Sanctimonia says:

Jesus, just quote the damn thing:

“Ryan leaned back and lit another low-tar cigarette bought from the kiosk on the next floor down. It went well with the coffee that was serving to keep him awake. He was up against another blank wall. It made him think of the computer games he occasionally played at home when he was tired of writing–Zork and Ultima. The business of intelligence analysis was so often like those computer “head games.” You had to figure things out, but you never quite knew what it was that you were figuring out. The patterns you had to deduce could be very different from anything one normally dealt with, and the difference could be significant or mere happenstance.”

Cool quote, though. Interesting how authors sometimes mix their direct experience (assuming Clancy played those games) into their work. My dad did so with his novel when it was useful.