Rating: 
Summary: Shame, Shame
Review: If your a die-hard Clancy fan, go for it, if your not, then skip it. This is just another tired killer virus novel, that has been done much better way too many times. Mr. Clark in "Without Remorse" and in the Jack Ryan series was always well done, in this novel he's not done at all. Talk about a let down, I was *very* disappointed... Poor Plot, really bad editing (mispelled words, poor grammer, etc.)Poor Character development, way too long, and an incredible mismanaged climax (finish) and to top it off we have to listen to Clancy's right wing rants and raves throughout the book. So much anticipation, so little satisfaction....
Rating: 
Summary: Old plots and characters re-hashed
Review: Certainly not up to the standards of originality found in HFRO or Cardinal of the Kremlin. Tom, you've already used a death virus against the world.On characters, Clark and company are not saints, the efforts to make the characters more "real" comes across as contrived. The only interesting character was Popov, because his greed and questioning were real. He (Popov) would have figured out the dastardly plot about 200 pages earlier. At least he got the gold in the end. One other note Mr. Clancy, I do not need to be told fifty times that all the dumb terrorists are either dead or in jail, I got it after the first five. Summary: I have the distinct feeling that this book was a "vehicle" for a best selling author to come out with another best seller. I wish the current reviews had been posted before I bought the book. Re-read Cardinal of the Kremlin for a good Clancy story. He knows how to do it, he needs to dig deeper next time.,
Rating: 
Summary: Clancy strikes again, but not as hard
Review: It's great to see Tom Clancy back in his old grove of writing those amazing 1000 page novels with detailed characters, plot, and action. Rainbow Six is by far an excellent example of Clancy's skill as a writer. He is able to bring the reader into his novelic world that contains even the most minute details. The premis of R6 is quite realistic, as are all Clancy novels, to the point that it began to bother me because this could really happen. Another great aspect of R6 are the action sequences that proliferate the book. At each turn, Clancy evokes his tour-de-force trademark writing style with suspence and action. The reader can feel the breaths of the doomed terrorists and can smell the spent rounds from the Rainbow MP-10s. However, the novel does hold some weaknesses that Clancy has not shown in his previous work. The book is relatively short as compared to his previous 1000 page tomes (R6 is only about 750 pages long) and follows a sterotypical "Hollywood" format. Or rather a stertotypical "Silicon Valley" format, as the book is the companion piece (and vice-versa) to the new computer game of the same title. At times it seemed like Clancy was writing a novel that would easily traslate into a video game or movie. This is upsetting becase Clancy previously has written in his own form, allowing a more hapazard but effective plot to delevop. Rainbow Six is slightly (and unfortunatly) similar to the "fluf books" (i.e. OP Center, Politika) that Clancy has penned for their apparent monetary value. Overall, Rainbow Six is an amazing read that is impossible to put down once you have started. The characters develop well and the plot is creative and refreshing. Tom Clancy has hit hard with another amazing novel, but his punch has noticeably weakened a little.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing to Clancy fans.
Review: It's interesting to note that most of the 'five-star' reviews below of this book are by people who have not yet finished it. Most of the negative reviews are by people who don't like his politics. I'm someone who loves his politics: I like his patriotism, his sense of justice, his take-no-prisoners concern that the bad guys fry. But Clancy over and over tends to write one really great book followed two years later by one he just "phones in." This book doesn't get started until page 490. There is no attempt at characterization of either Clark or Chavez or Popov or anyone else. The terrorist events are repetitious. The combat situations are repetitious. Even the conversations are repeated over and over: Hey, Tom -- it's not groundhog day! Your "Executive Orders" only a year ago was a superb, brilliant, powerful, moving book. I was counting the months until this one. What happened, dude?
Rating: 
Summary: compared to other authors- great book. As for Clancy- poor.
Review: Rainbow Six was quite a disappointment to die-hard Clancy fans like myself. All the plot twists that make Clancy superb were easily identified and figured out much too early. Another downer was the addition of too many "super-heroes". Maybe a reader can believe Chavez and Clark can hit a man dressed in black in a dark room in the head with three shots out of three while running- but two groups of 10+ men, all infallible? My last criticism is of the transparency of Clancy's political beliefs. He let too much of his personal belief seep into the story, and though I AGREE with much of what he said, it makes it hard for the reader to concentrate on the meat of the story. I was severely disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Another donation to the Tom Clancy retirement fund......
Review: I really didn't want to be disappointed with this one. Clancy's fame is well earned after penning such winners as Red Storm Rising and The Hunt for Red October. So, setting aside the multitude of grammatical and spelling errors, what's the explanation for the redundant descriptive phrases and shallow dialogue that riddle this story like rounds from an MP-10? Furthermore, I couldn't get past the basic fallacy of the plot, which was that no evil scheme of such cosmic proportions as this one could plausibly escape the notice of the general public. And how about the families of all those Project members? Finally, as if Clark's punishment of the environmentalists wasn't enough, Clancy wastes a good portion of our woodland resources in pages and pages of empty writing which don't provide the readers or the characters with anything useful. If this had been a movie, I would have waited for the VHS version....
Rating:
Summary: Slightly off the mark, but still Tom Clancy
Review: I'm a serious Clancy fanatic, having read most of his books ten or twenty times over. As such, I was slavering at the thought of a new novel in the "Jack Ryan universe". Unfortunately, Clancy has done such a phenomenal job with his recent novels ("Without Remorse", "Debt of Honor", "Executive Orders")that he is not quite able to top them with "Rainbow Six". Both the book and the upcoming computer game "Rainbow Six" revolve around a NATO anti-terrorist force (think SAS/GSG-9/Delta Force on steriods) headed up by old friends Clark and Chavez, and as can be imagined, it's pretty cool. "Rainbow" comes from the multi-national membership and Clark himself is "Six", the commander. The book is solid Clancy techno-thriller fare, with an emphasis less on military hardware and more on the characters involved. I very much enjoyed the action scenes and training descriptions. However, there are a few warts which left me less slightly less than satisfied with "Rainbow Six". The thing that really bugged me the whole time is that Jack Ryan is *never* mentioned in the book, not even once!! He is referred to occasionally as "the President", but never even by name; it's as though he doesn't exist anymore. Jack Ryan has always (with the exception of the standalone "Red Storm Rising" and the earlier-timeline "Without Remorse") been the central character of Clancy's books. "Rainbow Six" takes place right after "Exec", so it just feels *wrong* that Ryan isn't there. It's like watching Star Wars with Luke getting no screen time and Han just mentioning "that Jedi Knight" every once in a while. Maybe Clancy felt he couldn't top "Exec", maybe he didn't want to treat Ryan as a bit player (since the focus is on Clark). Whatever the reason, it's a bummer. Other things that keep this from being a totally satisfying experience: the plot is a bit of a rehash from "Exec" (very unlike Clancy) and some terms like REMF, RIF, and "hit them like a Kansas tornado" were reused to the point of annoyance and, in the case of the acronyms, without explanation (editing felt a little weak). I know what REMF means, but that doesn't mean every reader will. I was also disappointed that Clark doesn't get much action, as he's now over 50 and thus not realistically able to compete with the 20-something members of Rainbow. Chavez, on the other hand, is in the forefront of everything, which is very cool. The plot is also very direct, with none of the characteristic multiple intertwining crises that make his recent works such masterpieces, and there's few *really* tense moments (when Pat O'Day double-tapped the kidnappers at the day care center in "Exec", I physically yelled with relief). Still, even a slightly off-the-mark Clancy is a darn fine read, and it is only in contrast with his own stellar body of work that "Rainbow Six" appears flawed. Recommended for Clancy fans.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disapointing
Review: I have always been a HUGE fan of Tom Clancy's books and went out of my way to buy this one as soon as it hit the stores. I am really sorry I did not read some of the reviews here first. I could have saved myself a lot of time. The book is WAY too long - the eco-terrorists plan is outlined so often by so many characters that I was beginning to wonder if Clancy was being paid by the page. Also, the typos and syntax errors are worse than any I have ever seen in a book being released with this much advance press. Overall, I found the book extremely disappointing. Clancy has gotten lazy in using the same characters once again rather than taking the time to develop new ones - and I won't even mention his portrayal not only of female characters but the way in which is primary characters interact with them. As well, his personal views have colored what was at the core a good story line with lots of action-packed conflicts.
Rating:
Summary: More of the Same: Good Plot, God Awful Dialogue
Review: Tom Clancy's books have always been strong on plot and weak on character and this book is no different. The problem with this book like many of his others is the lack of depth of emotion you feel for this characters. The other problem with the book is that from such cardboard characters comes card board dialogue. Too many times are the conversations self congratulatory mush. For example: "Hey Ding, hell of a job out there." Ding: "Thanks man, you're pretty damn good yourself." This will happen constantly as each character who comes in contact with the successful character must compliment him or her and he/she must respond in kind. The same thing happens when two characters talk about someone we haven't met yet or someone who is not in the room with them. Example: "Clark is a hell of spook." "Yeah, he is good people." In other words, everyone is great, perfect. It is a tad annoying. Couple this with the fact that every character speaks the same way. All characters fail to say the word "doctor" but rather call the person "doc" . Ding calls his wife "doc", the secretary of treasury calls a professor "doc". Too many characters use the phrase "hell of a ...", i.e. hell of a job, hell of a guy, etc. etc. All characters love to describe each other as "good people". So not only are they cardboard characters, they all sound the same. Clancy's plots are usually engaging and is the primary reason to read the books. Additionally, this one has the added bonus of not having Jack Ryan in it, the most unlikeable hero ever. He is really just refered to in the third person which is how I hope he remains. In fact, the main characters are the only Clancy heros worth following: Ding and Clark. As long as the book focusses on them and their exploits it is wonderful. When the non-combat dialogue shows up that is when you might want to skim. Overall, a good book, but if you are going to buy it wait for the paperback because it isn't worth 17.00.
Rating:
Summary: Kept me reading constantly!
Review: Tom Clancy at his best! Rainbow Six was a classic techno-thriller, based on his heroes of Clark and Chavez. Don't think for moment that such bio-warfare is "impossible". Clancy keeps you on the edge, what next kind of reading. Hard to put it down once the action begins, and that starts with the flight to England. I truly enjoyed Rainbow Six. What's next?
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