The Hunt for Red October
- Published
- 1 October 1984
- Pages
- 479
- ISBN-13
- 9780945353799
- Type
- novel
About this book
The Hunt for Red October (1984) opens the Jack Ryan series with a CIA analyst pulled into the defection of a Soviet submarine captain -- the case that starts Ryan's slow climb from desk analyst toward the Oval Office over the decades of books that follow. It runs 479 pages and set the template for Tom Clancy's techno-thriller density: real weapons systems, real geopolitics, and enough submarine tradecraft to read like unofficial Pentagon briefing material.
Key facts about The Hunt for Red October
Tom Clancy wrote The Hunt for Red October, a novel on our list. It has been out since 1 October 1984. The book has 479 pages.
We list 2 editions of this novel. Since each edition has its own ISBN, search for 9780945353799 to find the main one.
The Hunt for Red October is book 1 of 44 in the Jack Ryan series. The series has 44 published books. As a result, this is the book to start the series with.
Rules of Engagement is the latest book in the series with a full release date, out on 19 May 2026. Meanwhile, The Coldest War comes next, with an announced date of 24 November 2026.
Additionally, Tom Clancy writes Tom Clancy's Op-Center, Tom Clancy's Power Plays and Tom Clancy's Net Force as separate series. Those series sit on our thriller and techno-thriller shelves. Meanwhile, Commander in Chief is the latest published Tom Clancy book on file, from 1 December 2015.
About Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy was working as an independent insurance agent in Maryland, with no military or intelligence career of his own, when the Naval Institute Press — a publisher that didn't normally handle fiction — took a chance on his first novel in 1984. See every Tom Clancy book in order.
Its place in Jack Ryan
The Hunt for Red October is book 1 in the Jack Ryan series. It is followed by Patriot Games. See the full Jack Ryan reading order.
Jack Ryan starts the series as a CIA analyst who stumbles into a Soviet submarine defection and rises, book by book, to national security adviser and eventually President of the United States — one of the most sustained "ordinary competent man in extraordinary circumstances" arcs in thriller fiction. Tom Clancy built his name on techno-thriller density: real weapons systems, real geopolitics, and enough procedural detail about submarines, fighter jets and intelligence tradecraft that the books doubled as…
Editions
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9780286132992
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9780945353799