Without Remorse (1)(2) ('Leng xue han jiang(1)(2)', in traditional Chinese, NOT in English)

This book was lame. I've read the entire Jack Ryan series and this was easily the worst. I love Clancy, for the most part, but he has an annoying way of painting his characters too shallow. Each character is built with just one personality trait and every single thing that character does through the entire series is seen through the lens of that single trait. For instance, Ryan's friend,...more

This book was lame. I've read the entire Jack Ryan series and this was easily the worst. I love Clancy, for the most part, but he has an annoying way of painting his characters too shallow. Each character is built with just one personality trait and every single thing that character does through the entire series is seen through the lens of that single trait. For instance, Ryan's friend, Robby Jackson, is a fighter pilot. So every time Jackson does anything -- be it fly an airplane, drive down the interstate, cut a steak or take a dump -- he does it "as a fighter pilot would." Clancy would write "the fighter pilot showed through as Jackson winced, picturing himself over Hanoi in his fighter jet. With a powerful squeeze, he propelled the turd into the toilet." In real life, we are defined by more than one characteristic. Fighter pilots don't do everything as if they're flying an F-14. They don't reference their fighter pilot experience in conversation 27 times a day. In Tom Clancy's world, however, they do. With Ryan's wife, it's being a doctor. With John Clark, the man Without Remorse is about, it's being a Navy Seal. Being a SEAL isn't just the defining segment of Clark's personality in the book. It's the only segment. It's a problem that runs throughout Clancy's writing, and unfortunately it is at it's worse in Without Remorse. It's something I eagerly ignore in most of his other books, but it's something that is too overwhelming in this one. If you've read the rest of the series, you have to read this one too. So go ahead -- don't dally, however. It's not worth spending the extra time.   hide

Though the book explains a lot about the emergence of the most fearful of the Clancey spy characters, and his relationship to many of the Jack Ryan plot line, it's his own personal journey that's most interesting. If anything, Clark is more complex than Ryan, a polite man who can convince himself to do some very nasty things. It reminds me of the Batman saga. Anyone studying the 'morality' of Tom...more

Though the book explains a lot about the emergence of the most fearful of the Clancey spy characters, and his relationship to many of the Jack Ryan plot line, it's his own personal journey that's most interesting. If anything, Clark is more complex than Ryan, a polite man who can convince himself to do some very nasty things. It reminds me of the Batman saga. Anyone studying the 'morality' of Tom Clancey, might first look into this dark vision, as the novel can stand on its own without any other connections. Thematically, can anything justify severe retaliatory measures? A question not only for this dark knight, but also a country.   hide

This book was fantastic. 5 stars. Clancy does a great job of really bringing you in to john Kelly's life and helps you to feel the emotions. After all, this emotional roller coaster is what drives him to become the infamous Mr. Clark. his character development and attention to detail in this book are impeccable. It is my favorite Clancy novel. Also check out Rainbow Six for more on Mr....more

This book was fantastic. 5 stars. Clancy does a great job of really bringing you in to john Kelly's life and helps you to feel the emotions. After all, this emotional roller coaster is what drives him to become the infamous Mr. Clark. his character development and attention to detail in this book are impeccable. It is my favorite Clancy novel. Also check out Rainbow Six for more on Mr. Clark.   hide

If you've read a lot of Tom Clancy, you know Mr. Clark. Like Jack Ryan, John Clark is one of Clancy's returning characters, and in this version of earth is one of the greatest CIA legends. This is the story of how a war veteran named John Kelly became Mr. Clark, a dark yet facinating story of drugs, murder, and no small amount of vengence. Definitely one of Clancy's better works.