Rating: Summary: Solid Story tells the origins of Mr. Clark Review: This is one of the best books by Tom Clancy, in my humble opinion. Most of his stories are vast tales of espionage with loads of characters and lots of international intrigue. This story is much more focused, telling the background and origin of John Kelly, known to fans of the Jack Ryan stories as Mr. Clark.It reads very much like a poor man's James Bond novel. John Kelly meets a girl who is into prostitution and drugs, and helps rehabilitate her. The dealers who she worked for kill the girl, and the rest of the novel is about Kelly's revenge against the dealers. There is a sub-plot involving a mission to Vietnam that Kelly is sent on, but it's a minor storyline compared with the larger revenge story. It sets the stage for future novels where Kelly is Mr. Clarke, and gives good background on what makes this character (one of the most intriguing of Clancy's, in my opinion) tick. In contrast to Clancy's sweeping novels involving international military plots and hundreds of characters, this story is much easier to read and has a much more human feel to it. I wish we'd get some more stories about the early life of John Kelly, because this one was fantastic.
Rating: Summary: Without Remorse Review: This should be THE best book Clancy has written. It has suspense from top to bottom and shows you what John Kelly is all about. This book is so good that i finished it in 5 days. I could not put it down.
Rating: Summary: A Great Clancy Book Review: I'll try to keep this to a minimum so you won't be here reading my review all day. In my opinion, this is Clancy at his best! For those of you familiar with John Clark, this book tells the story of how a man named John Kelly would become John Clark. It is a story of his dark past leading up to and the beginning of his time in the CIA. 750 pages make it a long book but each and every page is well worth the time spent reading it. Even if you're not a big Tom Clancy fan, you should read this book. You'll appreciate the excellent story line and the unfolding character development as you progress through the book. This story is a little easier to follow than some of Clancy's other stories in that he doesn't seem to jump around in this story as he does in some of his others. I'll admit that I'm a huge Tom Clancy fan so I might be a bit biased in my review but I suggest reading it for yourself and I think most of you will agree with me on this one. Great story Mr. Clancy!!!
Rating: Summary: The origin of John Clark Review: This book is sort of an origin Story for John Clark formerly John Kelly. The back ground story sort of paralells the Punisher. in the fact Clark returns home to find his family dead. and falls in with a drifter named pam. She teaches him to care again while running from some bad elements. When She is killed by the same elements he gains a purpose A'la punisher and acts without remorse. Also he meets the lovely sandy and lots of Clancyverse people. and Mrks his journey and transformation into the clark we know and love.
Rating: Summary: Impossible to put down! Review: This book makes you feel good. Two points for the "good guys."
Rating: Summary: Sounds hollow Review: Sorry not to be much enthousiastic. The book is nevertheless a fair read although having a classic plot without surprises and being binary.
Rating: Summary: A great story Review: This story focuses on John Clark, a change from the usually Jack Ryan stories. Clark is shown in the gritty special ops world that we always new he had in him. Clancy takes Clark and fleshes him out in ways that he was never able to do in previous novels. This story is not a "political thriller" the way that Jack Ryans stories might be called, this is an action story. When you read this hold on for a great action filled twisty-turvey ride.
Rating: Summary: Sweet Revenge! Review: Without Remorse is, chronologically, the first book in the Jack Ryan series. It's fortunate that this was not the first book Clancy published, because he would have had a hader time topping it with his following novels. It's a tough call, but I'd say that Without Remorse edges out Rainbow Six as my favorite Clancy novel. The story begins with John Kelly, the former Navy SEAL, who has to endure the death of his wife in a car accident. A year passes, and Kelly falls in love with a drifter named Pam. But it turns out that Pam is a prostitute, and her pimps kill her and wound Kelly. After Kelly recovers, the CIA asks him to take part in a daring raid on a secret Vietnamese POW camp. Can Kelly balance his desire for revenge and still accomplish his mission with the Agency? The book is fashioned after a classic revenge tragedy, with a twist. Readers may be shocked that they delight in reading the scenes that describe Kelly's revenge. But that's Tom Clancy for you--he really draws the reader in and allows them to associate with the hero through his effective writing. Without Remorse is fiction at its best. It's not really a "techno-thriller" like the rest of the Jack Ryan books, but it establishes a framework for the stories to come.
Rating: Summary: CLARK FANS rejoice Review: True insight into the life an times of John Clark. A terrific novel with a great plot surrounding one of the most interesting characters in fiction. If only Clancy would write another novel about Clark in between his appearances in the Jack Ryan series....
Rating: Summary: The Audio Version Was Not Without Disappointment Review: This review refers to the abridged audio book, read by David Dukes. The story was entertaining enough, but Mr. Dukes' reading was quite disappointing. He seemed to squeeze all of Mr. Clancy's many characters into one of a few vocal catagories: noble, pinched, gruff, and female. (The "female" voice, a too-soft falsetto southern belle, was particularly painful.) Many passages began with Mr. Dukes reading spoken dialogue which I mistook for a completely unintended character. Also, his voice tends to taper off at the ends of his sentances, I suppose for dramatic effect. I often got the impression that Mr. Dukes was thinking, "Man, I really sound cool reading this really cool book..." FYI - On a side note, I'm not a fan of written or verbal profanity, and this book has more than its fair share.
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