the audio books I heard don't use background sounds. Some have opening and closing scores for induvidual productions and/or for the companies that publish those productions. In other words an opening score that's used by an induvidual company with any of their audio productions. Or at least what I seem to notice. Some abridged audio books come with abridged books. Sometimes for either the abridged and/or unabridged product the author of the original book is the reader. In this case, to my knowledge, Tom Clancy has never read any of the audio versions of his stories.
Martin Sheen's reading wasn't bad. It was good. But Richard Crenna's reading was better. Sheen's not a bad actor. He's good one. He's an award winning actor but Crenna, who was also an award winning actor I recall believing he did a better job. Now I don't know if it was the choices that the performers made or didn't make that effected the performance. But I do recall wishing that Richard Crenna had read Patriot Games plus leaving the background sound effects in that poduction. And at the same time wishing that said effects were used in The Hunt for Red October while keeping Crenna.
I believe it possible, why to my mind, Richard Crenna's reading was better than Martin Sheen's could have something to do with the fact that Crenna was an experienced radio actor. In fact in radio's past, he was a radio star. First known as Dick Crenna than later known as Richard Crenna he had been in many radio series like Our Miss Brooks (he did both radio and TV versions) as well as other radio prgrammes. He later made the transfer to TV than to cinema. In cinema, one of his best known roles was as a military officer in the Rambo movies. Because of his radio past, reading an audio book was most likely similar to his radio performances so he knew what to do and not to do. To my knowledge, Sheen never acted in radio. It seems to me at least that people who were experienced and good radio actors make for good readers of audio books.
As for anything by Tom Clancy, audio or otherwise, I haven't comsumed it in some time nor have any interest in doing so. Some audio books I’ve only heard once and have no need to hear them again. Others I’ve heard more than once.