Customer Reviews

Patriot Games

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Tom Clancy's third novel, Patriot Games marked the return of Jack Ryan to the bookshelves. With the success of The Hunt For Red October and Red Storm Rising (Clancy's only major novel not connected to the Ryan saga), Clancy took readers back to Ryan's pre-Red October past in a tale which deals with the shadowy world of terrorism.

On a working vacation in London with wife Caroline (Cathy) and daughter Olivia (better known as Sally), Ryan is the accidental tourist-turned-rescuer when he literally runs into a brutal terrorist attack on the Prince and Princess of Wales and their baby. Without stopping to even think about it, Jack, a former Marine second lieutenant and now a professor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, kills one terrorist and wounds another. Ryan is wounded in the brief shootout, but he survives and earns the gratitude (and an honorary knighthood) of the Royal Family.

Unbeknownst to Ryan, he also gets the attention of two very different groups. In Langley, VA, CIA Deputy Director, Intelligence (DDI) James Greer is impressed by Ryan's bravery and resourcefulness. He already knows Ryan is good CIA-analyst material; Jack has done some outside consulting for the Agency. Now Greer wants to recruit Ryan to work full-time at CIA.

The other group whose attention is on Ryan is less savory. It is the Ulster Liberation Army, a far-left extremist faction which has broken away from the Irish Republican Army. While sharing the IRA's desire to rid Ireland of British troops and break away from the United Kingdom, the ULA also wants an Irish Marxist state to rule the Emerald Isle. Thwarted in their bold attack on the Royals and thirsting for revenge against Ryan, ULA leader Kevin O'Donnell and his cohorts free the terrorist Ryan wounded and caused to be tried, convicted and punished, Sean Miller.

This novel not only deals with the shadow-world of terrorism and the agencies that combat this global scourge, but it also delves into the concepts of right versus wrong, honor, and the role of the family in society. Clancy, himself an Irish-American, has little sympathy for the violent means that Irish "freedom fighters" (and pro-British counterparts) have been using in Northern Ireland since 1969. He contrasts the stability of the Ryan family (and the fictionalized Royals) to the moral vacuum of the lone wolves and traitors who make up the ULA. The theme of the book is summed up by a quote by Edmund Burke: "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, and unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

As in the 1992 film adaptation, Patriot Games sets up a cat-and-mouse game as Miller and O'Donnell plot revenge against Ryan and to finish the mission the "meddling Yank" foiled. The storyline of the novel is obviously more complicated, and Clancy here uses a technique he will later use throughout the rest of the Ryan novels. He will introduce characters such as FBI Agents Dan Murray and Bill Shaw, who will be more prominent in later works such as Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears, and Debt of Honor. The ending, too, is more cerebral and less explosive than that of Philip Noyce's film version, with plot strands that will not be resolved so easily.

This book is excellent. I have read two other Clancy books before and this was my first plunge into the so-called Jack Ryan series. It absolutely confirmed my interest in this series. I recommend any reader interested in counter-terrorism and military action to read this work.

After this I found Tom Clancy's novels unnecessarily long and sometimes rather boring when he goes into long passages of Military descriptions and technical info. There's fifteen pages in Executive Decision devoted solely to explaining how Jack Ryan is drinking his coffee. That's a bit much, and explains why his novel was over 1200 pages long.

However before he went overboard Clancy struck gold with this one. Addictive, sometimes a bit boring but with a killer ending (literally!). Better than the movie. I own all of Clancy's books - this is still my favorite.

Patriot Games takes place years before The Hunt For Red October, and it involves a younger Jack Ryan, in Patriot Games, he is a history teacher at the Naval College in Maryland, but he took some vacation time in London, and he discovers terrorist trying to kill a passing motorcade, and Jack Ryan is right there witnessing it! So he brings into action, killing one of the terrorist, and getting shot himself, but he saved the people inside the car; it turns out it was the Prince of Wales with their newborn son!
Now Jack has made some friends, and some enemies; a right-wing Northern Ireland terrorist organization from the IRA. Now the main bad guy Sean Miller is taken into British custody, and he is tried before a English court with Jack Ryan already into knighthood by the Queen of England, and he testifies against Sean Miller. So Jack heads back home to Maryland and goes back to work as a History Teacher at the Naval War College living his normal life.
Jack has a couple of friends in the CIA business, but he wants to do what he loves to do; teach history. One of them happens to be Admiral James Greener, the main man in the CIA, and Captain Jackson, another friend of Jack's. But what Jack does not know, Sean is planning to get back at Jack by all means necessary, so when he is being transferred to another prison, and he escapes by his fellow right-wing terrorist's, and escapes.
Now Jack finds out what happens, and he goes on with his life, but when Sean Miller comes to America and tries to kill Cathy and his daughter Sally on the freeway, Jack then decides to join the CIA as a analyst, and once he gets in, he is drawn into the world of the CIA. What Jack does not know, he knows that Sean Miller is out there, and he knows where to find Jack, he wants Jack dead because he kille his younger brother at the beginning of the book. Then at a dinner party, Sean Miller and his goons go to Jack's house, and they try to kill everyone, but they fail, and they try to make a run for it, but Jack and them get them, and kill them for what they were trying to do.
The novel starts out boring, but it gets better and better once you reach the end, it is very exciting in the last 100 pages of the novel as the suspense builds up. Great book.

This book is very exciting. It starts off in england when jack stops a terrosit from killing the prince. then it moves back to america and more terrosit acts are directed towards jack and eventually they get caught. very good page turner book.

This book is definitely one of the greatest modern works of fiction that I have read recently. Clancy does of superb job of making his books extremely true to life and full of facts. Clancy also makes the Marines out to be what they really are and that is the best military force in the world. Not that I'm biased. Thumbs Up Tom! I especially enjoyed this book because as a resident of Northern Virginia it is a very great story that hits close to home. Langley, Annapolis, and Quantico are all within an hour's drive. I live a mile outside the beltway myself. I extremely liked how the terrorists were picked up in the Dundalk Marine Terminal. My parents are natives of Dundalk and we drive by the Terminal all the time.

Patriot Games is Tom Clancy's third novel, and second in the "Ryanverse" set of novels. This novel is a prequel to "The Hunt for Red October." In "The Hunt for Red October," Clancy made several key points referring to the events of this outstanding novel, showing that he clearly had a vision for where Jack Ryan was headed, or more succinctly, where he came from.

Tom Clancy established himself as the king of and inarguably the creator of the "modern" techno thriller in "Red October" and "Red Storm Rising." To follow this up in "Patriot Games," he takes a lower tech vantage point, only using the "techno" stuff sparingly, and concentrates more on establishing his main character Jack Ryan as a family man. In doing this, he keenly brought his main character to a human, non superhero level that many readers could identify with. Overall, an excellent novel that is a "can't miss" for those seeking to read his later works.

The premise: MINOR SPOILERS

Jack Ryan and his family, wife Cathy and daughter Sally are on a working vacation in London, England. Just as he meets up with his family in a park, he hears an explosion and small arms fire. Not thinking, but reacting as a former US Marine, he flings himself right into the fray. While injuring himself in the process and then getting shot as well, he dispatches a couple terrorists and sends the last one scampering away. Only later will he find that he's just saved members of the Royal family from murder or capture. Of course, to the British and members of powers that be in the United States, Dr. John P. Ryan is a hero, through and through. Unfortunately for him and his family, he's crossed paths with a terrorist's cell, which turns their undesirable attention on him and his family.

What follows is, one of the most intriguing mystery/suspense/techno thriller novels of its time. It is especially wonderful how Tom Clancy's weaves his tales around details that are highly enlightening in the "shadow" society.

For those who've only watched "Patriot Games" the movie, I recommend that you read this book. While the movie is excellent in its own medium, it doesn't contain the full richness and clarity of this excellent novel and the ending is much more fitting! {ssintrepid}

Tom Clancy's novel, Patriot Games, is an exciting and chillingly realistic story. His technical descriptions of guns, bullets, and in-depth info on organizations such as the CIA and FBI add plenty of depth and knowledge to the text, making the reader really feel that the writer is well informed on the subject. Clancy immediately grabs the reader with his vivid descriptions of the action scenes. The authenticity that Clancy presents his plot with easily allows the reader to be sucked into the plot.
The novel is based around the main character, Jack Ryan, an ex-marine turned historian, who inadvertently foils a terrorist plot to kidnap the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Irish terrorist group, known as the ULA, or the Ulster Liberation Army, takes personal offense at Ryan's actions and set out to kill him. The story is set on the suburbs of Annapolis, close to Washington DC. Since I live in Virginia and have visited DC, I can tell you personally that even Clancy's descriptions of Washington DC and the surrounding area are superb.
The character of Jack Ryan has a thoroughly developed character with good personality traits along with the bad. Clancy dwells on many aspects of his personality, and we often get to see his thoughts, which help enhance our knowledge about him. However, a few of the other characters suffer from a lack of character development, and the reader has a hard time keeping track of who they are because of a lack of any knowledge about them. In addition, Clancy has introduced more characters than necessary, which sometimes adds to the confusion of who is who.
The plot is chillingly realistic, but gets sluggish at times. The main blocks of action appear at the beginning and end of the novel, making the middle somewhat boring at some points. Overall, the book definitely has an interesting plot and characters with a good balance of action, suspense, and character development. I would recommend it to anyone who loves to read action-thrillers and to people interested in detective work.

A Review by Sean
Patriot Games is a techno thriller in the classic Clancy style, starring his recurring character Jack Ryan. This time around, Ryan encounters extremist Irish terrorists, members of the ULA, while on vacation in London. He manages to foil their attack on the Prince of Wales' family and capture one of the attackers, but is injured in the process. While recovering from his injuries in England, the man he captures escapes while being transported to the Isle of Wight, and is not happy with Jack.

The plot clicks, and the book is alive with action. Clancy manages to keep the suspense alive throughout the book, and delivers every detail without skipping a beat, making Ryan's world come alive. The action sequences are jammed with, well, action, and the author keeps it alive right up to the end.

If you've read Tom Clancy before, you'll love this book as much as all the others. If not, you're in for a treat. Patriot Games is the book equivalent of an action movie.

Right from the first paragraph Tom Clancy draws you in to the life of Jack Ryan. This is the first Tom Clancy novel that I read and I now have read all of his novels. I enjoy all of them. Especialy the Jack Ryan series. Patriot Games is the best of them all.