Rainbow Six

Rating:
Summary: A Fine Read
Review: This book was very good, but in this review I'm going to post negative aspects of the read. 1. The book is strongly biased in favor of the militant right. 2. Supports the myth that Americans are of course, the very best. 3. Supports the myth that terrorists are nearly harmless. 4. Openly bashes the vegetarian and environmentalist lifestyle. 5. Openly bashes and secular movement in the USA today. I hope that should prepare you for an other wise great read.

Rating:
Summary: So much to tell you
Review: Fragments of my life were falling All around as you sat talking Not seeing me with your eyes Not hearing your own lies Not (567) knowing what you're doing To me

This was a great book. I particularly enjoyed the flying ballerinas.

Rating:
Summary: a good one; still hoping for yet a one better to come
Review: Rainbow Six is a good novel - which, by my opinion, means that the elements of pace, tension, action (a lot of action) and a decent story-line are present. Clark, the former shadow personality behind the jack ryan-novels, has been developed very well by Mr. Clancy, and does it outstandingly as a new main-character.

Still though, there were some factors at which I wish to refer. One of these, and in my eyes the most important, is the lack of an ORIGINAL story-line. The plotting is fairly done, and a lot of readers will be able to live with it, but I think that Clancy should have thought of a more original one. The point is, that terrorists - or progressive elements as some people prefer to use - are planning to end life on Earth as we know it, thus by creating an Ebola-type virus, called Shiva, which will have to reduce the Earth population to less than a few million people. That sounds - although the purpose of the action is a different one - familiar to me, since I've read Executive Orders just two years ago...

So the lack of an original weapon to destroy "the world as we know it" is a bit of a disappointment for me. After about 2000 pages (the 1100 pages of Executive orders, and 900 of Rainbow Six) I was a bit annoyed by the Ebola-stuff.

Still, I would recommend the book to all of you, because It's just another good Clancy-novel, mounting on action, and almost perfectly described Rainbow-strikes.

Rainbow Six is a good novel; still though I hope Clancy's next Jack Ryan novel - The Bear and the Dragon - will be better, so I can finally approve this master of the political and international relations techno-thriller, five stars for a splendid work.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy is the man
Review: Rainbow six is the first Tom Clancy book that I've read. It was so good that now it is difficult to find another book to parallel its excellence. As the reader I wanted to become Ding Chavez and lead a team of first class soldiers into battle. I read this book in two days and it is about 900 pages long. I could not put it down! I wish the thing was 3000 pages of the same excitement and fantastic anti-terrorism sequences. If you are a fan of Clancy or thrillers it is your duty to own this book!

Rating:
Summary: Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
Review: This is one of my favorite Clancy books. Jack Ryan gets thrown into the Presidential seat through a horrible accident, and from that moment he stays focused on his beliefs and morals, vowing not to become a politican. Everyone around him is doubtful of him surviving the pressure, media attention, and ability to lead our country. Ryan immediately takes charge in his own honest, caring, humble ways, and starting with the Secret Service agents, he quickly begins to command respect, and loyality.

They (S.S agents) know this guy is different from other politicians they have had to protect and although he makes it difficult for them to keep him secure. They understand Ryan isn't doing things for future "votes", but because he CARES. As he becomes more popular, an ex-vice president decides Ryan's all wrong for the job he feels should be his. Fear of terrorism begins investigations through FBI/CIA/NSA, and in true Clancy form, a totally diffrent plot is beginning to develope across the other side of the world. Ryan brings his militay perspective into play with the developing terrorism information surfacing. World leaders and terrorists beware! Ex-Marine/CIA Agent Jack Ryan Has a temper and you dont want to be on the wrong side of that! Clark and "Ding" are superb (as usual) and the attention to detail that Clancy brings to his stories keeps it all to REAL! The mix of ruthless killing and family values, honor and deceit, religion and extinction, helps to make this book very hard to put down for long. Tom: Keep em' coming ! Lets get these remaining " Ryan" and "Clark" books on the silver screen. Thumbs up Mr. Clancy!

Rating:
Summary: The devil is in the details, Tom . . .
Review: The first half of this novel will not disappoint fans of Mr Clancy's previous thrillers. The prose is tightly written (as usual) and the plot intriguing. As expected after Executive Orders, Jack Ryan has reached his 'use-by' date. He's the President. He's saved the world from devastation (nuclear, biological and financial). Tom can't really wring much more out of the character because he's already 'been-there done-that' -and come out the other side, still the cool, smart, moral man's man. He's got nowhere left to go, except to fade into obscure statesmanhood. So the main characters in this novel are John Clark and Ding Chavez. For that reason, I approached this novel with caution, wondering if they were really broad enough to bear the weight of the book on their own. They are.

It is not the characterization, or action that kills this novel. It is not the controversial plotline of environmentalists so radical as to threaten the survival of the human race. I've read far more bizarre things than this, and still been happy to go along for the ride.

The problem here was research, or perhaps a lack of it. It stopped the novel dead, particularly when the action moved to Sydney for the Olympics. The Australian setting could have been any large city in any English-speaking country. The only reason we knew it was Sydney was because Tom told us. (I've got a vague memory that he even refers to Melbourne instead earlier in the book) The one or two small details he drops into the story, like the road the Rainbow team takes from the airport, are incorrect. The Olympic site could have been nearly any large sporting arena, but not the real one at Homebush bay. The few Australians we meet are washed-out photocopies of British army officers, with dialog to match I've heard of Australians calling men 'blokes', and 'guys', but never 'chaps'! Similar errors of detail occur earlier in the book, with mistakes on the location of Hereford, and the speed limit in the UK.

These are not major criticisms of the novel, whose prime focus centers on John Clark and his Rainbow organization, but whenever I read a Clancy novel now, even when I re-read the earlier ones, I will be wondering just how much is well researched, and just which details he couldn't be bothered to find out, so made up instead..

It's hard to believe that a writer of Mr Clancy's obvious experience and talent, would let such a poorly researched book loose in a genre so preoccupied with detail.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely below par for the course
Review: As an avid Tom Clancy fan, having read all of his Jack Ryan novels as well as his previous John Clark story, I was excited about reading his new book. But unfortunately, I finished it with a bitter taste in my mouth. The story, while well researched as always, and including all the technical detail Clancy novels are known for, was just too far-fetched. While one could easily imagine his other stories as really happening in the real world, this was just too much to grasp. The majority of the characters were very two-dimensional, leaving you wanting for more insight. Not to say that there weren't good parts...the terrorist takedowns were very exciting, and Popov's role was intriguing, but it didn't make up for the glaring weaknesses elsewhere...and the ending was very frivolous, with the superhuman team armed with everything going against people with next to nothing...he could have done it much better. Overall, quite disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy At His Absolute Best
Review: This was one of last Clancy books I read, i find myself now reading them all again, but this is the best book ever writen. Jurassic Park by Micheal Crichton used to be my favourite but once i finished this book down it took over first place. Clancy knows how to build the tension so well in this book that you find yourself reading twice as fast as you normally would. Even when Ding Chavez and his team aren't out killing those terrorists Clancy keeps it interesting with the disease testing.

Recommend it to everyone unless you like romance novels.

Rating:
Summary: Superb, Wonderful. Best book I have ever read.
Review: This book was so superbly written it stunned me. The way clancy meticulously describes every detail made you very anxious. I could not put this book down and read it in 3 days. 740 pages of pure genius. Some might say clancy is strange, crazy, or the like. I agree completely, which is why his work interests so many people. Some of his work is so frightening is actually scares you (LIKE THIS). If you want me to tell you one book to read, definetly this one, no doubt about it!

Rating:
Summary: long but worth it
Review: This is the first Clancy book I've read since Clear & Present Danger came out (yep, it's been a while) - the only reason I chose Rainbow Six over several others was because Chavez was in it. He's my favorite Clancy character and I was disappointed he got so little face time in the movie. Maybe he'll get more action in the next one.

Despite the length of the book, it contains very little fluff. Even the parts that could have been less developed (like Popov's early morning horse rides), while not always crucial to the plot, had purpose. As always, the technical stuff and battle scenes were top notch, and he spent more time on character development than I remember from his earlier stuff.

The thing I was most impressed with was how he jumped from character to character, getting inside their heads and illustrating their respective viewpoints so skillfully. From Clark's intensity, to the machismo of Chavez, to the pragmatism of Popov, to the by-the-book legality of the FBI agents, to the fanatical idealism of the terrorists and Project members, he wore each hat with aplomb. It was fascinating to see the same moral and environmental issues analyzed by opposing thought processes - sort of a self debate. Clancy did such a good job, there were times I thought he could be a Project member himself.

I admit the overall plot was a little hard to swallow, but by Hollywood standards it was realistic and down-to-earth. Considering what some people are willing to do for their beliefs, it's not that farfetched. This is definitely a strong candidate for the next Clancy movie. I can't wait to see how the environmentalists react when it comes out . . .