In this next book by Tom Clancy, he departs on a tangent from the Jack Ryan saga to follow John Clark, as he did earlier in his book Without Remorse. As part of the new post–Cold War world, terrorism is rising to be a major area of threat, as evidenced from Clancy's two earlier books, and also from our world situation today. In response to this threat, Clark, with the endorsement of President Ryan (who basically doesn't figure in the book), starts a special international squad, Rainbow, of highly trained special-operations troops to be a terrorism response squad. Joining him are Chavez, another of Clancy's favorite characters, and a broad cast of troops from the US, Britain, and other NATO countries.They are quickly put to the test. Terrorist activity first at a bank in Zurich, and then at the home of a prominent businessman in Austria give the team a chance to show what they are worth. They carefully coreograph a response and decisively put down both incidents. Their third response is to a terrorist takeover of WorldPark (a EuroDisney immitation), and again their action is impressive and decisive. Each episode is full of Clancy's vivid descriptions of tactical maneauvers, technological advances, and personal stories. Vintage Clancy.Part of the impetus behind these terrorist attacks is coming from John Brightling, head of Horizon Corporation. Brightling and a group he calls the Project are out change the world. They want to eliminate all but a chosen few humans from the planet, in what they see as the only way to save the Earth from human destruction. To do this, they want to raise global awareness of terrorism, in order to get their guy a consulting contract for the upcoming Olympic Games in Australia. That will be their delivery point of Shiva, an engineered form of Ebola that will spread from there throughout the world. Once the outbreak is known, Horizion plans to step in with a "vaccine" that is actually a virulent form of Shiva, thereby infecting most of those who haven't yet been reached with the epidemic. Only their own people and those they deem worthy get the real vaccine.The last terrorist attack they plan before the Olympics is a direct attack at Rainbow, which they see as a threat to the success of their plan. So they carefully set up an ambush of Clark's wife and daughter (Chavez's wife) at their place of employment, the hospital near the base. They plan to ambush the Rainbow troops as they respond. But the plans fall apart when Noonan, the Rainbow tech-guy, disables all cell-phone communications and disables their ability to act in a coordinated fashion. Wife and daughter escape unharmed as Rainbow is again able to act decisively to counter the terrorist plot, but this time taking two losses and a few injuries in the process.Their plan is working, until Dmitry Popov, the ex-KGB agent they have enlisted to set up the terrorist attacks, gets wind of the big picture for the Project. He is horrified by Brightling's intentions, and finds his way off of the Project facility in Kansas and heads to New York. He contacts Clark, and asks for a meet, and even though he set up the hit on Clark's wife and daughter, Clark accepts. As soon as he learns of the plot, Clark informs Chavez, who is consulting at the Olympics with a few other Rainbow troopers. They stake out the fogging system room (the planned point of deliver for the virus) and nab the Project member who is going to plant the virus.As soon as Brightling realizes that he can't reach his man, and that things are falling apart, he orders all physical and electronic evidence destroyed, and gathers up the members who know the whole story of the Project's plans and flies them off to the Project Alternate facility in Brazil. But the FBI and Air Force are able to track the plane, and Clark decides that Rainbow will follow the planes down. Because they are sure most of the evidence has been destroyed and because they fear making the details of the plot public, FBI agents aren't sure about if the group can be successfully prosecuted, and if it should be. In face of this, Clark faces them head on, sending in his troops. He gives them an opportunity to surrender, but Brightling sends out armend men to counter the force. Using an advanced people-finding gadget that Noonan has been plaing with, Clark is able to vector in the Rainbow troops to neutralize the threat from the Project defenders. Once it becomes clear that the battle is won, Brightling and his group surrender. Instead of taking them back to the States, Clark destroys all of the facilities at the Project compound and releases the members into the jungle to try fend for themselves (to commune with nature, as he puts it).With Rainbow Six, Clancy again demonstrates his narrative sense, as well as his ability to tell a great military story with a moderately complicated plot. He also builds some interesting and clearly flawed characters who just try to do the right thing. And the reader clearly wants to empathize with them. But there are some clear weaknesses in the book. One, a weakness that has cropped up in a few of his other novels, is torture. Clark is a character with a dark side, and torture, or the threat of it, is a necessary instrument to elicit information and serve a greater good. And at first blush, in Clancy's narrative world, that may seem true. But who should be allowed to weild this terrible sword, and decide when it's really serving a greater good. The fear that evil will win out makes it seem easy to do whatever we can, and at whatever cost, to make the good triumph. But we should never allow torture to be justified. It violates the basic humanity, of both the tortured and the torturer. And it most certainly flies in the face of our most basic Christian convictions about right and wrong, and about sin and reconciliation. Which brings up the other major flaw in Clancy's story: retribution. The one unasailable fact that seems to drive his logic as the story concludes is that the perpetrators of this ghastly plan deserve full and complete punishment for their intentions. They must be delt with, decisively. And if the law might have trouble doing that, or if we don't like all of the consequences, it's justifiable to bend the rules a bit to exact "justice" in a slightly different way. Again, the line of thinking is tempting, but it again sees retribution as good, and sees all actions toward that end as justifiable. The victims become the perpetrators in a new act of violence. Where does it end?
Tommy Clancy is an impressive story-teller and I really like his work....BUT he’s also a major word glutton and very promiscuous with regards to the sheer volume of prose he pours into each tale. The man loves, loves, looooooooves him some letters and it seems he will do nothing in 5 pages of text if he can possibly coax 10 or 15 out of it. A bit more brevity if you please, sir. That said, Clancy is a grandmaster of the big, global threatening, spy-guy thriller and he packs plenty of worthy into the narrative despite the occasional bout of overabundance. Just make sure when you pick up one of his tomes that you’re prepared for a massive, sprawling epic that spends considerable time just enjoying the surroundings before marching into the promised land. It’s a good trip, but it travels the scenic route to get there. PLOT SUMMARYJohn Clark (aka Super Spook Extraordinaire) has been tapped by his buddy, President Jack Ryan, to head up a new top secret, multi-national, counter-terrorist group called Rainbow to deal with post cold war threats to the good people of Earth. Headquartered in the U.K. and comprised of the crème-de la crème of elite, mega badasses from the U.S. and Europe, Rainbow is the ultimate squad of no-nonsense, life takers out to bring the pain to those that would dare cause trouble for the freedom loving world.On the other side of Rainbow is an ex-KGB heavy working for an extreme group of gaia-loving, radical Eco-terrorists looking to perpetrate some real nasty on the Planet’s most environmentally offensive species (...and no, we aren’t talking farting cows here). I don’t want to spoil the central goal of the bad guys are but it is well-planned, well-funded and seriously scary. It is also complex and includes as part of the overall scheme some “old guard” terrorist operations that spotlight the new Rainbow group, some secret medical experiments on the homeless people and security at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. MY THOUGHTSAfter reading a bunch of Clancy around the time the movie version of The Hunt for Red October was released, this was my first novel of his in over 10 years. I liked it. I wasn’t quite as blown away by this one as I have been in the past and I think that is less a reflection of the story (which was among his best) and more an indication that my reading tastes have evolved and that the thriller genre has caught up to Clancy who at one point was miles ahead of the crowd. My only real gripe goes back to my introductory reference to Clancy’s word whoring and page count promiscuity. The book was just toooooooooooo loooooooooong for me given the events of the novel. Tommy could’ve written a 500 page book (rather than almost 1000) and lost none of the plot or narrative detail. It never got so bad that I was actually frustrated, but it got close a few times. That page bloat cost the book a star from me.However, despite the plot plod, the story is still wonderfully done and Clancy has a real gift for complex, well-thought out scenarios and both the good and bad guys do some very interesting things. His attention to detail is also as sharp as ever. My favorite this about Clancy’s stories are his characters which stand out among others in the genre for their perfect balance between true blue patriotism, inner decency and the willingness to take the gloves off and put a fatal hurting on the baddies. Nobody does this kind of character better and both Jack Ryan and John Clark are among my favorite literary leading men of all time. Overall, a good solid thriller that could have been made more enjoyable with a reduced thickness. Thus 3.0 stars for what in many respects was a 4 star story. Still, recommended for fans of the genre.
What do You think about Rainbow Six (1999)?
Rainbow Six has one of the most amazing plots I've ever seen in a book. Tom Clancy bends the seemly irrelevant beginning all the way around to ultimate climax of the story. My mind was truely blown when I got to the end of this absolutely stunning book. Now, Rainbow Six isn't a page turner all the way through, but there are some very suspensful chapters.If you keep with it for about a hundred pages, you won't be able to put down. Clancy is an amazing writer, and with all his military access, he was able to make the book really authentic. All the equipment and training the soldiers do is right on the mark.I It was very enjoyable and hard to put down. Clancy really nailed it this time around.I would recommend this book all mature young adults, but it is not for people who can't handle graphic violence. The author is very descriptive, and it is a counter-terrorism book. Besides that, Rainbow Six was a wonderful and exciting story that kept me reading until the end.
—Owen Yeasting
A Tom Clancy novel is an odd choice for my blog given none of them can be considered science fiction, fantasy, noir, or contain zombies. You could make an argument that Tom Clancy has had a tremendous effect on the video game genre since Ubisoft first decided that his name should adorn the cover of their works. In fact, this may be hyperbole or internet rumor, but Ubisoft actually bought the rights to his name. Whatever the case, I've been reading his work lately and thought I'd take a moment to share what I think of his novels whenever I get done with them. Tom Clancy isn't as influential an author as Tolkien but you might argue he's about a third. He created the "techno-thriller" genre and we're now surrounded by the fruits of his creation. What is a techno-thriller? To be honest, they're spy and/or war novels and the decision to call them a separate genre is just a conceit in my opinion. Still, Tom Clancy revitalized the spy and war novel. Whenever you see super-technological spies running the line between James Bond action and real world political intrigue, you're probably seeing the influence of Tom Clancy in action. He's the guy who said you could be realistic and engage in wish-fulfillment without sacrificing either. I chose Rainbow Six as my first novel of Tom Clancy to review because it's the only major Tom Clancy work to be adapted into a popular video game. It's a story that was a video game first before the developers got in touch with Tom Clancy and started working side-by-side. The video game's plot doesn't match completely with the novel but their influences are tremendous. The premise of Rainbow Six is that the United States and other NATO nations have formed an international anti-terrorist team for rescuing hostages. This was before terrorists mostly just started killing people globally. The title of the book doesn't refer to the team, actually, but its chief member and frequent Clancy protagonist, John Clark. The team is named Rainbow and John Clark has 'Six' as his call sign. Joining John Clark is Domingo Chavez, his associate and now son-in-law from Clear and Present Danger. Not to the spoil the plot, because the basics are revealed fairly early on, but a environmentally friendly corporation called Horizon Incorporated is plotting to kill the entirety of the human race with a genetically engineered strain of Ebola. Why are they doing this? They're radical environmentalists. With this sort of premise, you know Tom Clancy has taken a long step away from realism. Still, I enjoy Bond movies so why not enjoy a premise straight from Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me? The plot more or less follows the bad guys hiring a bunch of real-life terrorist groups to do evil across Europe. Their reasons for this are not revealed until later and quite ingenius. Fans of video games will note that the various terrorist groups all do their evil in distinctive settings and get progressively more dangerous as the heroes go through them one-by-one. In other words, the adventures of our heroes play out exactly like they would in a tactical simulator or FPS. The politics in the book are more than a little heavy-handed as Tom Clancy's conservative bias shows in virtually every scene. Some of these prejudices come off as blackly humorous given later developments in politics and the economy. For example, one chapter goes to great lengths in explaining how something like the Exxon Valdez spill could never happen again because the oil companies had learned their lesson. Really, Tom? The straw caricature environmentalists don't offend me, however, because they're so clearly insane they become entertaining. Numerous chapters in the book go into their POV, which establishes them as all sociopaths who care more about the lives of animals than people. They're also deliberately hypocritical, driving around Humvees and talking about all the animals they'll kill once they're no longer endangered. The book's science is likewise funny for anyone who knows a thing about evolution and biology such as reinforcing Ebola with cancer cells or talking about how nature needs to be restored to its original state. Nature, of course, is something that is constantly changing as animals immigrate, take over local ecosystems, and warp them to their needs. Indeed, it is one of the villains who provides much of the book's enjoyment. Dmitry Popov is an ex-KGB agent turned mercenary who is only interested in the Horizon Corporation's money. Popov is used by Clancy to poke fun at the numerous terrorist organizations he encounters, often with a sly observation or two that is never droll. By the end of the book, I wanted Popov to ride off into the sunset with everyone's money. Unfortunately, in addition to the books occasionally insane politics, it does have one weakness. I don't mean it's length, 900 or so pages is a typical work for Tom Clancy. No, I mean it's the fact the protagonists actually aren't all that proactive. Due to their ignorance of the villain's plot, they spend the vast majority of their time chilling back at their base in-between missions. There's only a few real scenes where the heroes show any real emotion and their character growth is almost nil. There's also the fact that, for an international organization, Rainbow is pretty much just composed of Americans and Brits. There's a couple of standout characters but they have no real effect on the plot or play any major role. In a way, the countries so excluded should be grateful since the Brits are incredibly stereotyped. Tom is clearly trying to play the SAS-trained soldiers as highly competent professionals but they talk like an amalgamation of Brits from war movies and 1960s episodes of Doctor Who. At least one, I'm sure, is a fairly transparent homage to the Brigadier. This doesn't mean the book is bad. It's a fairly easy read with the interspersed action sequences being exceptionally well-written and always fun. Some of the settings for terrorist attacks, like a Spanish version of Disneyworld, are inspired. There's also something to be said about villains who are genuinely despicable and you love watching get their comeuppance. I recommend people looking for a good lengthy thriller to check this one out.8/10
—C.T. Phipps
In which an incredibly silly plot by a group of Environmental Extremists is put down by a super-team of anti-terror special forces. Clancy was quite clearly losing his grip on reality by the time he wrote this. The villains are so over-the-top as to be ridiculous and the lantern jawed heroes (all very clearly conservative family men) are just too unstoppable that the whole exercise is daft. Clancy also seems to think that British and Australians all talk like Biggles and that an outsider cannot distinguish between British and Irish accents. Oh, and he's clearly never seen a marathon either. Is it a good book? Not by any means. Did I enjoy it? Yes, quite a lot :) Rated MA for violence and coarse language. 3/5
—Nathan
