Patriot Games (1987) is a book by Tom Clancy. It is chronologically the first book featuring CIA analyst Jack Ryan, the main person in almost all of Clancy's novels. Ryan saves the Prince of Wales from a breakaway Irish terrorist group, who go after Ryan and his family, partially as an act of revenge, but partially because they seek to undermine public (and specifically American) support for the IRA.

Film Adaption

A movie based on the novel was released on June 5, 1992. In the movie, Jack Ryan was played by Harrison Ford and Jack's doctor-wife, Cathy Muller Ryan, by Anne Archer. The movie has a fictional lord (Lord Holmes, played by James Fox) instead of the Prince of Wales.

One facet of the movie that drew a lot of attention at the time was the inclusion of breathtaking real-time infrared reconnaissance satellite video of SAS special forces troops raiding terrorist training camps. Such satellites did not have the capability at the time, but in an example of Hollywood brainstorming for people in the real world, this capability is rumored to have been included in newer satellites.

Cast

• Harrison Ford Jack Ryan
• Anne Archer Dr. Caroline "Cathy" Ryan
• Patrick Bergin Kevin O'Donnell
• Sean Bean Sean Miller
• Thora Birch Sally Ryan
• James Fox Lord Holmes
• Samuel L. Jackson Lt. Cmdr. Robby Jackson
• Polly Walker Annette
• J.E. Freeman Marty Cantor
• James Earl Jones Adm. James Greer
• Richard Harris Paddy O'Neil
• Alex Norton Dennis Cooley
• Hugh Fraser Geoffrey Watkins
• David Threlfall Insp. Highland
• Alun Armstrong Owens