Rating: 
Summary: Good As It Get's , But......................................
Review: This is a typical Tom Clancy novel. By that I mean it's great all the way till you get to the NON- climatic end. I have read every Tom Clancy novel there is and all ways enjoy them. But, as he grows in years, the same non-climatic end comes to be. Yoy read 700 pages and he tie's it all up in the final few pages. God, I hate that. You spent 700+ pages telling a fantastic story and end it in 20. Thats a Dam shame..........
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty disappointing
Review: It certainly seems to me that Tom Clancy's political grandstanding seriously detracts from the story. It's getting harder and harder to wade through these massive tomes. Mr. Clancy's political beliefs have always been apparent in his work, but now he seems to feel that his novels are podiums fit for bludgeoning us over the head with. He always has been an excellent storywriter, but the dogma is very much overpowering the story. I find that I as I reread his earlier novels, I enjoy them less because of the civics lessons I was forced to endure in "Rainbow Six" and "Debt of Honor". I certainly could not reccomend this book to a non-fan, and fans should definetely edit as they read. I just hope Mr. Clancy realizes before his next novel is finished, that Ronald Reagan is no longer in need of a speechwriter.
Rating:
Summary: Give me a Break
Review: Although I've read everything but those op-center books, the declining quality of his latest offerings caused me to buy Rainbow 6 with some trepidation. I now regret buying and reading this ridiculous book. There is no reason for this lightweight story to occupy 740 pages -- is Clancy getting paid by the word? Clancy should place more emphasis on tight plotting and omit the right wing paranoia. Also, subtlety is definitely not his strong suit. The ham-fisted superhero treatment of Clark, Chavez, and the rest of the Rainbow 6 team is straight out of a comic book. Finally, I won't spoil it by telling you who the villains are, but if you find them as scary as Clancy does, you are part of the lunatic fringe. What happened to the guy who wrote The Hunt for Red October?
Rating: 
Summary: Where has John Clark gone ??
Review: What a disappointment! For the first time Mr Clancy has filled his novel with cardboard characters and a turgid story. John Clark is portrayed as a bumbling and shortsighted leader whose constant shortcomings are highlighted by the intelligence and abilities of 'Super' Ding. Where has the John Clark from Without Remorse gone. Even Jack Ryan seems to be an incompetent president. It is left to Mr Clancy's newest hero, Ding to almost singlehandedly save the world. Normally I read Mr Clancy's books in one sitting - this one I had great difficulty even finishing. Please Mr Clancy revert to your old writing style, save your political philosphies for your non-fiction works
Rating: 
Summary: Plus! Plus! Plus! What a thriller!!!!!!
Review: I just finished "Rainbow Six" and the thing just completely exhausted me ... it just kept you on the "edge of your seat" the entire time. Clancy has outdone himself with his new book. I found the openness of the Project members to be somewhat unrealistic as in a scheme such as this, information would have been on an "as needed basis", however, there are some "crazies" out there. I found the plot to be very believable. I truly liked this book and I hope others will purchase it and find it as enjoyable as I did.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Writer Who Needs An Editor to Kick His Butt
Review: I've been reading Tom Clancy's fiction since "Hunt for Red October," and have enjoyed every one of his books. But, truth be told, the pleasure decreases with each new one. Someone needs to rein in this man's excesses. "Rainbow Six" would've been a great read about counter-terrorism, w/ all the wonderful stuff that has made Clancy rightly famous, including the great gadgets, the realities of coping with monomaniacal nutcakes, and the pleasure of seeing the bad guys bumped off by the good guys. Some IRA-types or Middle Eastern fanatics would've sufficed to set up all the requisite bad-guy stuff, and that would have been that. (Yes, I know he's already used the IRA and extremist Iranians, but you've still got to pick something remotely real.) But, for Clancy, who has seemingly been unchained from some modicum of editorial oversight since at least "Patriot Games", this isn't enough. And so, in "Rainbow Six," without an editor to tell him otherwise, Clancy is off on a truly ridiculous tangent that detracts mightily from an otherwise great story. The result is that instead of something at least remotely plausible, we've got some American eco-extremists who actually believe they can reduce the world's population -- the world's! -- to a million or so -- that's "million" -- and then start over with themselves as both the saviors and the new leaders, thus allowing Mother Earth to regenerate herself, with buffalo as far as the eye can see, etc., ad nauseum. This is preposterous fantasy. There may well be fruitcakes out there who believe such stuff, but the folks Clancy puts at the center of this nonsense would have to be smarter than that in order to to be as successful in the "real" world as they have to be for the rest of Clancy's plot to work. Put differently, is there one real scientist, as the chief bad guy here clearly is supposed to be, who believes you could fine tune his goal of reducing the world's population by over 99% and have that depopulation stop just before it got to him and his supporters? That you could remove over 99% of man and have everything work out just fine for the remaining 1% and everything else? What poppycock, and the worst part is that it detracts from the good story. Tom, pick one good story and stick with it. And trust me, if you had to choose and picked the counter-terrorism one, you'd continue your best-seller success. On the other hand if you only picked the eco-nuts part of this story, you'd still be selling insurance on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Maxwell Perkins, phone Putnam.
Rating:
Summary: Clancy misses and is somewhere over the Rainbow.
Review: As an avid Clancy reader, it was with great anticipation that I opened Rainbow 6 for the first time. I found the first several hundred pages to be classic good Clancy but as soon as the primary plot began unfolding, the story began to unravel. In the end I was very upset with Clancy for revealing only his political views and not developing his characters and for stumbling along with a weak plot instead of keeping me dazzled, (see Hunt for Red October or Cardinal of the Kremlin or Red Storm Rising). Clancy's own flat, monosyballic right wing political beliefs led to the creation of flat, predictable, uncompassionate, tunnel-visioned characters, both the good and bad guys. It used to be in Clancy's early writings, you knew he was conservative in his political leanings but it didn't matter because the story and people were so interesting you couldn't put the book down. He has evolved into a soapbox stomping, radical, dogma spewing, screaming-in-your-ear crazy man. I hope he reverts to his old ways or his readers will go the way of the Dodo bird. This, by far, was his worst novel to date. And didn't anyone from Putnam edit this book? typpos, mis-spoillings and sin tax...shame shame shame...
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: I just finished Rainbow Six last night, and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with how it turned out. Clancy has written some pretty good books (and I've read them all) -- Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, and Debt of Honor being my favorites, but Rainbow Six definitely isn't one of them. Problems (in no particular order): ** The length. Did we really need 740 pages to tell this story? I definitely agree with some of the other people here that a big chunk of it could have been cut. The 50 or so pages where Popov is trying to figure out the conspiracy are interminable. ** Clancy's portrayal of women. This is getting pretty insulting, and I can't be alone on this one. ** Implausible. There were some good isolated moments in the plot, but the way they added up was ludicrous -- particularly the whole purpose for the terrorist incidents in Europe. Let's be honest -- the whole point of that was so Clancy could write some pretty cool action sequences (which they were). ** The ending. As usual, Clancy tries to wrap up this huge gigantic plot in 30 or so pages -- and as usual, it doesn't work. He has people flying all over the damn world, back and forth, back and forth -- and it doesn't work well. And the ending definitely made me lose respect for Clark and Chavez, who I've liked up until this point. I mean, were they any better than the Project people when it comes down to it? I don't think so.... In summation, the first 200-250 pages are really good, but things drag on after that point. The book still deserves three stars for it's high points -- the action sequences, which are expertly done in typical Clancy fashion. And the reason the first third of the book worked so well was because Clancy didn't waste time getting to the good stuff (like he usually does). I recommend this book to die-hard Clancy fans, but to those with just a passing interest, definitely skip it.
Rating:
Summary: wake me when it's over
Review: I've read all of his books and let's just this one just hasn't grabbed me just yet. Unfortunately I dropped the book and damaged the corner so I "have to keep it". Otherwise I would have returned it. What struck me as funny is the fact that both John and Ding are so happily married and that both have kids (or kids on the way). Very non-realistic. I've met a few Spec Ops people in my day and none of them are happily married if married at all. I know I'm nit picking but every single one of his characters are "the best of the best". The story is kind of like watching one of those PrimeTime movies that the big channels puts on during re-run season. I guess if you can't find another book to read and you do like his style then you might as well pick it up. But don't buy the hardcover...wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: One of Clancy's best
Review: Rainbow six is a great book for a long flight because once you start you don't want to put it down.
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