Novels By Tom Clancy
Geri Cutcher
Tom Clancy has been writing since his first book The Hunt for Red October was published in 1984. Below is a list of the novels he has written (including his series that have his name attached to them) in order of when they were originally released. In the case of the Jack Ryan/John Clark series, we have included the chronological order that differs from the order of publication.
Notes: Red Storm Rising was co-authored by Larry Bond. Against All Enemies was co-authored by Peter Telep. Dead or Alive and Under Fire were co-authored by Grant Blackwood. Locked On, Commander-in-Chief and every novel in the Jack Ryan, Jr. series since has been co-authored by Mark Greaney. The Campus series is written by Mark Greaney.
Virtual Vandals, One is the Loneliest Number, End Game (Net Force Explorers), Safe House, Deathworld and Runaways were co-authored by Diane Duane. The Deadliest Game, The Great Race, Cyberspy, Private Lives, Duel Identity and Cold Case were co-authored by Bill McCay. One is the Loneliest Number and The Ultimate Escape were co-authored by Steve Pieczenik. Shadow of Honor, Gameprey and High Wire were co-authored by Mel Odom. Point of Contact, Line of Sight and Enemy Contact was written by Mike Maden. Power and Empire and Oath of Office written by Marc Cameron.
Into the Storm was co-authored by General Fred Franks. Every Man a Tiger was co-authored by General Charles Honer. Shadow Warriors was co-authored by General Carl Stiner. Battle Ready was co-authored by General Tony Zinni and Tony Koltz.
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The easiest point to make about Tom Clancy, who died on Tuesday at the age of 66, is that he was a mediocre writer who penned books with noxious political messages. But he was more interesting than that, even if only as a totemic cultural figure. I haven't read any of his nonfictional output, which mostly deals with military matters, especially the physical details of American military hardware. (Sample title: Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship.) But Clancy will be best remembered for the series of books he wrote about Jack Ryan, the C.I.A. agent from his creator's hometown of Baltimore who eventually becomes president of the United States. (Don't ask.) Four of the books were eventually turned into pretty effective Hollywood movies, which starred (in order) Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford (twice), and Ben Affleck. A fifth, with Chris Pine as Ryan, comes out over Christmas.
The first thing to note about the Jack Ryan novels, and one of the things that made them notable as middlebrow fiction, was their sheer bulk. This no doubt accounted for some of the pride I felt in finishing them at age 16. To even try and describe the structure of a book like Clear and Present Danger would be a feat, but if I managed to do so you might think that I was outlining Middlemarch. I doubt that Clancy intended his books to ape great, sprawling 19th century novels, but structurally they did. Or at least they did until the last several hundred pages, when everything would either be wrapped up too hastily or not at all. Clancy was abysmal at plotting, and these stories would never come together in any really satisfying way.
Each strand would introduce you to an impressive American male, skilled at his military or intelligence duties, well versed in the technical details of his mission, and committed to his military hardware. Some of them (like Ryan) were brainier than others, but they all seemed to exist in the same milieu. Still, it was rather bold that Ryan would sometimes not appear for hundreds of pages. Supporting characters would be sketched at great length (if not in great depth). Obscure international hotspots would be given their brief moment in the sun, although Clancy never showed much desire to learn anything deep or complex about other cultures.
Some of Clancy's early books were strictly Cold War thrillers, but, to his credit, the diminishment and eventual end of the cold war didn't seem to cramp his style. Patriot Games (1987) was about Irish extremists who threaten the British royal family, Clear and Present Danger (1989) is about Latin American drug cartels, and The Sum of All Fears (1991) concerns Islamic terrorists trying to start nuclear war. (The movie adaptation of the latter, which was made after 9/11, changed the villains to neo-Nazis.) By the time of Executive Orders (1996), Ryan seems to be taking on half the world's villains. (In this one, he is serving as president.)
But even if Clancy could see past the Cold War, he could never see past his rather limited political views. This is why it was alarming that Clancy was taken seriously as a military and political analyst, and invited on talk shows to give his opinion of serious subjects. (Charlie Rose's intended audience is presumably not 16-year-olds.) Dan Quayle, in his infinite wisdom, once stated, "They're not just novels. They're read as the real thing."
Clancy's politics can best be described as Rambo-esque: The blame for American military defeat can best be laid at the feet of pointy-headed intellectuals and the media; America would be a better and stronger country if we would just let our tough guys take care of business; America is a great place, but government bureaucrats hold us back. The key difference was that Rambo was somewhat of a counter-cultural figure, with his long hair and alternative lifestyle. Clancy's heroes are basically boring, straight, all-Americans. (Jack Ryan is jokingly referred to as a "boy-scout".)
I recently read a quote from Clancy where he stated, "The U.S. military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it." What his books argue, however, is essentially the opposite of this statement. The military and intelligence services are as superb as one could wish for, but the rest of American society has let them down. Actually, American society would be a lot stronger if it were only 16-year-olds who thought this. The popularity of Clancy and his books show that this sort of thinking is disturbingly widespread.
Clancy's first novel, "The Hunt for Red October," was published in 1984. The book introduced Clancy's most famous fictional character, Jack Ryan, who would become a central figure in the majority of the author's novels. In the action-packed novel, CIA analyst Ryan helps a Soviet submarine captain and his crew defect to the United States. The action takes place aboard an experimental nuclear submarine, called Red October.
The novel was reportedly inspired by a real-life mutiny aboard a Soviet Navy anti-submarine ship, called the Storozhevoy, in November 1975. The ship's political commissar, Captain of the Third Rank Valery Sablin, staged the mutiny as a protest against the corruption under Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev. [10 Historically Significant Political Protests]
After Soviet authorities learned of the mutiny, 13 gunboats were dispatched in pursuit of the ship. The vessel was eventually damaged, and Soviet officials arrested and interrogated the crew. Sablin, who was tried and convicted of high treason, was shot on Aug. 3, 1976.
A real-life assassination plot inspired Clancy's 2002 novel, "Red Rabbit." The fictionalized account centers around CIA analyst Ryan, as he aids in the defection of a Soviet officer who has information about a plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
In 1981, a Turkish assassin named Mehmet Ali Ağca shot and wounded then-Pope John Paul II. In his later testimony, Ağca said the plot was led by Zilo Vassilev, a Bulgarian military attach based in Italy, but other accounts have also pointed fingers at a Turkish neo-fascist organization called the Grey Wolves.
On May 13, 1981, Ağca and an accomplice waited in St. Peter's Square for the pope to arrive. When Pope John Paul II passed by, Ağca fired several shots. The pope survived, but was hit by four bullets: two in his lower intestine, and the others in his left hand and right arm. Two bystanders were also hit by stray bullets.
In Clancy's 1994 novel "Debt of Honor," the author's recurring character, Ryan, has become the National Security Advisor. In the novel, the Japanese government, in the midst of an economic crisis, declares war on the United States. At one point, a grieving Japanese pilot, deeply embittered by the deaths of his son and brother in the conflict, flies his Boeing 747 into the U.S. Capitol.
"I never got any fan mail from Osama bin Laden, and I don't really know how many books I sold in Afghanistan," Clancy told CNN about whether his novels may inspire nefarious activities. "You have to talk to the marketing people about that. But I'm not really concerned about it."
In Clancy's 2003 book, "Teeth of the Tiger," hero Ryan's son becomes a consultant for a secret intelligence agency tasked with discreetly assassinating individuals who pose threats to national security. The novel controversially depicted a violent multiple homicide by an Islamic terrorist, set within a real-life shopping mall in Charlottesville, Va. While the event was fictional, it was tragically prophetic.
On Sept. 21, 2013, gunmen raided a shopping mall in Kenya, killing at least 39 people. A Somali Islamist group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, which lasted hours before police and soldiers reached the assailants.
Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Denise ChowSocial Links NavigationLive Science ContributorDenise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.
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