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. 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 '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.
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