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Summary: The ugly past of John Clark
Review: John Kelly has recently returned from serving in Vietnam when his wife is killed in an automobile accident. He retreats to a solitary life but eventually begins a relationship with Pam Madden, a young hitchhiker he picked up by chance. Pam is running from a horribly abusive drug operation using the girls both as prostitutes and mules to deliver the drugs. Unfortunately, her past comes back to haunt her and John is drawn into the growing world of drugs. His training as a Navy Seal in covert operations is put to use in seeking revenge against those running the operation. It becomes even more complicated when the government comes asking for his help to free some important POWs in Vietnam.Probably my least favorite Clancy book, as the ugly world of drugs and prostitution, as well as the horrors of Vietnam, are laid out in a very graphic and unpleasant manner. I nearly stoped reading the book about 1/4th of the way through but I didn't have anything else to read! But credit goes to Mr. Clancy for an exciting story that keeps you reading in spite of the disgusting abuse and torture described. Its probably safe to say that there are no slow parts in the book and the action is spread throughout. The ending is especially exciting and explains the shadowy past of Mr. John Clark, the very serious character from many of the Jack Ryan books, and how he came to work for the CIA. My other complaint with this book is that it is rather different from the initial books that got me hooked on reading Clancy ("Cardinal of the Kremlin" and "Red Storm Rising"). This book extensively develops the character of John Kelly/Clark. I realize that's an odd thing to complain about, but I really enjoyed the more detached sense achieved by those other books. They were much heavier on the technical side of things, to the point where they were difficult to follow at times, but it gave them a sense of reality. This one mostly made me sick, although I will admit that the end was somehow satisfying.
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Summary: Clark? Yes. John Clark.
Review: This is the story of John Kelly. But, after this, he is the one and only John Clark. This tells how he became Clark. An intriguing tale of illegal activity, which unfortunately becomes a personal matter for Kelly, soon turned Clark. The way he fights for even the likes of someone like Pam, who does have a past, and for himself is pretty much a story of revenge. Admiral Greer is in this, and so is Ritter and some of the gang, so to speak. My only regret is that Clancy always manages to lack morals, and that takes away from the book. But other than that, a compelling, quick paced and smart thriller. It was interesting, to say the least. So, for the most part, good job.
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Summary: Clancy's Agent of Death's Backstory
Review: John Kelly - SEAL, Vietnam vetern, married. Then his wife was killed... and his unborn child... in an accident. Meets a girl, Pam; a runaway from a life of abuse, prostitution, and drug running. He gets her straightened out... but in another accident, she is tortured, raped, and killed by the drug dealers she escaped from. Enter his life as John Clark; CIA operative, with a mission to rescue POWs in Vietnam - officially declared dead. Enter his life as John Kelly - serial killer of those and others who killed Pam. Enter Sandra, a nurse who provides help to another victim of prostituion and drugs who John attempts to rescue. Finally, the understanding of John Kelly - now John Clark... a dangereous enemy who kills for his country, both foreign and domestic... who kills those enemies who prey on the innocent... and totally without remorse. Without Remorse gives us a greater understanding of the forces that drove John Kelly to become a serial killer, and his CIA identity of John Clark to operate as he does. Even more so, we understand the position of his future wife. Sandra is a nurse, dedicated to the art of healing. How can she resolve the conflict between John and his killing with her desire to heal?
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Summary: Mr. Kelly... now Mr. Clark
Review: Without Remorse documents an important player in the world of Jack Ryan - the CIA agent known as Mr. Clark. An ex-SEAL who faced Vietnam, then the loss of his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident. A victim girl became his new love - but was lost to him in a world of criminals. Showing complete compassion for the victims, and totally Without Remorse for the guilty, Mr. Kelly / Mr. Clark takes justice into his own hands on the streets of Baltimore while planning the rescue of the abandoned in the jungles of Vietnam. The book answers the questions of what transformed John Kelly into the CIA agent known as John Clark that he became, and even more so, why did Sandra O'Toole agree to become his wife even after knowing what he was - a killer totally Without Remorse - and support their daughter into a marriage with another CIA agent - Mr. Clark's apprentice, Ding Chavez. In Clancy's world, John Kelly / Mr. Clark is a weapon on the side of right - a man who has seen evil, and will wipe it out totally Without Remorse. Sandra, his, wife for much of Clancy's works, warred with the definition of good and evil and eventually took Clark's side - that evil had to be stopped, even if it meant death and destruction was left in it's wake.
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Summary: Liked it,... mostly...
Review: I rate this between 3.5 and 4 stars. For once, I did not read many reviews before buying a book. I only knew that this book was all about how "John Kelly" became "Mr. Clark". I have come across "Mr. Clark" on many of Clancy's books previously but he was always a bit of a strange one to me. I'm glad I read this book as it gave me a great insight into how "Mr. Clark" became what he is today. It was written in the usual Clancy's thrilling and detailed ways and I just loved that part of it. But I have a few complaints. Firstly, I did not like the way our "hero" took the law into his own hands,.. it almost spoilt the whole book for me at one stage (when he actually tortured a man to his eventual death). Secondly, I thought Clancy introduced a few unusual and out-of-character twists in the story at certain stages that seemed to distance the story from reality. For example, how John (an expert who always seem to take no chances in anything he does) took a great gamble by driving Pam through her old rough neighbourhood without even a simple disguise, and also the place where John slept in the car with Pam in the same neighbourhood where a few minutes ago they were being chased by a drug-gang.... sloppy work Mr. Clancy. Other than that it was generally a good read.
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Summary: A Wounderful Explanation of John Clark
Review: This is an excellent story and an even better explanation of how John Clark came to be the man he is. This is my favorite Tom Clancy book and I've read all of them except The Teeth of the Tiger, which I hope to read soon.
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Summary: Clancy's deepest, most satisfying tale
Review: Tom Clancy has been so closely identified with the technothriller genre that the average reader may be tempted to skip this novel entirely. That would be a shame, as Without Remorse represents the rare effort by Clancy that succeeds not only as an adrenaline-inducing thriller, but also as an engaging, thoughtful narrative in general. The John Kelly/Clark character stands alone in Clancy's universe as the only "gray" character. Too often Clancy sacrifices believability in character development by creating characters that are just too perfect. For example, Jack Ryan, the protagonist/alter ego in just about every other novel Clancy has written, is considered fully developed by the inclusion of the "flaws" of being too religious, too hard of a worker, and having a bit of a temper. These cookie cutter characters do rear their ugly heads in Without Remorse, but thankfully, they are relegated to relatively minor roles. The main character of John Kelly is portrayed as an optimist living in a pragmatists world. The juxtaposition of mercy and unbridled, often sadistic violence is quite engrossing as John Kelly's "everyman" status and the story's urban setting imposes him on the reader's everyday life. Would you want this man as a lethal, but goodnatured neighbor? Or would you worry that this Navy SEAL with the decisive, but ultimately "correct" sense of vigilante justice would find you lacking? The strength of the narrative is that John Kelly's quest for vengeance ropes in just about everyone who at one time was ignored by the system and wished for that one moment that they could take matters into their own hands. Some of the most interesting moments take place in a North Vietnamese Prison Camp. The personal introspection by a downed F-105 pilot and his surprisingly honorable and sympathetic KGB interrogator are just as engaging as the main story. And not surprisingly, this sequence stands out among Clancy's work for the same reason as the John Kelly thread- for once, the national security implications are rendered unimportant in the face of of personal crisis. Ultimately, Without Remorse showcases Clancy's strength of descriptive detail and marries it with a fundamentally human story that engages the readers heart and mind.
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Summary: Great book.
Review: This is the first book from Clancy that I've read and it was fantastic. Within days of finishing it I was out choosing more of his works. A must read.
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Summary: The mysterious background of John Kelly (Codename: Clark)
Review: Without Remorse is without a doubt ONE OF MY FAVORITE CLANCY NOVELS! John Kelly (Codename: Clark) is a CIA analyist and former Navy SEAL. Now this his is younger days working for the CIA back in the 60's during the war in Nam, and he did some secret covert missions for the CIA. Clark picks up a prostitute named Pam, and Clark befriends her since she has no family, and she tells Clark about what the pushers do to her and this is how she makes her money, so with anger flowing through his blood, Clark is ambushed by the pushers in the ghetto, and Pam is taken from the jeep and is tortured and beaten. Now with Pam dead, John decides to get back at them by bringing them war, since they asked for it, and they got it.
Now with John fighting the pushers, John befriends Sandy, a doctor at the local hospital for Pam, and they become close, and she does not know what John is doing since he keeps it quiet. Now John is sent to North Vietnam to rescue a down F-14 Tomcat fighter pilot being held prisoner by the North Vietnamese and the Soviets. So with the pushers put on the side, he goes to Nam and he does what he has to do, and he gets out. He then comes back to America, and killing al of the pushers who had the hand in killing Pam, he now confronts the main gun in the drug pin, so he gets his revenge, and joins the CIA, so with the pushers dead, and the police on him for murders of the other pushers he killed earlier, the cops are on his tale, and Emmit Ryan (Jack Ryan's father) is on the case, and now it has gone cold, but he has a suspect: John Kelly. So with the help of the CIA, they faked John's death and they give him a new name; John Clark. The novel is very exciting, and this is a must read for any new of old Tom Clancy fan out there. Ignore his new stuff with caution, just stick to The Hunt For Red October to Rainbow Six.
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Summary: TC in the Zone
Review: This novel was written during a period when Clancy was in "The Zone." This novel provides the reader with a background of a character that we know from previous novels as John Clark. Clark, an ex-Navy Seal, who possesses a great deal of intelligence and ice water in his veins when confronted with evil. He shows absolutely no remorse and offers no apologies for exterminating the criminals who wreak havoc on society. This is a very dark novel with extremely graphic descriptions of gratuitous violence coupled with excessive profanity. However, the book is also a great yarn with intricate sub-plots and places the reader in the midst of the action that took place during the Viet Nam War era. What's interesting is that Jack Ryan, son of a homicide detective, makes a cameo appearance as a college senior and discusses career options with his dad. A shame that this book was never made into a movie. It would have been awesome.
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