Without Remorse
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- Create Date：2021-08-18 09:54:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Tom Clancy
- ISBN：0425143325
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Summary
John Kelly， former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran， is still getting over the accidental death of his wife six months before， when he befriends a young woman with a decidedly checkered past。 When that past reaches out for her in a particularly horrifying fashion， he vows revenge and， assembling all of his old skills， sets out to track down the men responsible， before it can happen again。
At the same time， the Pentagon is readying an operation to rescue a key group of prisoners in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp。 One man， they find， knows the terrain around the camp better than anyone else they have: a certain former Navy SEAL named John Kelly。
Kelly has his own mission。 The Pentagon wants him for theirs。 Attempting to juggle the two， Kelly （now code-named Mr。 Clark） finds himself confronted by a vast array of enemies， both at home and abroad - men so skillful that the slightest misstep means death。 And the fate of dozens of people， including Kelly himself， rests on his making sure that misstep never happens。
Men aren't born dangerous。 They grow dangerous。 And the most dangerous of all， Kelly learns， are the ones you least expect。。。
As Clancy takes us through the twists and turns of Without Remorse， he blends the exceptional realism and authenticity that are his hallmarks with intricate plotting， knife-edge suspense and a remarkable cast of characters。
Reviews
Justinas Rastenis
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Great thriller about the main character John Clark that wrestles with hard moral dilemmas and fatalities in his life。 A person seeking calm and uneventful life suddenly embarks on the invisible vendetta。 Solid balance between action and character development。
Colleen Earle
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This book was SO much darker than the others in the Jack Ryan universe。 John is one of my favourite characters so it was really cool to learn his backstory。 The ending was perfect。 Can’t wait to read more Clancy！
Jay Wright
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One of the bloodiest books that I have read。 You get the story of John Clark， the CIA man that shows up in Jack Ryan's life in Patriot games。 John Kelly is a Navy Seal that has experience killing and he returns home to a rough time。 He loses his pregnant wife in the beginning of the book。 He then loses his girlfriend to drug lords and the battle for revenge begins， Simultaneously he is approached to lead a rescue mission in North Vietnam。 There is joins Admiral Greer and Ritter in the CIA。 Ritte One of the bloodiest books that I have read。 You get the story of John Clark， the CIA man that shows up in Jack Ryan's life in Patriot games。 John Kelly is a Navy Seal that has experience killing and he returns home to a rough time。 He loses his pregnant wife in the beginning of the book。 He then loses his girlfriend to drug lords and the battle for revenge begins， Simultaneously he is approached to lead a rescue mission in North Vietnam。 There is joins Admiral Greer and Ritter in the CIA。 Ritter is a good guy。 John Clark becomes his CIA name。 This all occurs around 1970。 。。。more
Matthew
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Page turner， adult themes but doesnt dwell on the horrific details （does list some dark stuff but moves on quickly）。 Las 300 pages go by quickly。
aus
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Holy shitUnexpected adventure。 Dark， interesting， partially realistic。 I liked it， just thought it was longer than necessary and didn’t really believe in the love for Pam that John had。 But interesting story and good ending。 Next up in the chronological Ryan-verse adventures is Patriot Games4/5 stars
Dalton’s Reads
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DNF… A long book。。。 starts out with a great first 120 pages of deeply personal and raw emotion， then to only leave you wondering why I should even finish it。 Too much military research and lingo to keep me interested。 Not worth the 600 pages endeavor
Jason Farquhar
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Returning to read this after watching that ridiculous movie of the same name was a great decision。 The origin story of John Clark was a delight。
Linda Smith
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A good read！
Jake Bradshaw
，
Very good book and full of action。
Mr。Wade
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Mr Clark has some good friends。
Savsandy
，
Former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran John Kelly is a man on a mission。 Having lost his wife and unborn baby， John had begun to look forward to a future with Pam despite her rocky past。 But the drug dealers obliterated his dreams and the dirtbags responsible for torturing and killing her can't run far enough or fast enough to escape his retribution。 On the same timeline the Pentagon has enlisted his help in a daring mission to rescue twenty Americans from a notorious POW camp in North Vietnam。 It Former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran John Kelly is a man on a mission。 Having lost his wife and unborn baby， John had begun to look forward to a future with Pam despite her rocky past。 But the drug dealers obliterated his dreams and the dirtbags responsible for torturing and killing her can't run far enough or fast enough to escape his retribution。 On the same timeline the Pentagon has enlisted his help in a daring mission to rescue twenty Americans from a notorious POW camp in North Vietnam。 It's a high-risk operation but John Kelly knows the terrain and surrounding area and he has the skills and experience to pull it off。 The mission is planned， the troops are trained and retrained， and support and recovery units are all coordinated。 When they get the GO signal， John Kelly， aka Mr。 Clark， will infiltrate the POW camp alone， with a near zero margin for error。As Kelly is pursuing his mission to avenge Pam's horrific death he temporarily suspends hunting down the perpetrators so he can concentrate his efforts on the POW rescue。 His conscience won't allow him to do otherwise。 Make no mistake， John Kelly is an honorable but dangerous man when the situation calls for it。 Almost an antihero but not quite。 However his need for vengeance presents a moral dilemma。 Yes， he can exact retribution， but at what cost？"Without Remorse" is an early Tom Clancy work， originally published in 1993 and is the first of the John Clark novels。 The setting is prior to the 1973 Paris Peace Accords， which is evidenced by the liberal use of cigarettes and absence of technology as we know it today。 But the intricate and multi-layered plot with a mind-boggling cast of characters is pure Clancy。 And Kelly/Clark is a much more nuanced character than I expected。 Even so， with our protagonist at the heart of the action I had no trouble keeping track of who， what， where and when。 However， at 700 pages， the pacing fell off from time to time and got a little draggy。 Clancy was a leader in spy fiction and his contributions are timeless。 Still and all， a fine spy yarn for sure。 Four stars。 。。。more
Joy Kutch
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Unfortunately， I was a little disappointed in this book given Clancy's reputation and other books he's written。 This is one of my husband's favorite books and I read it on his recommendation。 It took me over a year to finish because I just could not get into it。1。 I wasn't a fan of the writing style。 It felt almost juvenile。2。 I had a hard time keeping up with who was who because it went back and forth between first names and last names。3。 It took me a good while to figure out what time period i Unfortunately， I was a little disappointed in this book given Clancy's reputation and other books he's written。 This is one of my husband's favorite books and I read it on his recommendation。 It took me over a year to finish because I just could not get into it。1。 I wasn't a fan of the writing style。 It felt almost juvenile。2。 I had a hard time keeping up with who was who because it went back and forth between first names and last names。3。 It took me a good while to figure out what time period it was written in。 。。。more
Michelle H
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I read this book way back when it first came out & when I saw the Amazon movie with Michael B Jordan， I was trying to remember details。 I knew the movie didn’t quite hit the right notes for me because I remembered being wowed by the book。 First， the movie and book are very different in so many ways that it’s not even worth comparing them。 The book is richer and more believable。 There’s a grittiness to it that I think comes as much from the era it’s set in as the subject matter of the Vietnam war I read this book way back when it first came out & when I saw the Amazon movie with Michael B Jordan， I was trying to remember details。 I knew the movie didn’t quite hit the right notes for me because I remembered being wowed by the book。 First， the movie and book are very different in so many ways that it’s not even worth comparing them。 The book is richer and more believable。 There’s a grittiness to it that I think comes as much from the era it’s set in as the subject matter of the Vietnam war and the drug trade。 I’m all for updating stuff to make it resonate but I think they did this story a disservice by doing so。 As far as the book goes by itself， it wasn’t as good as I remembered。 I think Clancy could’ve edited out about 200 pages of inner monologue and this would have been a tight， page turning book。 As it was， even suspending disbelief that Kelly would’ve met & fallen in love with a drugged out prostitute in roughly 12 hours， the first third kind of dragged。 And that’s crazy because so much happens all the time in this book。 Kelly’s arc is actually more subtle and engaging than I remembered and that was cool （once I parsed through alllll the meandering thoughts） but the other character made me insane。 Sandy & Susan were basically interchangeable， with similar enough names that I’d have to stop and reset。 And all the bad guys & cops - Clancy would randomly call them by a last name and then a first name in the next paragraph。 But they weren’t different enough for me to keep track of who’s who。 It’s didn’t matter， I guess， because it was “bad guy”， “good guy”， “bad guy pretending to be a good guy”。 Overall， not a bad book。 If you’re into the genre it’s worth reading。 。。。more
Darrell
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4。0
Dr。 Satan
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First Clancy I’ve read since high school and it’s a welcome return。 I forgot how quickly paced he can be and this one is very breakneck。 This doesn’t get as bogged down in technical descriptions as some of his other ones do either。 I wish that the movie they just released had actually adapted this story because it’s pretty great。
Sarah
，
So this is my first book by Tom Clancy although I have seen several movies based on his work。 Overall， I enjoyed the read。 I liked the two parallel mission/plots going on， both separately and as one work。 It was fun and exciting。 （view spoiler）[ The relationship （？） that developed between the POW and the Russian interrogator was well done and I loved the both sides of the coin it presented between what a US soldier and Russian soldier had to do for their country。 The contempt the Russian had abo So this is my first book by Tom Clancy although I have seen several movies based on his work。 Overall， I enjoyed the read。 I liked the two parallel mission/plots going on， both separately and as one work。 It was fun and exciting。 （view spoiler）[ The relationship （？） that developed between the POW and the Russian interrogator was well done and I loved the both sides of the coin it presented between what a US soldier and Russian soldier had to do for their country。 The contempt the Russian had about the NVA camp commander （and it seemed for all NVA） fit in nicely with the overarching plot。 The subplot of leaked intel and Russian espionage made for nice little pockets in the main stories while still feeding into everything。 I also thought it interesting that Clark's mistake is what set the drug-side of the plot off。 It was the one time where he seemed fallible -- and it was a bad time to be so。 Also， the whole reveal of Clark being a SEAL？ Was that something new when the book came out？ It seamed like a big to-do in the plot， but it seems kind of obvious now？ （hide spoiler）] There were only a couple things that kept this from being a 5 star rating for me and it had to do with the writing。 Although not distracting and more amusing， many of the female characters fell into the "females written by men" trap。 They were all so loving， warm， trusting， and nurturing。 But again， not super distracting， just obvious。 I also had a hard time with the characters because he went back and forth on the names。。。 calling them by their first name or their last name interchangeably。 And not just because that was how one of the characters referred to them， it was just sprinkled throughout in a seemingly random manner。 He did the same with names and nicknames of military equipment， which wouldn't have been so annoying （I know how to google， darn it！） Except for he went back and forth in the beginning between Thud and Thunderchief。。。 and they way it was presented， I thought that maybe the Thud was the munition， so I googled。。。 nope， same thing。 Fine。 Cool。 About 40 pages later， one of the text regarding the internal monologue of a pilot said something to the effect of "the thunderchief， affectionately called the thud" -- srsly？ If you were going to add that in， you could have done that up front， darn it！ There was also the issue of back and forth bragging and humble bragging on Clark's skills。 meh。Anyhoo。 Despite the issues， I did enjoy the book and would not shy away from reading more by Clancy， particularly featuring John Clark。 。。。more
Bonny
，
In comparison to other novels by renowned thriller authors， there is a single word that sums up this book for me: juvenile。 The characters， their described thoughts and their emotions feels like they are written for a target group of thirteen year old boys who just saw the first three Rambo movies and thought that First Blood was a piece of shit while the second and third where masterworks of motion picture。But hey， sometimes you just want a cool action movie with badass code names， explosions a In comparison to other novels by renowned thriller authors， there is a single word that sums up this book for me: juvenile。 The characters， their described thoughts and their emotions feels like they are written for a target group of thirteen year old boys who just saw the first three Rambo movies and thought that First Blood was a piece of shit while the second and third where masterworks of motion picture。But hey， sometimes you just want a cool action movie with badass code names， explosions and alpha males with the emotional range of a badger。 。。。more
Celia Barry
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Interesting
Emily Warmoth
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TW: Drug Abuse & Torture | i really enjoyed this book。 the writing is absolutely wonderful & the story is so well told。 i wish i knew more military jargon to get the full experience of the book。 i would find myself having to rewind the audiobook & figure out what was going on a lot of the time。 T。C。‘s style is to jump from one group & their story to the next very rapidly & it would take me a second to realize where we were & who we were focused on。 my husband really enjoyed this book & wanted to TW: Drug Abuse & Torture | i really enjoyed this book。 the writing is absolutely wonderful & the story is so well told。 i wish i knew more military jargon to get the full experience of the book。 i would find myself having to rewind the audiobook & figure out what was going on a lot of the time。 T。C。‘s style is to jump from one group & their story to the next very rapidly & it would take me a second to realize where we were & who we were focused on。 my husband really enjoyed this book & wanted to talk to me about it。 i understand this is a series & i’m sure i didn’t pick up on some things from previous books & characters from this universe。 with that being said， i still enjoyed it without knowing a lot of detail， HA！ ANOTHER THING！ i wanted to add how impressed i was at the subject matter。 the sympathy for prostitution & their battles was very eye opening！ i loved the way HE （a man！） wrote them & their stories。 more justice for those who are in desperate need of help & can’t get out。 i’m glad he painted them in this light， especially for how long ago it was written。 not a common opinion or outlook at that point in time！ 。。。more
Ryan Curtis
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Much better than the movie。 Still not ground breaking
Anthony Messina
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Audiobook: Finally got around to starting the Jack Ryan series and it did not disappoint， though another long one
Mark Washam
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Better than the movieBetter than the movie。 I had trouble putting it down。 Great book， closes the loop on Kelly。 Strong recommendation to read！
Q
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Boring。 Pedantic。 Preachy。 Snobby。 Someone on Reddit said you have to read his books with a rifle over your shoulder while listening to the national anthem on loop。 Sounds about right。 So much political and moral commentary。 All of the bad folks were non-white。 Pam was an addict prostitute but still worthy of love and committing murder。 Charon was a crooked cop who got posthumous praise and his name cleared。 Kelly seems hella dumb and sloppy to be Mr。 Elite Military。 Went back to Pam's hood and Boring。 Pedantic。 Preachy。 Snobby。 Someone on Reddit said you have to read his books with a rifle over your shoulder while listening to the national anthem on loop。 Sounds about right。 So much political and moral commentary。 All of the bad folks were non-white。 Pam was an addict prostitute but still worthy of love and committing murder。 Charon was a crooked cop who got posthumous praise and his name cleared。 Kelly seems hella dumb and sloppy to be Mr。 Elite Military。 Went back to Pam's hood and basically got her killed。 Too many freaking names。 New people every chapter。 So unrealistic how they "saved" two junkies in a matter of weeks。 He fell in love with Pam in three weeks and Sarah like a month later。 Ugh。This book was long and painful and every minute military detail was spelled out。 Never again， Clancy。 。。。more
Richard Janzen
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Engaging story about an ex-Navy Seal John Kelly， and how he was pulled back into the world of the military on a rescue mission to Vietnam， and into the world of seeking revenge on criminals running a drug/prostitution ring because of the murder of someone close to him。 Both branches of the story were intense and interesting。 Kelly is someone portrayed as someone extremely skilled and intelligent， though some of his miscalculations do play a part on the problems he encounters。 Fast paced and inte Engaging story about an ex-Navy Seal John Kelly， and how he was pulled back into the world of the military on a rescue mission to Vietnam， and into the world of seeking revenge on criminals running a drug/prostitution ring because of the murder of someone close to him。 Both branches of the story were intense and interesting。 Kelly is someone portrayed as someone extremely skilled and intelligent， though some of his miscalculations do play a part on the problems he encounters。 Fast paced and intelligent。 。。。more
Brent
，
I hadn't read a Tom Clancy novel actually written by him （and not another author under his brand） since probably I was in college。 I really liked them back then， but my tastes have changed and expanded somewhat so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy Without Remorse even though it's been on my radar to read for 20 years。 I recently just watched the Amazon Prime adaptation with Michael B。 Jordan and honestly it sucked so I assumed the book had to be better。 It was time to give it a go。The bare bones I hadn't read a Tom Clancy novel actually written by him （and not another author under his brand） since probably I was in college。 I really liked them back then， but my tastes have changed and expanded somewhat so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy Without Remorse even though it's been on my radar to read for 20 years。 I recently just watched the Amazon Prime adaptation with Michael B。 Jordan and honestly it sucked so I assumed the book had to be better。 It was time to give it a go。The bare bones here is that this is a revenge tale and origin story for one of Clancy's most beloved characters （and my personal favorite） John Clark。 The story starts with former Navy SEAL， John Kelly， doing some maritime demolition and salvage work when his young pregnant wife is killed in a car accident。 This threw me for a bit of a loop because I assumed the revenge tale would be about her murder。 You find out so early on that it is not it can't really be considered a spoiler。 The story starts in earnest when Kelly falls quickly in love with a woman named Pam who has problems and is clearly running away from something。 This eventually leads Kelly down a very dark path seeking justice outside the law。Of course there is a lot more too it than that which I omitted due to spoilers， but honestly the biggest flaw of this book is how much Clancy should have omitted as well。 The revenge arc here is quite solid even if some things about it feel a bit weird。 Kelly and Pam's relationship feels a lot like instalove。 Clancy isn't a strong enough writer of relationships to make this work and base a whole revenge plot around it。 That being said it's still a really fun revenge plot that carries the book。 The real problem is that Clancy introduces 2 or 3 other side plots that make the book really jump around from pov to pov and location to location sometimes within the same chapter。 It just makes it feel very uneven。 What could have been a really focused 350 page revenge thriller turns into a 750 page revenge thriller with drug smuggling， crime investigation， Vietnam POWs and a rescue operation， and Cold War espionage。That being said I still mostly enjoyed reading about all of those plots even though it did feel a bit jumbled。 Ultimately what really shined here though is really building Mr。 Clark's backstory。 I've read many novels in the Ryanverse where he played a significant role， and it was fun to see how he became what he is。 Also， I'm always going to have a good time when a story has someone going John Wick all over the dregs of humanity。 Clancy was doing John Wick 20 years before John Wick was a thing。 All in all I really enjoyed this book。 This is a book you read for the action and plot。 The prose and characters are nothing to write home about。 They are clinical， technical， and ultimately serviceable to tell the intended story。 If you are a Clancy fan， but have been skipping this one and sticking to the Jack Ryan novels （he does not make an appearance here） I would recommend you pick this one up。 。。。more
Marta
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I read about 200 pages and then I begged my husband to summarize the rest of the book because I just couldn't hang。 We had both decided to read the Jack Ryan series following internal chronological order but I don't know if I will。 I loved Clancy books years ago but if the rest are going to strike me like this one， um， no。 Nope。 Haven't got the time。 We'll see。 I read about 200 pages and then I begged my husband to summarize the rest of the book because I just couldn't hang。 We had both decided to read the Jack Ryan series following internal chronological order but I don't know if I will。 I loved Clancy books years ago but if the rest are going to strike me like this one， um， no。 Nope。 Haven't got the time。 We'll see。 。。。more
Emma McCoy
，
I’m pretty sure this book is the father of the “dead wife used as the main guy’s motivation” trope。 In the space of like， 100 pages we get a dead mom， dead pregnant wife， and dead girlfriend。 Was going to give it three stars but it passes the Bechtel test （barely）。 Great action sequences。
Brandi
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Great read。 Great read although completely unlike the movie。 The only real similarity were the names of the main characters。 Clancy at his usual best。
Kevin
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Saw they were making an Amazon movie for this so I dug in。 Deep as always with Clancy with multiple plot lines。 It was a easy read and I did enjoy the adventure。 I wished it had come together completely at the end， but left it open for future stories of course。 The movie didn’t hit the spot at all by the way。 The first 15 minutes had some book references and that was it。
Garry
，
6/26/2021
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Without Remorse
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Without Remorse&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Without Remorse&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0