Patriot Games (Hardcover)

by Tom Clancy (Author) "Ryan was nearly killed twice in half an hour..." (more)
Key Phrases: Doctor Ryan, Sean Miller, Sir John (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The bestselling author of Red Storm Rising and The Sum of All Fears brings Jack Ryan back in his to fight his deadliest battle yet.

From England to Ireland to America, an explosive wave of violence sweeps a CIA analyst and his family into the deadliest game of our time: international terrorism. An ultra-left-wing faction fo the IRA has targeted the CIA man for his act of salvation in an assasination attempt. And now he must pay ... with his life. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From 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.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 540 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1st edition (August 4, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399132414
• ISBN-13: 978-0399132414
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #212,182 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Jack Ryan Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of Clancy's Greatest Books To Date!!!!, March 31, 2001

By	"webmatt7588" (Deerfield, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is Clancy at some of his best. The action starts in the first chapter. In the chapter, CIA anylast Jack Ryan witnesses a shooting while vacationing in London. Jack interveines and kills two of the shooters. One shoots him in the shoulder and escapes. Later Jack learnes he saved the Prince of Wales, his wife, and their new son. He also learns that the attack was done by one of the most dangerous and secretive Irish terrorist organizations, the Ulster Liberation Army or ULA. Soon, Ryan and his family become a target of international terrorism. This book was exciting! A page turner indeed. Besides a few dull filler chapters, every chapter is as exciting as the previous. The smaller sub-plots provide action in every page. A bit long when you first look at it, but it is truly a thriller. Clancy is the king of detial. The man could write a 1,000 page story on a trip to the grocery store and still keep you entertained. Not that I want him to write this though. An all around great book! "Two Thumbs Up!"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jack Ryan's First Adventure!, January 25, 2001

By	Cody Carlson (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Patriot Games (Jack Ryan) (Mass Market Paperback)

International terrorism is the topic Clancy tackles in his novel, 'Patriot Games.' When history teacher and sometime CIA anylist Jack Ryan intervenes in an IRA hit on the Prince of Wales, he soon finds himself a political target. When his family is attacked in Baltimore Ryan again goes to work for the CIA in the hopes of stopping the terrorists. While the story is gripping and the action scenes fast-paced and exciting, the first two hundred pages of the book are for the most part slow. If you're a patient reader you should get through it okay. The ending is a climax in the great Clancy tradition and the characters, as always, are people you'd like to know. There is much more in the book than in the movie, but it's essentially the same story. On the whole it's a great first ride for Jack Ryan.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patriot Games, August 13, 2002

By	Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Patriot Games (Jack Ryan) (Mass Market Paperback)

Patriot Games written by Tom Clancy is a Jack Ryan novel. As Clancy's hero Jack Ryan takes us to England, Ireland and the United States in this techno-thiller, with international terrorism and action-packed excitement.

Clancy works his magic with this story and leaves the reader with a sense of dangerous adventure. This book gives the reader a better sense of who Jack Ryan is and Clancy keeps you well engaged throughout the book.

I enjoyed the read, as page after page seemed to melt away to an exciting climax. You will not be disappointed reading this book as a daring assination attempt and violence seem to carry you on to the conclusion. Tom Clancy is a storyteller in this well written book.

Definitely entertaining...