ktxx22's review against another edition
NOOOOPPPPPEEE!!! Hard pass and moving on. I’m DNFing this guy at 8% because those 2 hours of listening time that I’ll never get back were painful. Mr. Clancy I gave you the good old college try, but at least now I know why you’re so popular with the guys.... guns, violence, boats, boobs, military things, drugs.... I mean I could go on and that was on 2 hours out of 27. No rating because I couldn’t give up on it fast enough. I swerved and tried something new, but it’s so far off the mark that I gave myself whiplash getting back into my lane.
frasersimons's review against another edition
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
As you might expect this was massively overwritten, but not as bad as I thought it might be. It’s also wildly different than expectations because I had watched the TV show, and that show was nothing like this book. How weird is that? Maybe the main character has the same name and he’s a SEAL… everything else was pretty different. They both have a dude seeking revenge?
Anyway, this reads as quite antiquated already. Though, the main themes centering around trafficking women and drugs is basically eternal—and actually, the compassion for the sex workers was progressive for the time—and the major cross current is what you’d expect from Clancy: patriotism, white knights, women put in danger in service to the later. A lot of detail goes into the specificity of combat, air and ship mechanics, tactics, and weapons. They’re the
antithesis of this commercial formula. And there’s some appeal here.
But it’s also not what I’d describe as well written. With sections like, “…peopled by suspicious people”, you can be sure it’s a commercial work. There’s entirely too much detail in inconsequentially plot beats. Basically any woman that makes our sailor sing is in danger. Though, I guess it’s a step off of being fridged. It’s all very 90s, The Jackal, Tell Declan He Can’t Protect His Women. But I have a mood and I grew up with these movies, so it scratched the itch. The Hunt for Red October is much better, surprisingly. If you’re like me and thought the reading order started here, Jack Ryan isn’t even of consequence here it’s just in the same “universe”, or whatever. It’s the precursor to Rainbow Six, instead. Which, I guess isn’t the worst if you plan to read that and want background on SEAL guy.
Anyway, this reads as quite antiquated already. Though, the main themes centering around trafficking women and drugs is basically eternal—and actually, the compassion for the sex workers was progressive for the time—and the major cross current is what you’d expect from Clancy: patriotism, white knights, women put in danger in service to the later. A lot of detail goes into the specificity of combat, air and ship mechanics, tactics, and weapons. They’re the
antithesis of this commercial formula. And there’s some appeal here.
But it’s also not what I’d describe as well written. With sections like, “…peopled by suspicious people”, you can be sure it’s a commercial work. There’s entirely too much detail in inconsequentially plot beats. Basically any woman that makes our sailor sing is in danger. Though, I guess it’s a step off of being fridged. It’s all very 90s, The Jackal, Tell Declan He Can’t Protect His Women. But I have a mood and I grew up with these movies, so it scratched the itch. The Hunt for Red October is much better, surprisingly. If you’re like me and thought the reading order started here, Jack Ryan isn’t even of consequence here it’s just in the same “universe”, or whatever. It’s the precursor to Rainbow Six, instead. Which, I guess isn’t the worst if you plan to read that and want background on SEAL guy.
lori_loves_reading's review against another edition
3.0
All in all a good book but found parts to be very confusing, lots of characters to try and keep straight.
sirgss's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
italianstallion91r's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tiffcutshall's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My first Tom Clancy novel but not my last. This book was a great read. Reading how John Kelly became John Clark.
Tom Clancy wrote an amazing book full both military and police procedures with some espionage thrown in. Mixing the three together in a nicely blended tale of action, relationships and human nature.
Anyone who enjoys a good vigilante justice story…this is a book for you.
Tom Clancy wrote an amazing book full both military and police procedures with some espionage thrown in. Mixing the three together in a nicely blended tale of action, relationships and human nature.
Anyone who enjoys a good vigilante justice story…this is a book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Death, Murder, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Gun violence and Cursing
hawkeyegough's review against another edition
3.0
I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the main character's "mission." He gets his girlfriend killed by taking her somewhere they both knew was extremely dangerous to her. Then, to assuage his own guilt he goes on a murder spree, with some military scenes set in Vietnam sprinkled in so you know he's actually a good guy and not a murderer. I really like Clancy's writing, and I think with a more sympathetic character this could be a really interesting story. But, killing people who are totally unrelated to his "mission" and convincing himself that forcing someone to overdose isn't actually murder are hard for me to stomach in a protagonist. Unfortunately, this makes me dislike Mr. Clark a lot when I previously really enjoyed the Clancy book that included his character. I'm also of the opinion that not everybody deserves the death penalty, and even drug dealers and mob bosses are human beings deserving of basic human rights like a trial. My main question to Kelly/Clark would be, if you think the BPD is infiltrated with bad actors, why not go to the Feds? He was already tied in pretty closely with multiple high-level military administrators, I'm sure if he tried he could've gotten in touch with the DEA or FBI.
jacobstraub's review against another edition
3.0
This book is very dark and a little dated it how it treats women. 37 different plots all come together to connect people who will come up later in the Ryanverse. My one real complaint is that a storyteller should show not tell.
For instance when talking about how the drugs came into America he didn't need to say in dead bodies right away. Removing that one part wouldn't change the plot but leave us guessing until the end.
For instance when talking about how the drugs came into America he didn't need to say in dead bodies right away. Removing that one part wouldn't change the plot but leave us guessing until the end.
altoid's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning of this book leaves a lot to be desired and feels like a prolonged exercise in an author's own wish-fulfillment, but as the stakes get raised the book really picks up and becomes really enjoyable.