Patriot Games
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4.5 • 1K Ratings
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- $7.99
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
Excellent read
A little gritty and slow at times, but overall, very good.
Read it
Tom Clancy’s Patriot Games may be an older novel, but it remains one of the finest political thrillers ever written. Clancy’s exceptional storytelling, attention to detail, and ability to build suspense are on full display. Chronologically, this novel is considered the second book in the Jack Ryan timeline and serves as the true beginning of Ryan’s career.
The story opens with Jack Ryan as a history professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. While vacationing in England with his family, Ryan unexpectedly finds himself in the middle of an assassination attempt by a splinter faction of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) targeting members of the British Royal Family. Acting on instinct, Ryan intervenes and prevents the attack, but his heroic actions make both him and his family targets for revenge.
As the threat escalates, the CIA becomes increasingly involved, recognizing Ryan’s intelligence, courage, and analytical abilities while hoping to recruit him into the agency. From there, Clancy delivers a gripping blend of espionage, terrorism, and international intrigue that keeps the pages turning.
If you’ve only seen the film adaptation, the novel is well worth reading. While the movie captures the general premise, the book provides significantly more depth, character development, and detail. I highly recommend Patriot Games to anyone who enjoys military or political thrillers. In my opinion, Tom Clancy rarely wrote a bad book, and this classic is an excellent example of why he remains one of the genre’s greatest authors.
Rating: B- Decent Tom Clancy Novel
I’m more of a fan of the spy, Cold War, USSR, arms race theme. That said, this is still a good read. Especially with the IRA having a vendetta against Jack and his family. You might be able to skip this one but I haven’t read too far into the next book to determine that.
RIP Tom Clancy