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Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy's Op-Center is a beating heart of defense, intelligence, and
crisis management technology. It is run by a team of operatives both within its own walls
and out in the field. And when a job is too dirty--or too dangerous--it is the only place
our government can turn. But nothing can prepare Director Paul Hood and his Op-Center
crisis management team for what they are about to uncover--a very real, very frightening
power play that could unleash new players in a new world order.... From England to Ireland to America, an explosive wave of violence sweeps a CIA analyst
and his family into the deadliest game of our time: international terrorism. An
ultra-left-wing faction fo the IRA has targeted the CIA man for his act of salvation in an
assasination attempt. And now he must pay ... with his life. It is 1999. The sudden death of Russia's president has thrown the Russian
Federation into chaos. Devastating crop failures have left millions in the grip of famine
and an uprising seems inevitable. Russia requests American help. But as the world watches,
a terrorist attack stuns the U.S.--and evidence points to the Russian parliament. Amidst
the turmoil in Russia, American businessman Roger Cordian finds his multinational
corporation and its employees in jeopardy. For many readers, Jack Ryan embodies the essence of the modern American hero.
Morally centered, 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 as Clancy has constructed the Ryan mythology, he has quietly established Ryan's
shadow double, John Clark. 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 '90s. 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
organization 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 center of the novel. How
does Clark measure up against Jack Ryan? He may be the perfect hero for a world with
hidden villains. Using the latest advancements in military technology, the world's superpowers
battle it out on land, sea, and air for the ultimate global control. A chillingly
authentic vision of modern war, Red Storm Rising is as powerful as it is ambitious.
It's a story you will never forget. In The Sum of All Fears, the center of conflict is the perpetual hot spot
the Mideast, where a nuclear weapon falls into the hands of terrorists just as peace seems
possible. Clancy realistically paints an almost unthinkable scenario--the bomb is planted
on American soil in the midst of an escalation in tension with the Soviet Union; the
terrorists hope to rekindle cold war animosity and prevent reconciliation between Israelis
and Palestinians. Despite such a dramatic story line, Clancy doesn't neglect the individuals who
drive his tale. Jack Ryan's problems are as much domestic as they are part of the
international crisis that is the ostensible narrative: National Security Director
Elizabeth Elliot has the president's ear, and she has convinced him that Ryan's ethics are
questionable. She hints at marital infidelity and an insider-trading scandal. Of course,
both accusations are false, but her arguments have enough evidence behind them (e.g. some
photographs of an innocent embrace with a friend) to cause a strain in the Ryans' marriage
and a flurry of media attention. While "Mr. Clark" tracks the terrorists, he
also provides some needed intelligence to heal the Ryan family. The Sum of All Fears is the stuff of nightmares but contains enough
verisimilitude to terrify sober minds. Ryan has matured into a complex protagonist as
Clancy's writing, too, has matured. Ryan is plagued by stress and self-doubts that test
even his dauntless moral compass and make him a more interesting subject for readers'
attention. Those fascinated by military hardware, from nuclear submarines to atomic
weapons, will find almost enough here to start their own army. And Clancy's understanding
of international politics seems chillingly correct. > Without Remorse is the epic bestseller Tom Clancy fans have been waiting
for. Its hero is a man very familiar to Clancy's readers. His code name is Mr. Clark, and
his work for the CIA is brilliant, cold-blooded and efficient... But who is he really? In
a harrowing tour de force, Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed
the lines of justice and morality to become the CIA legend Mr. Clark. |
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/ Published 1995 