If you ask people 'Have you heard of Tom Clancy?' many just shake their head in bewilderment. But when you mention some of his novels, titles such as Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, they know - if not for the novels then for the movies.

His full name is Thomas L. Clancy, Jr. He was born on 12 April 1947. He majored in English at Baltimore's Loyola College, and worked as an insurance broker in Maryland. In college he dreamed of writing a novel. In 1984 his dream came through and he got his first novel published, The Hunt for Red October (HFRO). What inspired him was a story about a Soviet frigate's failed attempt to defect to Sweden and a deep interest in naval history. Consequently HFRO became the first book with the main character Jack Ryan, former stockbroker and CIA employee. Ryan has until now appeared in seven books, the latest titled Executive Orders.

Clancy has also worked with other authors. In 1986 he co-wrote Red Storm Rising with another famous name of the genre: Larry Bond. Also, Clancy worked with Steve Pieczenik to create the mini-series OP-Centre in 1994. The OP-Centre universe has laid the ground for the series of books written by Jeff Rovin. Recently Clancy and Rovin have worked on a mini-series for ABC. The new project is called Net Force and is set to air in the fall/winter of 1998.

The Jack Ryan Series:

The Hunt for Red October (1984)
Patriot Games (1987)
The Cardinal of Kremlin (1988)
Clear and Present Danger (1989)
The Sum of All Fears (1991)
Debt of Honor (1994)
Executive Orders (1996)
the bear and the dragon (2000)

Other Tom Clancy Books:

Red Storm Rising (co-author Larry Bond) (1986)
Without Remorse (1993)
SSN (1996)
Into the Storm (1997)
Rainbow Six (coming August 3rd 1998)

Tom Clancy's Powerplays:

Politika (1997)
Ruthless.com (Coming fall 1998)

The Tom Clancy Military Library:

Submarine (1993)
Armoured Warfare (1994)
Fighter Wing (1995)
Marine (1996)
Airborne (1997)

The OP-Centre Series:

Tom Clancy's OP-Centre (Feb 1995)
Tom Clancy's OP-Centre: Mirror Image (Nov 1995)
Tom Clancy's OP-Centre: Games of State (1996)
Tom Clancy's OP-Centre: Acts of War (1997)
Tom Clancy's OP-Centre: Balance of Power (1998)

Notice! Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik didn't write the OP-Centre books. Their only involvement was a synopsis describing the OP-Centre universe, which consequently was used by the young author Jeff Rovin when he wrote the books.

Other Books:

The Tom Clancy Companion - Edited by Martin Greenberg

LINKS::
Tom Clancy site at Penguin Putnam
TOM CLANCY WEB FILES
TCIC.org