Rating: 
Summary: One of Clancy's Worst
Review: This story portrays Jack Ryan before Red October, and ,in my opinion, Clancy could have done better with it. The be short, the plot is a rather boring subject compared to Clancy's other novels. Jack Ryan gets some PIRA wannabe left wing terrorists angry when he foils their assasination attempt on the Prince of Wales and his family on the streets of London. One of the terrorists is caught while the other is killed by Ryan. Ryan himself is wounded, made a hero of, and testifies at a trial where the survivng terrorist is convicted but sent to only a few years in prison(An example of how pathetic the British legal system is, although ours has its own problems). The terrorist escapes, and the story continues on how the IRA terrorists go to great lengths just to try to kill Ryan and his family. Come on! This has no international signifigance whatsoever, and doesn't compare to the rest of Clancy's novels.It is also very unrealistic. Irish terrorists coming to the US just to try and kill a man and his family for getting in the way one time? You've got to be kidding me. Clancy shouldn't have even bothered to write this. The only reason I give it 3 stars is that it lacks Clancy's usual excessive detail and still has some of his classic thrill.
Rating: 
Summary: one of Clancy's best, especially for the general reader
Review: Clancy swings the balance back to characters in Patriot Games and gives an in-depth probe of Jack Ryan and what makes him tick. Patriot Games shows why Ryan is one of the better characters in today's fiction. His friendship with Robby Jackson is taken to another level, and Sean Miller makes a great villain. The plot, action, and suspense are not left out in the cold either. This is probably Clancy's best book overall, certainly one of them anyway. A great story that can stand alone outside the wider Jack Ryan series.
Rating:
Summary: Is this the actual first book in the Jack Ryan series.
Review: Some people, including me, start the Jack Ryan series with the story about Clark in WITHOUT REMORSE. Other say this is the first book about jack Ryan. Clancy takes us into the seemy world of ruthless Irish patriots who switch their anger and hate to our hero Jack Ryan.
Rating: 
Summary: "Games" is Classic Clancy Chiller
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: He's good historian
Review: tom clancy is an excellent historian and technical writer, but bad a fiction. His book on the special forces was so in depth, it was almost to much information. This book was a waste of his time. he should have used his time better by writing a history book then this. He just did it for the money like all his fiction. If your a military nut who has fantasies of being a secret agent of being in special ops, then Tom clancy is for you. If you're a reader who wants a book that is believable and has well developed characters then stay away. But that really only is my compliant, the story and the character. The movies are awesome but the books [are bad] (never thought I'd say that). Read michael crichton.
Rating:
Summary: A Clancy Best
Review: Very rarely can Tom Clancy lead you in the wrong direction. This is just another classic example of his brilliance. Jack Ryan doesn't work with the CIA but he will, oh yes he will. When his family is attacked by Irish Marxist-Lenists he goes into the [rear]-kickin Jack Ryan we have learned to love but have lost with the new President Ryan that Clancy has developed. Patriot Games is a wonderful reminder of what an author like Clancy can do.
Rating:
Summary: Another Clancy Thriller.
Review: If you're a fan of action packed books, Ive got your ticket! The thrill ride of Patriot Games is another fine piece of work by Tom Clancy. This book involved a major part of today's world, terrorism, which is one of the reasons that I decided to read this book.
Jack Ryan a College Professor is on an assignment in England when all hell breaks loose, Jack is interrupted when talking to his wife Cathy, and their daughter Sally Ryan on a street corner, Terrorists are attempting an assassination on the King and Queen of England. Jack immediately covers his wife and daughter, instincts kick in and he decides he just can't wait for these people to be murdered. So, he hides behind a car and tackles one of the terrorists, knocking him down to the ground. Jack then grabs the gun from the unconscious terrorist and fires at the second terrorist but in the act gets shot in the arm himself.
Jack comes out a hero, but unbeknownst to him he would become the next target. Jack is the risk taker but almost pays for it in the end and his wife is a surgeon at the local hospital. Jack Ryan's motivation was to save some innocent bystanders who happened to be a target and also the royal family of England.
Overall it was a strong and fun book to read with chunks of action with a lot of boring text leading up to action, but Tom Clancy made up for that in his writing style. Clancy has a unique way of rising action that can be measured up in two words, outstanding and original, no wonder his books have been made into major motion pictures many times before.
Rating:
Summary: Suspensful
Review: Set in the early 1980's, this book talks about how a history teacher who interfers in an assination attempt in London, England, by the IRA, becomes a member of the CIA and what he does and goes through in order to save his and his family's life from an extremist group in the IRA, and how their personal judgement determines the outcome of the book. You also get a hint of the power that Jack Ryan will eventually possess later in the series. You also get a look into the mind of a terroist and how they react to situations. All in all, a excellent book Worth reading! Action, suspense, Romance, and suspensful ending!
Rating:
Summary: The start of the Jack Ryan story...
Review: Although we are introduced to Jack Ryan in Clancy's first novel "The Hunt For Red October", this is actually the start of the Jack Ryan story. From the first few pages, you are drawn into a scene involving an attempted kidnapping of a member of the Royal Family which is thwarted by Ryan (of course). From there on out, the rising action keeps you from being able to put the book down. Pay attention to all the detail in the middle pages of the book because they merely set the scene for the final few chapters that are quite simply ACTION PACKED! If you've seen the movie, forget about it. The movie doesn't do the book justice. I've read many books, but this one remains my favorite and it will take a great one to take over the top spot.
Rating:
Summary: Patriot Games - One of Clancy¿s finest!
Review: 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}
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