John Clark was referred to as “Rainbow Six” at least 22 times. Fuckin hell yeah

Retrospective review

The book that ultimately turned me off Clancy. I haven’t picked one up since, and I’m not really planning on it. I had a great time with the earlier Clancy books (Hunt for Red October, Cardinal of the Kremlin, Red Storm Rising, even Without Remorse)....

Not this one.

This book has everything bad about his writing and very little of what made him great. I’m talking pages and pages and PAGES of unnecessary discription, lack of dialogue, and all the other snooze inducing qualities he is known for wrapped up in one. This book literally could’ve been 250 pages, or less. The amount of fluff in here is truly mind boggling, especially for something that looked quite interesting and had potential, with a writer that can definitely entertain (if you doubt this, please read Hunt for Red October). I’m most proud of myself with this as an exercise in literary discipline, as I somehow got through it. AVOID

Ah, I'd forgotten about this one until today when someone told me about seeing a restaurant utilizing outside seating under a canopy equipped with misters. Hey, crowded seating, misters, a global pandemic of a virus that loves humidity and can survive for a long time on hard surfaces...what could go wrong?

Anyway, back years ago, I was bored and there was this big stack of books from my deceased relative just sitting there, waiting to be donated to the library. It was full of books by the likes of Clancy, Grisham, Koontz, etc. Kept me entertained for the better part of a month. This one I remember because of the connection with misters. Must have enjoyed it somewhat if that stuck in my brain for more than a decade.

Three stars might be a bit much praise for this sort of novel, so take that as in comparison to others of its ilk and not compared to Great Literature. Clancy is Clancy. He wrote like he was paid by the word and never met an adjective he didn't try to wear out. Still, he was entertaining.

This is okay, very fun bursts of excitement toned down by a lot of repetition and downtime. This narrative did not need to be 700+ pages.

Clancy uses the ample downtime to read factoids off of the back of his character’s action figure box, but i don’t feel like I got to know any of these people.

Villains are dopey and go down like mooks, the feeling of the missions was like watching a bobcat play with their food before devouring them bones and all.

Can’t wait to see what Clancy does with Rainbow 7!

Awsome book. This is definitely on of my top two favorite books now. I absolutely love the suspense and mystery of the plot. The action is breath takingly amazing. The setting is also insanely good. From Britain to France to Brazil the scene is never boring. I guess I just really like Tom Clancy books. If I could give this six stars I would.

John Clark leads an anti-terror group based out of England.

I want Ding Chavez to be my friend

***

9August2023

eponymous sentence:
p18: "Carney, call the director, and tell him Rainbow Six is on the line...."

product:
p605: The same was true of Rifle One-Two, Sergeant First Class Fred Franklin, formerly an instructor at the Army's marksmanship training unit at Fort Benning and a deadly shot out to a mile with his huge MacMillan .50 bolt-action rifle.

p620: The big MacMillan sniper rifle fired the same cartridge as the .50-caliber heavy machine gun, sending a two-ounce bullet off at 27,000 feet per second, covering the distance in less than a third of a second and drilling a half-inch hole into the soft side of the truck, but there was no telling if it hit a target or not.

p666: Noonan had come through big-time, having killed three of them with his pistol, along with Franklin, who'd just about decapitated one with his big MacMillan .50, then used his monster rifle to kill the little brown truck and keep the five terrorists in it from getting away.

When I first read this I haven't read Executive Orders yet. Now it's become apparent that this (and also the first Clark book) doesn't coincide with the Ryan timeline. (31August2023 -- No, I was wrong. It does coincide with the Ryan timeline. Jack Ryan wasn't mentioned at all in this book--that threw me off. The next volume, The Bear and the Dragon, makes that clear.)

It's scary to think that the recent COVID-19 pandemic might have been something similar.

This was my first Tom Clancy techno-thriller and I have to say it was an enjoyable read. The setting and some of the events in this book are somewhat far-fetched, but hey this is not real life. A Counter-terrorist unit lead by Americans operating in European soil. Well let that sync in... I am avoiding spoilers here. It started with a very interesting concept but for me it just side railed along the way. There is no character build up as you would expect when it comes to the two main protagonists or anyone else for that matter. It leaves things less engaging to read if you are not committed to the story or characters. Also a major complaint for me is that you could probably wrap this up in 500 pages, why the extra 400?
But hey it was a fun read. Tom Clancy brought an interesting concept in, but took the easy way out with the finale. Instead of concluding the story he just dismissed it entirely in favor of a cheap ending...

I always enjoy seeing John Clark doing John Clark things, even though in this one it was more Ding Chavez (and others) doing John Clark things.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if someone somewhere tried to engineer a "save the world" solution that crosses all kinds of moral and ethical lines. In that regard, it felt very much like The Future by Naomi Alderman (though 25 years earlier).

Overall not a bad story but following executive order which was very engaging, this one was just different. it really was a stand off novel all about John Clark, Jack Ryan was only even mentioned by name once.
I do look forward to see if and how Rainbow work in the rest of the Ryan / Clark universe.