Without Remorse

Publisher's Summary

His work for the CIA is brilliant, cold-blooded, and efficient, but who is he? In a harrowing tour de force, phenomenally best-selling author Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed the lines of justice and morality to become the CIA legend known as Mr. Clark. It is an unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness, without mercy - without remorse.

©2009 Tom Clancy (P)2010 Random House

Critic Reviews

“For sheer narrative punch and emotional impact, Without Remorse is Mr. Clancy’s best.” (The Dallas Morning News)

“A nonstop emotional roller coaster.” (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“Highly entertaining.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Clancy's writing is so strong that readers feel they are there, in the middle of the action...satisfying and engrossing.” (Boston Sunday Herald)

Start here if you are new to Jack Ryan.

After starting the Jack Ryan series with Dead or Alive I thought I would try starting the series from the beginning, now there is a series view but this is the one that starts Jack Ryan out. He is not a character in this story but at Boston College, or just going to start at BC.
But John Clark begins in this book and he is a strategic character to the entire series, even when you don't get a mention of him he is there and you know it. But this is where it all starts, and this is where I wish I had started the series.
In my humble opinion the series should be started here, Without Remorse then follow along to Patriot Games, then Red Rabbit (one of the two of the series I won't buy because of the price being twice the other books). Hunt for Red October next then Cardinal of the Kremlin and Clear and Present Danger. Sum of all Fears next, though Hollywood added some drama that is not part of the book in the movie and the movie sucks for me now. Debt of Honor next then Executive Orders and Rainbow Six. Coming back to the stretch is Bear and the Dragon then Teeth of the Tiger and Dead or Alive and Locked On.

Without Remorse does give you the start and basics of the Jack Ryan universe and the over arching story is really founded in this book. Great Read and a fair narration, easily worth the time and credits.

150 of 155 people found this review helpful

This book was ruined for me

Any additional comments?

I read this book years ago and loved it. One of my top ten for sure. But the monotone way Michael Prichard reads makes the book so difficult to follow that it loses all of the great detail that I loved so much. From chapter to chapter you can't figure out where you are or who is talking. You miss a lot while trying to figure it out. I thought his voice and voice inflection was good for the main character John Kerry, but everyone else sounded just like him. When I read it myself, it was heart wrenching and then victorious, hearing it read it was just so-so and didn't stir much emotion for me at all.

78 of 87 people found this review helpful

Monotonic, monosyllabic reader ruins it

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

Would not recommend. This reader takes what could be an exciting listen of a good story and makes it boring. The droning saps all incentive to use your imagination on the characeters, settings etc.

37 of 41 people found this review helpful

Story is great - Narrator is horrible

Would you try another book from Tom Clancy and/or Michael Prichard?

Two stars overall because the narrator is so bad that I am losing the storyline because my mind wanders away... I think Tom Clancy is a great author; however, to listen to this narrator is killing me. It is taking me much longer to finish this book solely because I have such a hard time listening to the narrator's monotone voice. I can not tell when one story line stops and another picks up.There is no emotion in the narrator's voice as if he has never read that book before. I would have to say this is my second book on audible and if it wasn't for the fact that the first one I read was wonderfully narrated I would have cancelled my audible account it is that bad...

52 of 58 people found this review helpful

Narrator is terrible

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Michael Prichard?

I would have cast Lou Diamond Phillips - Michael Prichard sounds like he never read the book beforehand and is bored.

39 of 44 people found this review helpful

This should be your first Clancy book!

This should be your first listen of a Clancy book and should have been the first book made into a movie. Evil meets it's match with John Kelly!

25 of 28 people found this review helpful

The Origins of John Clark

If you could sum up Without Remorse in three words, what would they be?

Brilliant, dramatic, excellent

Who was your favorite character and why?

John Clark because in this book we meet him for the first time and we see how he got to be the man he is in all the Jack Ryan books

Which character – as performed by Michael Prichard – was your favorite?

Michael Prichard is one of the founding fathers of the Audiobook Industry! He performed the entire book with great talent. All the characters are very well brought to life....

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES

Any additional comments?

One of my favourite books of all times, written by one of my favourite authors of all times, performed by one of my favourite narrators of all times! Great story, deep characters, brilliantly written, performed with elegance

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

Enjoyed it! Even with the Narrator, Pritchards OK.

Good development of "Mr. Clark", dark, ruthless, but somehow likeable. This is the good Tom Clancy.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

Couldn't even listent to it - horrible narrator

While the content of books is very subjective the narrators are not. This is the first book in many years of being a Audible client that was just horrible. I couldn't listen to it as the narration was so poor. This is one that I should receive a credit for on my account. Yes - it was that bad and I wasted my money. I couldn't really rate the story, although I enjoy all of Clancy's books, because I couldn't get through it.

28 of 32 people found this review helpful

Great Characters, Great Plot

Set in the latter days of Viet Nam, this is the novel that explains exactly who "Clark" is and what made him so well regarded and ruthless in the Jack Ryan novels, (principally "Clear and Present Danger." I highly recommend this novel!

34 of 40 people found this review helpful

Great story, bad narration

I really enjoy this book, it's got a few twists, good pace, vivid descriptions etc. But it is really let down by the narrator/recording - unfortunately the same on most classic Clancy books by the look of it. He is pretty monotone and doesn't bring much life to the story, but the worst is that multiple recording sessions have been chopped together mid-sentence! This is noticeable and distracting. Also, there is a complete lack of pause to indicate the end of a chapter or a change of scene making some jumps from sleepy USA to Vietnam PoW camp scenes very jarring.
Still, despite it all, worth a listen on the merit of the story alone.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Book

I was originally introduced to the John Clark character when I read Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and this story is a great insight into his character, his morals and sence of justice.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

don't care about narrator

I'm sure there is a grain of truth to this story. John Clark is a hero. when's the movie out?

Superb story ruined by poor recording quality

This book has had me gripped since starting it. Having "stumbled" across Mr Clark in previously read Clancy books, it has been great to see where he started out from. My only gripe, as alluded to in my headline is the awful recording quality and perhaps Michael Pritchards' monotone performance

Weird

Weird book full of weird characters with odd names,not easy to understand.Not for me .

Loved it

Listened to this after all the other Tom Clancy books. Loved it. Good to know John Clarke's back story

Brilliant

This is one of the better Tom Clancy books, it is focused on John Kelly (Clark) and has all of the hallmarks of a Clancy novel in the level of detail, and pace of the story, some of the characters are a bit over the top, but that does not detract from the overall story. This is one of those books, that is hard to put down or stop listeneing to! The audio quality is good and the narrator keeps the story going at a decent pace. Overall an excellant audiobook and I am likely to go back to it at some stage in the future.

Without Remorse

Gripping story line with great detail creates an atmosphere that engulfs you.

I could not stop listening to this book. Tom Clancy at his best.

Some reviews critisised the narrator I could not disagree more. I think he pitched it just right.

Thriller

I found this hard to put down and was listening at every opportunity. I loved the whole idea of the hero and what he achieved and shall follow up with any sequels of his exploits. If you like fast paced thrillers then this is for you.. Highly recommended.

Good Plot

A really enjoyable book... good plot, fast paced and with vivid descriptions. The narration sounds likes it's dated but it doesn't take from the overall content.