Patriot Games (original 1998; edition 1992)

I really liked Hunt for Red October, so I was looking forward to this. The beginning didn't disappoint, and was very engaging. The middle was very slow. (I hit my "this feels like pure filler" point during Ryan's plane ride home. It was very long and very descriptive -which I generally have no problem with from Tom Clancy- but had nothing to do with pushing the plot along.) And the end left something to be desired. Jack Ryan loses the intelligence and impulsive, occasional streaks of heroism he had going for him, and becomes a foolish guy who's nearly super-human. ( )

8-Jun-2020 15-Jun-2020 ( )

Quite different, especially the denouement, from the movie! All-in-all, and this is a rare statement from me, the movie was better. It was tighter and actually more action packed.

I drive from DC to the Eastern Shore more than a dozen times a year, so I can easily envision the cliffs surrounding the Ryan home, but the ability to traverse the grounds to get to the house with all the bad actors (and good) with guns wasn't, for me, easily understandable. And getting a pregnant women just a few days (not weeks) away from childbirth was not too realistic.

But. I'm glad I read it. ( )

4/7/22

4/7/22