Without Remorse, released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character in most of Clancy's novels.

The novel focuses on Ryan being the target of Irish terrorist group Ulster Liberation Army for thwarting their kidnapping attempt on the Prince and Princess of Wales in London.

Meanwhile, Miller is sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping attempt; however, his ULA compatriots led by Kevin O'Donnell free him while he is being transported to a maximum security prison.

Their Libyan allies aid them in escaping to their secret camp in the North African desert; Miller vows revenge on Ryan.

Unbeknownst to him, Miller had persuaded O'Donnell to launch an operation in the U.S. aimed at targeting Ryan and his family, and had recruited the assistance of an African-American domestic terrorist group known as "the Movement" to do so.

The assassin sent to kill Ryan is intercepted before he completes his task, however his wife, Cathy, and daughter, Sally, are seriously injured when Miller causes their car to crash on a freeway; they are transported to the hospital for treatment.

Patriot Games was notable for subverting the moral ambiguity of the antagonists in espionage novels by John le Carré, Len Deighton, and Robert Ludlum.

[2] Clancy started working on Patriot Games in 1979,[citation needed] along with other novels which would later be published: The Hunt for Red October (1984) and The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988).

He says of his passion for accuracy and detail: "When I was in London, researching Patriot Games, I spent 20 hours walking around the Mall with a camera, clipboard and tape recorder, just choreographing my opening chapter, to make sure it would happen exactly the way I wrote it.

"[3] However, Kirkus Reviews's verdict is mixed, stating that "Exciting shoot-outs and chases, and lots of Royal wish-fulfillment; but without naval authenticity to bolster the prose, Clancy is a fish out of water.

Additionally, the Prince and Princess of Wales were replaced by Lord Holmes, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Queen's cousin, as the ULA's primary target.

"[8] He eventually asked for his name to be removed from the film's promotional materials, and in an apparent countermove, entered negotiations with the same team at Paramount Pictures to sell the rights to his other novel The Sum of All Fears (1991).