Rainbow Six: 2 (John Clark Novel, A)

Clancy, Tom

4.12

54,519 ratings by Goodreads

9780449009543: Rainbow Six: 2 (John Clark Novel, A)

ISBN 10: 0449009548 ISBN 13: 9780449009543

Publisher: Random House US Audio, 2012

Over the course of nine novels, Tom Clancy's genius for big, compelling plots and his natural narrative gift 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, a master of secret operational missions, and newly named the head of an international task force dedicated to combating terrorism. Clark is looking forward to sinking his teeth into a new mission, but the opportunities start coming faster than anyone could have expected; an incident at a Swiss bank, the kidnapping of an international trader in Germany, a terrible raid on an amusement park in Spain.

Each episode seems separate, yet the timing disturbs Clark. Is there a connection? He tries to figure out where all this activity is heading, but there is no way to predict the real threat: a group of terrorists like none the world has ever encountered, a group so extreme that their success could literally mean the end of life on this earth as we know it.
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Review:

For many readers, Jack Ryan embodies the essence of the modern American hero. Morally centred, disciplined, humble yet powerful, Ryan (and his onscreen incarnations in Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford) has made Tom Clancy one of the most popular writers in the world. But while Clancy has constructed the Ryan mythology, he has also quietly established his shadow double, John Clark. Appearing in The Cardinal of the Kremlin, Clear and Present Danger and Without Remorse, Clark has many of Jack Ryan's most appealing traits, but he is also a darker figure embodying the more paranoid sensibilities of the late nineties. As is made clear from the opening pages of Rainbow Six, ex-Navy SEAL Clark and his colleagues believe violent, deadly force to be the best deterrent for terrorism.

Clark (a.k.a. Rainbow Six) has left the CIA to create an England-based organisation code-named "Rainbow". Its mission: deploy an elite squad of American operatives combined with handpicked British, French and German agents to stop terrorism in its tracks. Rainbow's emergence could not be more timely: in quick succession, the force diffuses three attempted terrorist actions. But Clark becomes suspicious when Russian agents suddenly show interest in Rainbow's work.

Rainbow Six appeals on all the levels that Clancy fans could hope for. The Rainbow operatives, from Navy SEALs to German mountain-leader school graduates, are rendered to inspire with their physical and mental prowess. The book is infatuated with the latest gadgets for scrambling, transmitting and decoding secrets. And, in a carefully woven narrative that simultaneously traces the Rainbow team, a former KGB agent named Popov, the Australian Olympic security team and a sinister group of American scientists, Clancy artfully reveals the mystery of "Shiva" at the centre of the novel. How does Clark measure up against Jack Ryan? He may be the perfect hero for a world with hidden villains. --Patrick O'Kelley

Review:

"Action-packed."--The New York Times Book Review

"Gripping...bolt-action mayhem."--People

"A thrill ride."--USA Today

"Mr. Clancy is in his element...When the door blows open and the shooting starts, nobody does it better."--The Dallas Morning News

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