At first I found it too tedious - paragraph-long descriptions of training sessions of a multinational anti-terrorist military unit called upon to stop terrorist attacks at a moment's notice; however about 1/3-way through when it's revealed that the group behind setting up these attacks was none other than a most unsuspecting outfit closer to home, the story becomes rather exciting. It's definitely a page-turner - was able to plow through about 750 pages of action writing in 3 days.

I'm glad to have gotten through my first Tom Clancy book!

Look. Is Tom Clancy a good writer? Probably not. Is he an engaging storyteller? For the most part yes. His politics are very obvious and equally awful, and the characters are flat, but the action is written incredibly well and the plot is entertaining enough to keep you invested even if it isn't surprising. I can't remember the last time I rolled my eyes at a book this much, but it was never a chore to listen to and I looked forward to it most days.

Oh boy what an excellent standalone story about a counterterrorism group going up against a global bioterrorism conspiracy

I sure hope it doesn't evolve from a enjoyable stealth tactical video game franchise to a siege game that isn't even realistic anymore!

Pretty good book, I wish it had a more interactive video games aspect

This is honestly one of the best books I have ever read, and I haven't even finished the book yet. However I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. The weak stomached should probably refrain from picking up this book due to the gruesome descriptions and depictions the acclaimed author and ex-NAVY SEAL gives during the book. One of the main reasons why I really kike this book is because a clear and vivid image of what is going on can be created so easily and the strategy that is behind every move that the team makes. Basically the book is about a secret special forces organization called "Rainbow" due to their objective which is protecting countries on an international scale, from everything; bank robbers to full blown terrorists. The "Six" part of the title comes from the organizations leader, whose codename is "Six." However, the story is definitely not just based around blood and gore, it was a deep underlying conspiracy mystery that entangles, European terrorists and even corrupt biochemical lab physicians. On the whole so, far not one thing in this book has not had a hint of some literary device and it very creative.

To be Continued.....

Towards the end of this book I went back and looked at my review of Without Remorse. I found the vigilante-ism in that highly unrealistic in that any legal issues were quickly swept under the rug. This time around the vigilante mind set is back, but it's a large group effort with government backing. I guess I can believe that a bit more (if you can believe governments do questionable things in secret). I think realism aside, this novel simply had a much more exciting plot. I was on the fence of continuing the series, but boy am I happy I did.

John Clark takes a back seat this time around as he is pretty dang old. Instead of being at the front lines, he is in charge of a new team of experts with one goal in mind: take down terrorist scum. Take them down they do! This book is overflowing with terrorist situations. The action-to-story-telling aspect ratio here is considerably stacked in favor of kicking ass and taking names. There are way too many popular reviews for this book claiming it's alphabet soup with no content. Did they even read the same book? It's highly unlikely. This is the most exciting book I've ever read. Easily a Hollywood blockbuster from start to finish. It's so obvious why Rainbow Six has become such a long-lasting popular franchise. More stuff happens in the first 20% than the entire Game of Thrones book (talk about needing an editor to cut the length in half).

Was The Great Reset based of this novel? The similarities are terrifying. Swap out the Shiva virus for Covid-19. Swap out 1 filthy rich corporation to many thinking they know what's best for the Earth (hint: it's lowering the human population to rescue mother nature). I think Billy Gates is a big Clancy fan. Even how in the book they create a vaccine before the arrival of the virus and in real life the vaccine was nearly done before the need for it.

Anyway... ignore the reviews and read it. This will probably be my favorite read of 2022. Heavy on gun play, light on drama.

Clancy's later books are...entirely predictable. I mean, it's not like the ending of "Hunt for Red October" came as a mind-blowing surprise or anything, but in "Rainbow Six" and "The Bear and the Dragon", especially, it seems that he relies on the repetition of phrases/ideas in order to get a high page count.

The constant political proselytizing also got old. Yes, we understand: people who care about the environment are deluded murdering psychopaths; drilling for oil is Alaska is the most patriotic and awesome thing ever; the military is full of people who have PhD's from elite universities. Give it a rest.

Was pretty good, but lasted at least 100 pages longer than it should have. I enjoyed the action sequences, but there are moments where it’s an absolute slog to get there. It’s mostly well-written and helps expand on various characters/ideas, but after a while I just didn’t care about another section concerning a characters thoughts when the idea is that they don’t know anything and don’t realize other investigations are going on in the background. The main antagonists weren’t all that interesting either. Popov had his moments, but the environmental group wanting to destroy humanity to save the world just seemed kinda silly with how many people ended up being a part of it while still being “secret.” It’s not a bad book and the actual military aspect along with the fights and the relationships concerning John and Chavez were great, but it wasn’t enough to make the book a 5/5 in my eyes.

A pesar de la puntuación que le estoy dando, creanme cuando digo que LO INTENTE.
No me molesta leer libros fuera de mi zona de confort, uno nunca sabe lo que pueda encontrar y nunca esta demás descubrir que otras cosas pueden gustarnos, ahora HABIENDO DICHO ESTO..... también podemos encontrar cosas que no nos gustan, este fue uno de esos casos.

Tom Clany tiene ideas interesantes, ideas que pueden adaptarse a buenas peliculas, como ya han hecho muchas veces, pero lamentablemente sus ideas no combinan con su estilo de escritura (esto es MI opinión personal, para gustos los colores) el libro fue ABURRIDO, LENTO y DENSO, con descripciones redundantes y absolutamente innecesarias; personajes BLANDOS que no se destacaban en NADA que no fuera su nacionalidad, cada uno de los miembros del comando era una copia de Rambo y Arnold Schwarzenegger en sus años de gloria: son absolutamente perfectos en todo, nunca fallan un tiro, saben utilizar todas las variedades de armas habidas y por haber sin apenas practicar, están en la mas perfecta condición física...en fin, no hay nada que el comando Rainbow no pueda hacer, literalmente!! Querido Tom, así NO se crean buenos personajes, esto solo hizo que odiara aun mas el libro.

Algo que tampoco me gusto fue la constante introducción de nuevos personajes a diestra y siniestra, nombres arrojados cada dos párrafos de personas que al final apenas eran personajes secundarios, porque tengo que saber la historia de la vida de este señor que solo aparecerá por dos capítulos? No hay ninguna necesidad, eso solo logra confundir al lector!

Mientras más lo pienso mas me parece que este libro es el sueño de Tom Clancy de su propia película de Hollywood, con todas las ridiculeces que esas películas ofrecen porque todas están en este libro: hay mucha política y burocracia pero es solo una ilusión ya que las leyes se pueden quebrar o ignorar en cualquier momento y no hay NINGUNA consecuencia; los "chicos buenos" son lo máximo en todo sentido de la palabra, tienen sus buenas esposas obedientes que no hacen nada y los apoyan en todo sin chistar (también son personajes blandos) y los "chicos malos" merecen ser aniquilados sin ningún miramiento o juicio justo (esto ya es sumamente subjetivo de mi parte porque estaba de acuerdo con algunos de los ideales de los villanos so no hagan mucho caso) ....si, justo como la vida real!!

En fin, no se que mas decir sobre este libro excepto que dejó mi mente totalmente seca y cansada, no creo que vuelva a leer un libro de Tom Clancy jamás, simplemente no es para mi. Se supone que este review iba a ser solo de un párrafo pero.....supongo que tenia muchas cosas que decir jejejeje y bueno, gracias por leer and see ya.

I read this for the "Military Related" part of my 2019 reading challenge. It was my first Tom Clancy and overall I didn't enjoy it. I found the first 2/3 of the book had too many characters to keep track of and multiple pages of gun details was unnecessary. The final 1/3 was good and I was actually interested in what was going on, but then the ending felt rushed and tied up too conveniently.

This heart pounding thriller is set in England and tells the story of an intelligence agency and a special air service called Rainbow. Soon after its establishment a bank in Switzerland is robbed and they are sent in to handle the situation. They are successful at getting inside the bank and executing terrorist to stop the death of innocent civilians. Soon after, german terrorists obtain fake codes for the international trading markets. Rainbow sends out disguised shooters and they handle the situation. The book goes through a number of terrorist encounters and describes how rainbow and its two teams handle them. After the hideout of the eco-terrorists is discovered rainbow is sent to it and kills them with a few survivors left naked to die and "reconnect with nature." This book was a wild thriller and anyone looking for action and military strategy should read it.

Starts off good not great—then catches fire halfway though. Extremely satisfying. Even if it is longer than Anna Karenina.