Books: 2nd part

Tom Clancy, “Clave Red Rabbit” (Red Rabbit)

Fortunately my Belgian social life grew a lot, and I didn’t even have time to read. A bit because of the thesis, a bit because of hanging out with friends and of course because I was busy being happy. We left Belgium to Finland and Emma suggested me to bring a couple of books to the summer cottage and my parents brought me three books when they came to visit me. This is the first one.

It took really long to finish it, and I am usually quite fast. The fact is that even though in the summer cottage we had plenty of time, we were having so much fun and I enjoyed so much the company, the landscape, the natural sauna, the food, the resting, the silence that I wasn’t almost reading at all.

Ignoring that it took so long, I liked the book. In this book we know the beginnings of Jack Ryan (you’ve seen Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck at the role of that character in movies) as analyst at the CIA. The plot is based on a menace to the Pope’s life. Still in the cold war, Wojtila says that he’s going to come back to Poland and he is against comunism, and well... I won’t give more information. It is a good spy book.

Frederick Forsyth, “El manifiesto negro” (Icon)

This author writes it is quite similar to Tom Clancy except in one little detail. Tom Clancy usually writes about the official agencies (CIA, NSA and FBI) and Forsyth more about covered operations or “special undeclared agents”. In this case, we are in the contemporary times and Russia is having political troubles (surprise surprise). There is this guy who is leading a right party but... he is too in the right. Actually he is a kind of nazi. The bad thing as that the “good” countries, discover that he is so bad by chance and they can make it public. So this covered organization (filled with important people from the 90’s) is going to somehow screw that guy and save the world.

Again, a really good spy with authority problems is going to be the right man to do the job. Politics, spies and action!

Tom Clancy, “Sin remordimientos” (Without Remorse)

Yes... spies and action again. I won’t tell again about the author, and about the plot just tell that there are drugs involved and vengeance. The good thing about this book (for me at least) is that you discover who is John Clark! He is the commander of Rainbow Six (read the books or play de games) and he has a quite “original” beginnings. I read somewhere that Joaquin Phoenix is going to play the role of him in a movie based on this book in 2007. I really think that he doesn’t fit in the role but... I didn’t expect anything of Daniel Craig as James Bond, as he is already my favourite one!

About people playing John Clark in movies we have: Willem Dafoe, horrible election in “Patriot Game”, where Harrison Ford was playing Jack Ryan; and Liev Schreiber who played John Clark when Ben Affleck was playing Jack Ryan in “The Sum of all Fears”. (Sorry if the English titles are wrong..., you know we Spaniards).

I really liked the book because of the main character, but it is not that great... anyway, if you like Tom Clancy's book, you'll like it.

PD: sorry for the size (or lack of it) of the covers. They're tough to find in internet and I am too lazy to scan them.