Tom Clancy Books in Order

Tom Clancy was an American novelist who effectively invented the modern techno-thriller. His 1984 debut, The Hunt for Red October, began what grew into the Ryanverse — a sprawling universe of intelligence, military, and political novels centered on CIA analyst-turned-president Jack Ryan, his son Jack Ryan Jr., and the private intelligence outfit called The Campus.

Clancy wrote seventeen Jack Ryan novels during his lifetime and began collaborating with co-authors in the late 2000s as the series scope grew. He died in 2013, and the Jack Ryan and Jack Ryan Jr. novels have continued under his name with authors chosen by his estate and publisher — most recently Grant Blackwood, Mike Maden, Don Bentley, and M.P. Woodward on the Jack Ryan Jr. branch.

Clancy was born in Baltimore in 1947 and worked as an insurance agent before Red October made him one of the best-selling authors of his generation.