Product Description

In a harrowing tour de force, Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed the lines of justice and morality--to become the CIA legend Mr. Clark.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23861 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-01
• Released on: 2004-05-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

Amazon.com
This harrowing #1 bestseller is an unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness. Without mercy. Without guilt. Without remorse.

Amazon.com Author Profile
Read about the author.

From Publishers Weekly
Avid readers of Clancy's bestselling techno-thrillers ( The Hunt for Red October et al.) know agent John Kelly, code-named Mr. Clark, as Jack Ryan's "dark side." Here, in 1970, Vietnam vet Kelly gets involved in a secret operation to rescue 20 American pilots from a North Vietnamese prison camp. Betrayed by someone in Washington, the mission ends in apparent failure. Clancy balances the military movements with a dark narrative of Kelly's tragic personal life. While mourning the death of his pregnant wife in a traffic accident, Kelly picks up a young hitchhiker named Pam, a prostitute and drug "mule" fleeing her cruel masters. The pair fall in love and set out to bring down the drug lords, but an error on Kelly's part leads to Pam's horrible demise at the hands of the vengeful criminals. After his own recovery from a shotgun blast, Kelly begins methodically to murder his way through the drug ring. Clancy attempts to rationalize this amoral crusade with passages of introspection by characters who are either noble warriors or human scum, but the technique doesn't wash. Although full of failings of style and moral judgment, this overlong, often melodramatic novel seems destined to follow its predecessors to the top of the bestseller lists. BOMC selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Great Tom Clancy Backstory for Great Characters
One of my favorites heroes, besides Jack Ryan, in Tom Clancy's books is John Clark. He is a dark figure with a mysterious past. He's a man admired for his action and his word. He works in black ops but has his own moral code. Clark is a man of action. This book essentially covers Clark's past. His girlfriend was murdered by Baltimore drug dealers who raped her while slowly asphyxiating her with a plastic bag. A horrific death that profoundly affects Clark. But he doesn't mope nor sit idly by. This ex-SEAL sets out upon a course of justice. He dispenses justice in the only way these murderous scum understand - by executing the drug dealers who peddle their death and addiction to adults and children. Clancy uses the story to give us greater backstory on Jack Ryan. His father, Emmet Ryan, is a detective trying to track down the killer of these drug dealers. But Clark keeps moving forward `Without Remorse'.

John "Hannibal" Kelly
For this review let me first start off by thanking the positive reviewers of Without Remorse here on Amazon! This was quite a find. I am usually more prone to enjoy science fiction and some of the classics in my reading habits, but decided to branch out and try some of the more popular mainstream authors I've seen on the bestseller lists over the years. Knowing what a force Clancy is through movies and video games, plus seeing all the positive accolades here on Amazon, led me to find this book and it really hit the mark. Very engaging and entertaining read from start to finish. This one is personal and will put you into the shoes of someone facing some of the most horrific scenarios a human could ever imagine on multiple levels. From the tragic deaths of loved ones to Vietnam P.O.W.s and Cold War espionage, this book has a lot to offer. I liked that it showed how a good man confronts the harsh realities of the seedier, dare I say evil, elements of society and world events that most average people won't ever have to (or want to) face head-on. Clancy creates a sympathetic hero in John Kelly that I think most people would like to be like if faced with the same situations where corrupt, crime-infiltrated law enforcement won't cut it. It is truly sad that the situations presented in this book exist but it is good to know there are people like John Kelly out there willing to do something about them, if not as individuals then as the organizations and other institutions that protect our country and communities. Thomas Harris' book Hannibal Rising is quite similar in many ways. In real life justifying murder out of revenge isn't something I want to attempt, but it makes for great entertainment and catharsis. It's just like watching or reading about the good Jedis chopping the enemy down with lightsabers; symbolic of what most people would want to do to the evil or injustice in themselves or the outside world. Can't wait for the movie and won't forget reading the compression chamber scene in my tent while camping on a rainy surf trip to Baja last winter. My book is still bloated from soaking up the rain!

Relections over time . . .
One star for a Clancy book?? Yes, but I'll get to that later.

I've been reading Clancy for 20 years and read all his first half dozen or so novels as they were published. He is an amazingly talented writer. I think he is at times a genius in characterization. I've used him as an example of good writing in some of my classes; how he can completely round out a character on one side of a single page of paper. Clancy deserves the success he has achieved.

But with this book I began a personal boycott of his books; guiltily I'd still check them out from the local library, but I wouldn't pay real money for them any more.

It's the morality of the thing. Being a vigilante, being judge, jury and executioner . . . is not only a good thing, but an honorable and laudable thing; a thing to be strived for; a heroic thing . . . and wouldn't it be great if America was filled top-full of Clarks killing their way through our days and nights? Certainly there are real predatory criminals out there, and Clancy has made sure that the bad guys in this book have that character. But when it comes to making us root for a murderer (albeit a good and just murderer), I'm sorry but I just can't get on that boat with you.

And a major illustration of this is one of the climactic points of the book; using decompression equipment to torture and kill. Here's how it reads: first the omniscient voice of the author describes the equipment and its effect on the human body; then Clark captures the bad buy and explains to him in detail (once again) the equipment and its effects; then Clark actually does the deed and the equipment and its effects are laid before us (in detail) for a third time. I'm sorry but here's what I saw in my mind's eye: a naked sweaty man sitting at a keyboard typing out this description of gruesome torture over and over, breathing hard. Breathing very hard. I thought it was one of the most disgusting pieces of fiction, really pornographic, ever published.

All that said, it's still a skillfull and wonderfully crafted book. Although Clark's escape at the end is borderline supernatural, or at least invests him with the powers of Superman . . . a bit of jumping-the-shark there.

MS