Without Remorse (John Clark, #1; Jack Ryan Universe, #1)

by Tom Clancy

What had she seen in the face of this man? It took her a moment to answer the question. Death was what she’d seen. Controlled. Planned. Disciplined.

The characters in the story who find Kelly most terrifying are the people who see him for who he truly is: a man who capable of visiting death on his enemies without remorse. By the time Kelly starts heading down his dark path of retribution, he is no longer bound by codes of law and religion. He is playing by his own set of rules. As Clancy states later in the book, “He was breaking the rules, important rules that he did fully understand, but doing so in pursuit of justice, or what he called justice in his own mind.” As I was researching the story and trying to understand the mindset of a man like Kelly, one of my SEAL contacts stated bluntly, “You can’t catch devils with angels”. I think Kelly shares this point of view, and he will gladly be the devil if that’s what the mission demands.