Background Info
on novels

Date first published	August 1987
ISBN Number	0-399-13241-4
Page Count	540 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

The explosion that shattered the afternoon clam of London's St James's hurtled Jack Ryan, the hero of Tom Clancy's phenomenal The Hunt For Red October, into the deadliest confrontation of his life.

It is autumn. years before the defection of the Soviet submarine Red October will pitch him against the Soviets, historian, ex marine and CIA analyst Jack Ryan is enjoying a holiday in London with his wife and young daughter, when a savage terrorist attack takes place only yards from where he is standing. Instinctively he dives forward to break it up and is shot. It is not until he wakes up in hospital that he learns that whose lives he as saved - the Prince and Princess of Wales and their baby son - and which enemies he has made - the Ulster Liberation Army, an ultra left wing splinter of the IRA.

His impulsive act and bravery have won him the gratitude of royalty and of the nation. But they have also roused the enmity and vengeance of that nations's most dangerous men, men who do not sit on their hate. In the weeks and months to come, it is Jack Ryan and his family who will become the targets of that hatred.

Sweeping from England to Ireland to America with ever-growing momentum, its suspense steadily intensifying as Ryan summons all his skills to fight back against his fate. Patriot Games gives us a remarkable set of characters in the most desparate struggle of their lives. It puts us on on the cutting edge of an insidious, deadly type of war:the international battle against terrorism

Review

Reading this book, some 10 years after first reading it and having seen the film, I was quite surprised how different the book was to the film, and that it was more of the film that I remembered than the book.

The film switches the emphasis from a political campaign, in which Ryan becomes unintentionally involved to a more personal vendetta, waged by Miller. This is understandable, as the books political background is quite complex. The ULA intend to discredit the leaders of the IRA, and in doing so take the Prince & Princess of Wales hostage so that they 'save' the IRA and become the new leadership. Something that would take some explaining in a film.

The film is quite close copy of the book (which is surprising), so we have all the elements, the initial attack on the Royals, the subsequent attack on Ryan's family and him, to the final confrontation at Ryan's home.

We also get to meet Robby Jackson for the first time, as they are both teaching at the same college. We also come across the machinations of Greer and the upper echelons of CIA. This is also the basis for how Ryan ends up working for the CIA.

Reading the book now it seems quite funny at the relative laid back attitudes of the FBI, after all this story is set some 14 years before the horrors of 9/11, which changed the Americans view on terrorism once and for all. The story has also dated in the respect of Charles and Diana. Who could have guessed that within a few years Charles and Diana would be divorced, and of course Diana later dying.

When this book was written i don't think anyone could have anticipated that Northern Ireland would achieve relative peace, and the troops would have left.

This also seems to be the year where military satellites and there capability come to the for. Clancy takes quite some time to explain how the satellites work, and how terrorists can avoid their gaze. Something that we probably take for granted now.

I was quite surprised how some things which annoy me his later books are already in the stories, such as the need for cigarettes, need for a cup of coffee. Perhaps I'm just getting old and picky!

I enjoyed the book. Unlike the film where Ryan ends up the avenging angel, it is left to the American police and FBI to take Miller into custody. Also the cadets from the college are heavily involved in defending the Royals, however it perhaps does not make for such an exciting ending for a film. This is probably not as good as Cardinal, but it is a good pacy read, and shows why Clancy had such a strong fan base.

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