Rainbow Six

By: Tom Clancy

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 35 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

Whether hunting warlords in Japan, druglords in Colombia, or nuclear terrorists in the United States, John Clark is efficient and deadly. But even he has ghosts in his past, demons that must be exorcised. And nothing is more demonic than the peril he must face as the commander of a covert multi-national anti-terrorism squad known as Rainbow.

Almost as soon as the group is formed, three terrorist attacks occur that seem unrelated at first, but may be the beginning of a new brand of terrorism like nothing the world has ever encountered before. Their success could literally mean the end of life on this Earth as we know it.

Rainbow Six is Tom Clancy's most shocking story ever - and closer to reality than any government would care to admit.

©1998 Rubicon Inc. (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Clancy is in his element.... When the door blows open and the shooting starts, nobody does it better." ( Dallas Morning News)

"Clancy has penned a thrilling novel, full of paranoia, intrigue, terror, and tension that you can cut with a knife. His millions of fans, as well as newcomers to the genre, will eat this one up, and deservedly so! Highly recommended." ( Barnes & Noble)

"Rainbow's engagements, which occupy the bulk of the novel, are immensely suspenseful, breathtaking combos of expertly detailed combat and primal emotion." ( Publisher's Weekly)

amazing listen

i never noticed how time flew by when listening to this. i highly recommend this to anybody who likes commando based fiction

John Clark! No need to say more.

What made the experience of listening to Rainbow Six the most enjoyable?

The intrigue and twisted thinking of the eco terrorists, and the ironic ending.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rainbow Six?

The former Russian spy turning the tables on the eco terrorists and becoming a rich gold mine owner.

Have you listened to any of Michael Prichard’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. Michael Pritchard does a good job in all his readings of Tom Clancy's novels but is a bit monotonous in his reading. Considering the size of Tom Clancy's novels this can be a bit tedious.

A whole series in a book!

You have to hand it to Clancy, this could easily have broken this down into a series of three books and made more money. There is so much storyline in here and yet I never felt that he was just filling it out. The story itself is genuinely thought-provoking and I would say has become more relevant with the passage of time rather than less. This is partly because unusually there is plenty of time and even at points sympathy given to the motivations and detailed methods of the "bad guys".

The main protagonists are well detailed and thoroughly rounded out, the action seems generally well thought through rather than of the simple shoot 'em up style even if there were one or two puzzling oversights by the Rainbow team that went unexplained. If there is a downside it is a slight tendency of the author to use a cliched style of representing some characters, particularly the English who say "good man" just a tad too much for example . . . This is exacerbated by the style of narration. Now I can only imagine just how difficult it is to present a 36 hour audio book but Prichard has a strong American accent and he didn't seem to be able to change pitch, tone or pace to fully represent the widely varied characters and plot devices quite enough.

That said, very glad I read it, great value for this length of compelling story and I will be back for more of Clancy's books!

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Good story, dry narration

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have never read, or listended to a Tom Clancy book previously but thought I would pick this up due to a flash sale. I was impressed with the story and it kept me engaged throughout.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

As a Brit, I found the US narration quite hard work. Perhaps this is more normal in the states, but I found there to be very little variation in tone, and no attempt to differentiate characters through their voices. If you want a straight read-through and don't mind the accent - go for it. If you want voice acting and bringing a story to life - perhaps look elsewhere.

There was also little real attempt to make brits sound differenet to germans, americans, etc (minor props for the stereotypical french accent though!). Everyone got the stock American accent. In a book with such as large cast of characters, this made it difficult at times to keep tabs on who everyone was.

Do you think Rainbow Six needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I believe there are several hundred already.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

A great story using real events

Where does Rainbow Six rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's up there towards the top. It's the first Tom Clancy book I have listened too and although it is a long story, it kept my interest throughout. The detail and description was music for my imagination. I loved references to real people, places and events.

Who was your favorite character and why?

John Clark and Dimitri Popov seemed the most real. Their characters had depth and did not always do/think what you expected.

What aspect of Michael Prichard’s performance might you have changed?

I've not heard this narrator before. He wasn't the easiest person to listen to, and the constant references to English stereotypical phrases such as "old man" did get annoying, but that might have been in the writing. You could tell the breaks between recording, it would not have been so obvious if chapters were recorded in one go. The delivery was just a bit odd, but not enough of me to stop listening.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The animal testing was thought provoking.

Any additional comments?

On to the next Tom Clancy!

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great story, appalling narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book, yes, this narrator, no

Who was your favorite character and why?

Clark has been a favourite of mine since Without Remorse. Shame the same man is narrating that, otherwise I would have bought it.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Truly weird inflection. Very flat voice. No attempt to imbue any character with.....character! A shame, since I also bought Cardinal of the Kremlin with the same guy. He made a very exciting story dull and boring.

Did Rainbow Six inspire you to do anything?

Yes, make sure I never buy another book narrated by this man.

Any additional comments?

Yes, don't use this narrator again. Ever!

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Difficult to review save to say , typical Clancy

I luv the characters but this one went into way too much detail describing the scenarios, rather about characters.

Hiss heard throughout reading

Performance and story are great however it sounds like the narrator has a lisp due to an attempt to digitally remove an ever present hiss that can be heard when dialogue is read (not during a silence or pause in reading)

What is there not to like!

Now you either like Tom Clancy or you do not, I happen to like him but I understand why others may not.

Clancy is thought provoking and his observations are both clever and well made, to say he is not a “liberal” is an understatement but his convictions are well founded and logical, agee with him or not.

What is there not to love about a plot where the tree huggers are the evil villains!

The best Clancy Novel

The best Tom Clancy Novel. if only the made it in to a film.

excellent story!

read by the same guy who did 'red storm rising'

whilst not a bad narrator, he's very one dimensional.

Rainbow 6

absolutely brilliant. Tom Clancy at his best as usual. A must for all Clancy fans.