Not true, SSN and one other novel in 2011 weren't in the Jack Ryan universe either, so far as his "fiction" non netforce/op center books go. Without Remorse was still set in the "Ryan" universe, it just never featured him as a character, just his father briefly, and of course, John Clark and some other CIA officials.
Red Storm Rising was co written by Larry Bond, whose Red Phoenix is another excellent book from the 80's about WW3/Cold War/Etc.
Almost everyone says that Without Remorse is their favorite, and in the JR universe I can't argue, it was by far the best story of them all. Executive orders was up there as well.
The Battle of Alfeld was rated one of the best military action sequences in any novel by the military book club and a couple other places with regards to Red Storm Rising. It sort of broke the mold, in that the Soviets actually WON a battle (gasp) in a western fiction book.