Summary
Tom Clancy's "genius for big, compelling plots" and his "natural narrative gift" (The New York Times Magazine) have mesmerized hundreds of millions of readers and established him as one of the preeminent storytellers of our time. Rainbow Six, however, goes beyond anything he has done before. At its heart is John Clark, the ex-Navy SEAL of Without Remorse, and well-known from several of Clancy's novels as "the dark side of Jack Ryan", the man who conducts the secret operational missions Ryan can have no part of. It is Tom Clancy's most shocking story ever -- and closer to reality than any government would care to admit.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review:
"Clancy's new one is a sequel to Executive Orders (1996) starring not Clancy main-man Jack Ryan, who, though in the Oval Office, is offstage throughout, but ex-SEAL John Clark, still formidable as a CIA man leading, as "Rainbow Six," an elite counterterrorist organization against biotech billionaire John Brightling. Brightling plans to further tailor the Ebola virus featured in EO to wipe out most of humanity and restore the earth to its "natural" condition. He and his revolting crew of ecoterrorists never quite come to life, so Clark and Co. sometimes seem not to be facing a foe worthy of their steel. But technical detail abounds, as do absorbing secondary characters, including Clancy-philes' old friend Ding Chavez, who in the course of things makes Clark a grandfather, and one of Clancy's more imaginative characterizations, unscrupulous ex-KGB colonel Dimitri Popov, who at first supplies Brightling with accomplices but later recoils in horror from the man's genocidal lunacy. And there are four counterterrorist actions as grippingly depicted as anything Clancy has ever done--set pieces guaranteed to keep thriller readers flipping pages into the wee small hours. Those who have not made their peace with Clancy's political agenda and fondness for technical detail (e.g., what happens to a human head struck by a sniper round) can again steer clear in good conscience. Those who recognize Clancy as inventor of a genre of which he remains grand master will again stampede to read his latest effort, doubtless in equally good conscience. --Roland Green"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review:
"Two years ago, Executive Orders, which thrust Jack Ryan into the Oval Office, raised the bar for its immensely popular author. This first Clancy hardcover since then, though a ripping read, matches its predecessor neither in complexity nor intensity nor even, at 752 pages, length, despite a strong premise and some world-class action sequences. Instead of everyman Ryan, its lead is the more shadowed John Clark, the ex-Navy SEAL vigilante of Without Remorse who has appeared in several Ryan adventures. Clark now heads Rainbow Six, an international special-ops anti-terrorist strike forceand, despite the novelty of the conceit, that's a problem, as the profusion of protagonists, though sharply drawn (including, most notably, "Ding" Chavez, Clark's longtime protégé), deprives the book of the sort of strong central character that has given Clancy's previous novels such heart. The story opens vigorously if arbitrarily, with an attempted airline hijacking foiled by Clark and Chavez, who happen to be on the plane. After that action sequence, the duo and others train at Rainbow Headquarters outside London, then leap into the fray against terrorists who have seized a bank in Bern, Switzerland. And so the pattern of the narrative is set: action sequence, interlude, action sequence, interlude, etc., giving it the structure and pace of a computer game. A major subplot involving bioterrorism that evolves into an overarching plotline syncopates that pattern, though Clancy's choice of environmentalists as his prime villains will strike some readers as odd. All of Clancy's fans, however, will revel in the writer's continued mastery at action writing; Rainbow's engagements, which occupy the bulk of the novel, are immensely suspenseful, breathtaking combos of expertly detailed combat and primal emotion. While not Clancy's best, then, his 10th hardcover will catapult to the top of bestseller listsand for good reason. Two million first printing; $1 million ad/promo; simultaneous Random Audio and Red Storm Entertainment computer game; author tour. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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