Rainbow Six

by Tom Clancy

Book Overview

Over the course of nine novels, Tom Clancy's genius for big, compelling plot, and his natural narrative gift (The New York Times Magazine) 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 and well-known from several of Clancy's novels as the dark side of...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399144137
• ISBN13: 9780399144134
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Length: 740 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.4" x 6.7" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great book

the ending was a little bad though

Rainbow Six is a chilling, thrilling action novel....

Rainbow Six, Tom Clancy's 10th novel and ninth in the Jack Ryan/John Clark series, once more focuses on the ex-CIA paramilitary field officer known in the Agency as Mr. Clark. This time, the focus once again turns to the challenges of fighting global terrorists and the menace from extremists determined not only to reshape society, but the entire planet's environment.Clark is close to retiring as a paramilitary officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations when Agency executive directors Ed and Mary Pat Foley, with the tacit approval of the recently elected President John Patrick Ryan, ask him to run an elite team of antiterrorist Special Ops fighters from several NATO countries. Their mission: to act as an international 911 team in hostage and other terror-related situations deemed too high-risk for local law-enforcement agencies. Based in England, this so-called Rainbow Team will be deployed mainly in Europe, but with support from U.S. and other allied nations, can operate anywhere in the world. Clark, who was an enlisted member of a SEAL team in Vietnam, is given a rank equivalent to a full colonel and the call sign Rainbow Six. (In military parlance, the designator "six" after a unit's call sign is assigned to a commanding officer.)Rainbow Six opens with a tense incident high above the Atlantic as a small group of Basque terrorists attempts to hijack the plane carrying Clark, his wife, his protege and new son-in-law Domingo "Ding" Chavez, and Alistair Stanley, his British second in command, to London. Using their wits and finely honed skills, the three Rainbow members overwhelm the hijackers and save the crew and their fellow passengers.With this introduction to the job, Clark then turns his attention to training the various members of the several Rainbow teams, not knowing that the airliner incident was simply one of many terrorist incidents being bankrolled by a mysterious and wealthy individual with a darker, more terrifying agenda. With the assistance of a former KGB officer and inspired by one of the most horrible aspects of the Iranian plot against the U.S. (as chronicled in Executive Orders), a group of environmental extremists is plotting to reverse centuries of man-made damage to the Earth's biosphere by committing the most horrible act of mass murder in history.Clancy's novel paints a troubling picture of what happens when a noble idea (such as promoting global conservation) is twisted and perverted by charismatic and cold-blooded individuals, and its action-oriented plot inspired an ongoing series of computer games.

Intense "Bolt"-Action Thriller

In today's world, terrorism is rampant. The definition of terrorism is "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological." This means that there are people out there trying to inhibit our freedoms by any means possible. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six revolves around the world of terrorism. It is the story of John Clark, master of the Covert and Black Operations world. Clark also stars in many other Clancy novels such as "The Bear and The Dragon." The novel is about an international Counter-Terrorist team, named Rainbow due to its multi-national make up. Different members are recruited from the world's best Counter-Terrorist teams around the world such as Seal Team 6/DEVGRU (Naval Special Warfare Development Group), SAS (Special Air Service), HRT (Hostage Rescue Team), and GSG-9 (Grenshutzgruppe 9). The team's mission is to effectively resolve terrorist situations world-wide. The setting is modern day. Although Clancy wrote this novel in the late 90's, the equipment that Rainbow uses is still currently used in real Counter-Terrorism teams today, except the Heart Beat Sensor, which is purely theoretical. However their equipment which includes H & K MP-10s, flash bangs, NVG (Night Vision), infrared, Primacord explosive, and tactical radios are all very real and all used today. In the novel, Clancy uses a plain, straight-forward style of writing. He also is very descriptive. His descriptions include thoughts and feelings of both Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. He offers an insight on our recent tragedy by letting us into the minds of the terrorists within his novel. Of all the descriptions, most memorable are his bullet impacts. For example, he details how a headshot from a sniper's 7mm bullet leaves a bloody mess. I believe he uses these descriptions to symbolize the horror that terrorism aims to create, and in many cases succeeds in doing so. I am not an avid reader; however I felt that I could not put this book down. I am very interested in the area of Counter-Terrorism and have done personal studies on the subject, so naturally this book appealed to me. However, if you enjoy reading books or novels full of action, excitement, suspense, and emotion, read Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, and I guarantee you will like it.

Rainbow Six

Action. Excitement. This book has it all. This book is about a group called Rainbow. Rainbow is a group that stops terrorists and rescue hostages. The members in Rainbow are highly trained and come from all over the world. This book has a lot of action and is very exciting. The detail in this book is amazing and makes you feel like you are in the book. All of these things make this book very interesting and good. This story also has a very well written plot. The book takes you on very realistic missions that will excite you. All of these things make this book one of the best I have read in years. I enjoyed this book and I think other people will enjoy it too. I would recommend this book to people that enjoy action books, because I believe that this book is very exciting and action packed.

Tom Clancy hasn't lost his touch!

What can I say? Wow! Right from the start, that most excellent of storytellers, Tom Clancy, throws us into action with a detailed yet gripping account of a hijacking. In some of his previous books (most notably Patriot Games, Executive Orders and The Sum of All Fears) the story dies for a hundred pages or more as Clancy explains the story (and regrettably, this has resulted in many readers stopping reading mid-way through a book...But no more. Rainbow Six keeps up the heart pumping action right the way through as though there is no tomorrow - and there may well not be! Long as it is, Clancy has once again kept my full attention resulting in late nights, staying up far too late turning page by page to find out WHAT HAPPENS! I was worried that Clancy was beginning to dull in his stories, having read Executive Orders which was explosively exciting in the last pages but, I felt, took too long to get there. And having read the co-authored Op-Centers, I was very worried as they all lacked the quick pace and exciting realism common to many Clancy books.However, I felt that singling out environmentalists as the bad guys was not a good marketing move (if not resulting in an excellent book!) and that their methods and ideals were not credible enough to bring a true sense of realism. I did enjoy the fantastic end to the story and hope that, true to Clancy style, Dmitry Popov will appear in another book in the near furture!And for the second time, Clancy has focused the book on John Kelly (otherwise known as Clark). Clark has definitely changed since the torture days portrayed in Without Remorse, become more mature, even mellowed in age. I missed good old Jack Ryan however although Clancy referred to Clark's good relationship with "The President". I felt that Jack deserved more place although, I think Clancy may have brought an end to Jack Ryan as a major role in Executive Orders. Keen followers of Clancy will note how Jack gradually rose through the ranks - ordinary history teacher and a lucky stock investor, then working at CIA, eventually becoming, DDO, DDI and eventually head of the CIA (which I believe is DCI, right?). Then going on to National Security Advisor, Vice-President (albeit for a short time) and finally President. I can think of no higher occupation for Ryan and this leads me to believe Clancy has decided to leave him out of future novels. I hope I am wrong...Is Clancy, in his usual portrayal of realistic events (as opposed to fantasy ones) going to let John Clark and Jack Ryan simply die of old age? Whilst this would be true to form, they would be sorely missed, and only Ding seems to be able to replace either of them. Are future books to hold only Domingo Chavez and not the beloved Clark-Chavez team? Will Jack retire?We can't tell. Clancy has shrouded us in a black cloak of curiosity until he chooses to reveal antoher piece of the unending story he weaves. And even then, we surely will not get the last

Totally engaging from the begining to end.

Through Tom Clancy's various books, he has used present day environments to set the stage for his characters to do what they do best. In "Rainbow Six", Clancy takes the reader into the world where spies are for hire, America is blind to bio warfare and old CIA agents are looking for new tricks. Clancy once again resumes the tale of John Clark who was made popular in the film "Clear and Present Danger". As a CIA Agent looking at the new world and seeing all the changes that have happened since his first exploits in the Vietnam war, Clark creates an ultra black project known as Rainbow Six. Based in England a with a free hand to combat terrorism on a global scale, Clancy pens a very exciting drama that is tough to put down.Ofcourse this wouldn't be a good Clancy book without plently of storylines linked together. There is a greedy former KGB agent stirring up terrorists around the world, a drug company CEO who cares more for the environment than his fellow man and a close Presidental advisor who is instrumental in exposing Rainbow Six. Remarkably Clancy brings it all together in the final pages and leaves us wanting more.