The Jack Ryan novels begin with The Hunt for Red October (1984; see separate entry), the surprising best seller from an obscure academic publisher that portrayed life in modern submarines. In it, Ryan is a CIA operative who divines Captain Ramius' plan to defect with the submarine Red October to the United States. The novel features many dynamic characters, including Ryan, but Ryan is not the novel's main character: Ramius is.

In Patriot Games (1987; see separate entry), Clancy fleshes out Ryan's history as a former marine and a man of action; in it, Ryan battles Irish terrorists who intend to murder his family. The novel exemplifies one of the dominant concerns of Clancy's fiction, that of terrorism.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988; see separate entry) shows Ryan saving the life of an important spy and engineering the defection of the leader of the Soviet Union's KGB. Clear...