Patriot Games
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4.5 • 55 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From Tom Clancy, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Ryan novels--including his latest blockbusters Command Authority and Threat Vector--comes a gripping story of the Ryan family under fire. In an explosive wave of violence, an ultra-left-wing faction of the IRA is hunting one man for his act of salvation in an attempted assassination. And now Jack Ryan must pay…with his life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Introduced in The Hunt for Red October, Jack Ryan, the naval historian who freelances for the CIA, returns in this novel, in which Clancy demonstrates once again that he is a master of a genre he seems to have createdthe technico-military thriller. On a visit with his wife and daughter in London, Ryan stumbles onto an attempt by a new Irish revolutionary group to kidnap the Prince and Princess of Wales and their eldest son. Using his Marine Corps training, Ryan saves the royals (which leads to several visits between the Ryans and the residents of Buckingham Palace), but Ryan becomes the target of the surviving terrorists. Many familiar elements of the Clancy style are evident here: a fascination with machines and systems and procedures; thin characters; idealization of the soldier's life ("the discipline and the essential toughness that makes them different''); sarcastic humor; and a discordant sentimentality about family life. There are also some unintended ironies, particularly Clancy's praise of the CIA and the Marines, considering recent news from Washington and Moscow. Nonetheless, Clancy spins a marvelously tense yarn that will appeal to his legion of fans. First serial rights to Penthouse; Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Military Book Club, Reader's Digest Condensed Books selections.
Customer Reviews
A Fun Read
Before I review the story, let me say that there are an annoying number of spelling errors in this iBooks version that a hard copy would NEVER have. I wish they would update the file. That said, I really enjoyed reading this book again. As far as Jack Ryan books go, I won't say it's my favourite but really good nonetheless. Red October (which is my favourite) was cover to cover action, but Patriot Games is a lot more methodical. This prequel to Red October is much more Ryan-centric than others in the series. Lots of detail about his backstory, but sometimes it slows the pace down a bit too much. Still, when the action comes, it's pretty intense. When it comes to US military and intelligence writing, Tom Clancy is so unbelievably technical and descriptive. He is and always will be the Master.