Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 19, 1993 TAG: 9309190214
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT HILLDRUP
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Several years ago in Tom Clancy's study, the topic of the lack of sex in his novels came up.
"I'm a married man," Clancy declared with a laugh. "What do I know about sex?"
Well, in this one, Clancy should have stuck to guns and planes and boats - and there are plenty of all three _ because his sex scenes are embarrassingly inept.
This time, ex-Navy SEAL John Kelly picks up a street-corner strumpet and before they can even get their clothes off or Kelly can think to ask her full name, the two are supposed to be madly in love.
By contrast, Clancy takes three pages to describe a modification of a .45 caliber automatic, a description that is both more enlightening and more entertaining than his sex stuff. That oughta give you some idea.
Kelly's girlfriend gets murdered by the pimps and druggies, primarily because of Kelly's stupidity, an act so inept that it destroys the credibility of most everything else he does in murdering a dozen or so criminals and leading an abortive mission to Vietnam to free escaped POWs. "Without Remorse" is what you'd get if Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris teamed up in a single character to make "Death Wish Goes to Vietnam."
The book is long and tedious and lacks the tension and cohesiveness of many of Clancy's other works. Things tighten up somewhat as the story evolves, but a good 200 pages could have been wrung out of this one and everybody would have been the better for it.
There are several little breakdowns in continuity and accuracy that are most unusual in a Clancy book, although none of them really does any serious damage to the story.
"Without Remorse" could just as easily been titled "Without Reflection." That's what seems to have been missing in the writing of this one. Clancy has said that this was an early plot, one that predates even "The Hunt for Red October," and that it was given literary CPR.
Tom Clancy is a terrific writer, and an even more terrific guy. But he can do better than "Without Remorse." He has shown that before and he will show it again.
- Robert Hilldrup is a Richmond writer and former newspaperman.
by CNB