Patriot Games, Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy, Book

Synopsis

Tom Clancy's Patriot Games is filled with the exceptional realism and authenticity that distinguished the author's two previous bestsellers, Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising. Patriot Games puts us on the cutting edge of another type of war — the international battle of terrorism.

Years before the defection of a Soviet submarine will send him hurtling into confrontation with the Soviets in Red October, Jack Ryan, historian, ex-marine, and CIA analyst, is vacationing in London when the Ulster Liberation Army makes a terrorist attack on the Prince and Princess of Wales. By instinctively diving forward to break up the attack, he gains both the gratitude of a nation and the hatred of its most dangerous men. Jack Ryan must summon all of the skills and knowledge at his command to battle back against his nemesis.

Patriot Games is a major new film from Paramount starring Harrison Ford.

Two Casettes.

Annotation

Filled with exceptional realism and authenticity, Patriot Games puts readers on the cutting edge of a different type of war but one no less deadly: the international battle against terrorism. From the author of The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising.

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. (August 7)

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Biography

Known for originating the techno-thriller genre, Tom Clancy writes complex novels dense with hardware and international intrigue. Perhaps the strongest indication of his power as a writer is the fact that he is often treated by the media like a character in one of his books, asked for opinions about military readiness and the subject of rumors about being debriefed by the Pentagon. Not bad for a former salesman who was rejected for service because of bad eyesight.

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Customer Reviews

Number of Reviews: 40
Average Rating:
Write a Review

Amazing
Amanda, A reviewer, 05/28/2007

Patriot Games was an amazingly, quick read. Very entriging. I would recommend this for anyone who loves action packed novels with a little bit of a sense of humor.

Great book!
Tyler, A reviewer, 11/10/2006

This book is excellent! Thrilling and fast-paced from beginning to end. I had a hard time putting it down.

Also recommended: Teeth of the Tiger, Rainbow six

More Customer Reviews

Fact File

Name:
Tom Clancy

Current Home:
Huntingtown, Maryland

Date of Birth:
April 12, 1947

Place of Birth:
Baltimore, Maryland

Education:
Loyola High School in Towson, Maryland, 1965; B.A. in English, Loyola College, 1969

Biography

By the time you are finished reading this, it is likely that Tom Clancy will have written yet another bestseller. One of our most prolific writers is also one of the most celebrated and well-known in America -- so much so that his thrillers have won fans in the White House and he is often asked his opinion of political and military matters. Having written an astounding 26 books in 20 years -- each one a bestseller -- Clancy shows no signs of slowing down or pulling punches when it comes to his own stance on the kind of contemporary issues he has been addressing in his books for two decades.

Ever since Clancy's first novel, The Hunt For Red October, rocked the publishing world upon its publication in 1984, winning a fan in President Ronald Reagan, Clancy has proved himself to be an indomitable literary force. While Clancy is best known for the techno-thriller genre he is credited with creating and the hard-boiled adventures of President Jack Ryan, he has also penned several works of non-fiction examining various aspects of the U.S. military, such as Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship, Armored CAV: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, and Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force.

Clancy has also co-written several of his studies with military personnel. These entries in his "Commander" series include Into the Storm: A Study in Command, written with armor and infantry General Fred Franks, and Every Man a Tiger with Air Force General Chuck Horner. The most recent installment in the series is a collaboration with Major General Tom Zinni, who served as former Secretary of State Colin Powell's special envoy to the Middle East before his opinions about the Iraqi War lead to his early resignation. In Battle Ready, Clancy tracks Zinni's long and prestigious military career, from his stint in Vietnam to his days directing strikes against Iraq and Al Qaeda. Clancy spins Zinni's tale into a masterful blend of biography, military history, and compelling narrative, with a particular focus on an often-unexamined aspect of our military leaders. "In the movies, military leaders are all drunken Nazis," Clancy told the Associated Press of Battle Ready, "In fact, these are very bright people who regard the soldiers and Marines under them as their own kids. I thought the people needed to know that. These are good guys, smart guys."

Battle Ready makes some inroads in presenting the more human side of the military leaders who are so often illustrated as callous war mongers in the media. Zinni's unflinching and often inflammatory criticisms of U.S. foreign policy provide the book with its powerful moral center, inspiring George Cohen of Booklist to assert, "...this is a book that demands our attention."

As for Clancy's own stance on U.S. involvement in Iraq, he is somewhat less rabble-rousing than Zinni, but no less candid. And on one occasion, Clancy claims he almost came to blows with former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle on the matter. "He was saying how Colin Powell was being a wuss because he was overly concerned with the lives of the troops," Clancy explained, "And I said, �Look -- he's supposed to think that way!' And Perle didn't agree with me on that. People like that worry me."

As for what the ever-prolific Tom Clancy has in the works next, he would only say, when asked what his Jack Ryan would have to say about the war, "I don't like to comment on works in progress." With a new book slotted for a 2006 release, Clancy's provocative comment may suggest that the controversy has only just begun to brew.

Good to Know

Tom Clancy's world is not all serious political intrigue -- it is occasionally fun and games. Clancy founded Red Storm Entertainment, a video game company responsible for such titles as "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon" and "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six." Clancy recently sold the company for a whopping $45 million.

While Tom Clancy is widely considered to be an authority on all things military, he has never actually served in the military. His failure to pass the eye exam kept him out of action.

Clancy's government connections are not limited to his politically-charged stories; his wife Alexandra is the niece of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

From the Publisher

Tom Clancy's Patriot Games is filled with the exceptional realism and authenticity that distinguished the author's two previous bestsellers, Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising. Patriot Games puts us on the cutting edge of another type of war — the international battle of terrorism.

Years before the defection of a Soviet submarine will send him hurtling into confrontation with the Soviets in Red October, Jack Ryan, historian, ex-marine, and CIA analyst, is vacationing in London when the Ulster Liberation Army makes a terrorist attack on the Prince and Princess of Wales. By instinctively diving forward to break up the attack, he gains both the gratitude of a nation and the hatred of its most dangerous men. Jack Ryan must summon all of the skills and knowledge at his command to battle back against his nemesis.

Patriot Games is a major new film from Paramount starring Harrison Ford.

Two Casettes.

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. (August 7)

Library Journal

In Clancy's landmark first novel, The Hunt for Red October, there is a reference to the hero, Annapolis history instructor Jack Ryan, singlehandedly foiling a terrorist attack on members of the British royal family. Patriot Games starts there and follows Ryan's attempt (assisted by police, armed forces, the FBI, CIA, and MI5) to locate and destroy an unknown unit of Irish terrorists in the United States. Despite magnificent action scenes, this book lacks the sustained tension of the previous novels. The suspense is broken several times by redundant background matter, and loose ends abound in the plot. Although not up to other Clancy novels, this is a cut above the average thriller, and likely to be in high demand in public libraries. Literary Guild, Military Book Club, and Doubleday Book Club selections. John North, L . R . C . , Ryerson Polytechnical Inst., Toronto

School Library Journal

YA Jack Ryan is back with a vengeanceliterally. The hero of Hunt for Red October (Naval Institute Pr., 1984) stars here in a prequel to Clancy's first novel, with page-turning results. Years before Hunt. . ., Ryan, vacationing with his family in England, thwarts an assassination attempt on the Prince of Wales, his wife, and child. The terrorists responsible do not take such interference with their plans lightly, and Ryan and his family are in great danger from their new enemies. All of Ryan's considerable talents and courage are put to the ultimate test of saving those he loves from terrorist vengeance. There is greater emphasis in this novel on plot and characterization, less on military tactics and hardware, so that Clancy has fashioned a more old-fashionedand first-classthriller than in his first two novels. Patriot Games establishes that Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising (Putnam, 1986) were no mere trendy flukes, and that Clancy is an action writer of considerable talent. Karl Penny, Houston Public Library

The Wall Street Journal - Casper Weinberger

A high-pitched excitement.

Customer Reviews

Number of Reviews: 40
Average Rating:
Write a Review

Showing 1-5 Next

Amazing
Amanda, A reviewer, 05/28/2007

Patriot Games was an amazingly, quick read. Very entriging. I would recommend this for anyone who loves action packed novels with a little bit of a sense of humor.

Great book!
Tyler, A reviewer, 11/10/2006

This book is excellent! Thrilling and fast-paced from beginning to end. I had a hard time putting it down.

Also recommended:�Teeth of the Tiger, Rainbow six

This is an excellent read!
ME, A reviewer, 04/07/2006

Tom Clancy�s Patriot Games is an excellent example of a political thriller that maintains a necessary human factor that is elemental to the story. This is the tale of Jack Ryan, a former marine and now an American tourist in England who breaks up a terrorist attack on the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne. His intervention saved the Heir�s life, and drew terrorist attention on him and his family. Clancy uses heart-stopping action to keep his readers excited and interested. The first attack and exciting climax are exceptional examples of this. The suspense he creates with Ryan and his family is incredible. The main character is Jack Ryan, a former Marine lieutenant who now teaches history at Annapolis. Clancy portrays Ryan as a man who will stop at nothing to keep his family safe. He is a man who stands up for what he thinks is right, and is haunted by his conscience for the actions he takes. He is not a warrior but knows how to use his mind, and his Marine training saves his life as well as the lives of others many times. The setting for the story is very valuable to the plot. The terrorists in the story are from Ireland, and are very professional. However, the antagonist, Sean Miller, uses a personal tragedy as an excuse to attack Ryan in America. This book was written in 1988, so terrorism was unheard of in America. If the plot had taken place anywhere else, then terrorism would be an understood threat and wouldn�t be as exciting or foreign a threat. This is crucial to other parts of the plot. Clancy uses a 3rd person point of view to tell the story from all sides. Not only does it show what Ryan is thinking and doing, it also follows the terrorists throughout their training and attempts at retribution. Clancy also tells the stories of the inner-workings of international Counterterrorism, and the relationships between the British and American efforts. He does this with many characters that can be identified with. One example of this is FBI agent Dan Murray. He is the FBI�s man in London and he works with the British MI-5 to apprehend international criminals. The author tells of how Murray�s closest lead is blown when his wiretap is discovered in the suspect�s store. The way Clancy portrays Ryan is one of the main reasons I enjoyed this so much. However, I would have to see the other side of the coin more. He didn�t explore the terrorist motivations as much as I would have liked, and if he had dived in a little more into their mindset it would have added a very interesting topic. I think that this novel is an excellent read, and kept me interested the whole way through. I am no stranger to Tom Clancy�s other novels, but I feel that his realism and talent really shined in this novel. I could not put it down, and would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good political thriller.

Also recommended:�Sum of All Fears, Rainbow Six, any jack reacher novel

very good
rob, father of four girls., 09/09/2005

this was a very good book, the last fifty pages are very exciting. clancy kept me wondering how it would end all the way to the last few pages. this is the first book by tom clancy i have read but i plan to read the rest of the jack ryan books. and probably red storm rising.

Also recommended:�icewind dale trilogy by RA. Salvatore. not related but very good. the cider house rules by john irving. Desparation by stephen king.

An excellent thriller
Jon, a lover of books., 08/14/2005

One of the best thrillers I have ever read. Clancy makes the drama more real in showing the human side of Jack Ryan, and makes the book more personal. The action sequences are exciting, the storyline is excellent, and the writing is somewhat above average. If you are looking for a thrilling page-turner, with alot of brains and a slam-bang ending, you will very likely enjoy Patriot Games.

Also recommended:�All of Clancy's other works. The Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum.

Showing 1-5 Next

Product Details

ISBN: 0425109720
ISBN-13: 9780425109724
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 512pp
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: July 1988
Edition Number: 1
Sales Rank: 19,472
Series: Jack Ryan

Table of Contents

Patriot Games by Tom Clancy

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Synopsis

Annotation

Publishers Weekly

Biography

Customer Reviews

Fact File

Biography

Good to Know

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

School Library Journal

The Wall Street Journal - Casper Weinberger

Customer Reviews

Product Details

Table of Contents

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