Tom Clancy

   

This article is about Tom Clancy the novelist, for the member of the Irish folk band The Clancy Brothers, see Tom Clancy (singer)

Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (born April 12, 1947), who writes under the name Tom Clancy, is an American author of political thrillers heavily based on intelligence and military science concepts; his name is also a brand for similar books written by other authors. His earlier books have a definite focus on the Cold War.

Tom Clancy
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Tom Clancy

Whilst the literary merit of his books is disputed by many professional authors and reviewers (who regard Clancy's prose as pedestrian), most have been bestsellers. Fans of his work appreciate the well-thought-out plots and the apparent attention to technical detail in military matters (helped by extensive contacts in the US military, perhaps encouraged by the uniformly favourable view of the American law enforcement and military communities portrayed in his work), although some other elements of his stories (e.g. computing and biology) are less well-researched.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears have been turned into commercially successful films.

In recent years, his novels have become more political, showcasing many of his conservative, neoliberal, pro-military, anti-abortion, and law-enforcement beliefs. In Executive Orders, his signature character Jack Ryan becomes President of the United States. Jack Ryan's policies include a new way of fighting the War on Drugs and tax reform (with a flat tax). Some Clancy fans have objected to this focus on politics rather than on the military subjects for which his earlier novels are famous. Nevertheless, his books have continued to sell briskly, perhaps due to momentum from his previous popularity.

Clancy has written several nonfiction books about various branches of the US armed forces (see non-fiction listing, below) Clancy has branded several lines of books with his name that are written by other, acknowledged authors following premises or storylines generally in keeping with Clancy's works: Tom Clancy's Net Force, Tom Clancy's Op-Center and Tom Clancy's Power Plays.

In 1996, Clancy co-founded the computer game company Red Storm Entertainment and his name has appeared on several of Red Storm's games, notably Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell, each of which have sequels and expansion packs.

In 1997 Tom Clancy signed a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. (both part of Pearson Education), that paid him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books. He then signed a second agreement for another US$25 million for a four-year book/multimedia deal. Clancy followed this up with an agreement with Berkley Books for 24 paperbacks to tie in with the ABC television miniseries "Tom Clancy's Net Force" in an agreement worth US$22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.

Fiction

(All but one of Clancy's novels feature Jack Ryan and/or John Clark.)

By publication date

By series chronology

Non-fiction

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about Tom Clancy.

See also: List of other novelists

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