Series · thriller
Jack Ryan
The Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy has 45 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Hunt for Red October (1984). The next book, The Coldest War, is due 24 November 2026.
- Books
- 45 books
- First published
- 1984
- Status
- ongoing
- Last checked
Start here: The Hunt for Red October (1984) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Hunt for Red October
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Hunt for Red October - Book 2:
Patriot Games
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Patriot Games - Book 3:
The Cardinal of the Kremlin
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cardinal of the Kremlin - Book 4:
Clear and Present Danger
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Clear and Present Danger - Book 5:
The Sum of All Fears
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sum of All Fears - Book 6:
Without Remorse
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Without Remorse - Book 7:
Debt of Honor
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Debt of Honor - Book 8:
Executive Orders
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Executive Orders - Book 9:
Rainbow Six
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rainbow Six - Book 10:
The Bear and the Dragon
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bear and the Dragon - Book 11:
Red Rabbit
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Red Rabbit - Book 12:
The Teeth of the Tiger
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Teeth of the Tiger - Book 13:
Dead or Alive
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead or Alive - Book 14:
Locked On
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Locked On - Book 15:
Threat Vector
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Threat Vector - Book 16:
Command Authority
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Command Authority - Book 17:
Support and Defend
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Support and Defend - Book 18:
Full Force and Effect
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Full Force and Effect - Book 19:
Under Fire
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Under Fire - Book 20:
Commander in Chief
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Commander in Chief - Book 21:
Duty and Honor
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Duty and Honor - Book 22:
True Faith and Allegiance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of True Faith and Allegiance - Book 23:
Point of Contact
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Point of Contact - Book 24:
Power and Empire
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Power and Empire - Book 25:
Line of Sight
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Line of Sight - Book 26:
Oath of Office
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Oath of Office - Book 27:
Enemy Contact
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Enemy Contact - Book 28:
Code of Honor
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Code of Honor - Book 29:
Firing Point
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Firing Point - Book 30:
Shadow of the Dragon
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shadow of the Dragon - Book 31:
Target Acquired
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Target Acquired - Book 32:
Chain of Command
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Chain of Command - Book 33:
Zero Hour
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Zero Hour - Book 34:
Red Winter
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Red Winter - Book 35:
Flash Point
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Flash Point - Book 36:
Weapons Grade
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Weapons Grade - Book 37:
Command and Control
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Command and Control - Book 38:
Act of Defiance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Act of Defiance - Book 39:
Shadow State
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shadow State - Book 40:
Defense Protocol
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Defense Protocol - Book 41:
Line of Demarcation
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Line of Demarcation - Book 42:
Terminal Velocity
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Terminal Velocity - Book 43:
Executive Power
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Executive Power - Book 44:
Rules of Engagement
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rules of Engagement - Book 45:
The Coldest War
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Coldest War
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
Without Remorse
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Without Remorse - Book 2:
Patriot Games
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Patriot Games - Book 3:
Red Rabbit
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Red Rabbit - Book 4:
The Hunt for Red October
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Hunt for Red October - Book 5:
The Cardinal of the Kremlin
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cardinal of the Kremlin - Book 6:
Clear and Present Danger
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Clear and Present Danger - Book 7:
The Sum of All Fears
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sum of All Fears - Book 8:
Debt of Honor
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Debt of Honor - Book 9:
Executive Orders
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Executive Orders - Book 10:
Rainbow Six
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rainbow Six - Book 11:
The Bear and the Dragon
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bear and the Dragon - Book 12:
The Teeth of the Tiger
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Teeth of the Tiger - Book 13:
Dead or Alive
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead or Alive - Book 14:
Locked On
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Locked On - Book 15:
Threat Vector
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Threat Vector - Book 16:
Command Authority
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Command Authority - Book 17:
Support and Defend
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Support and Defend - Book 18:
Full Force and Effect
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Full Force and Effect - Book 19:
Under Fire
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Under Fire - Book 20:
Commander in Chief
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Commander in Chief - Book 21:
Duty and Honor
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Duty and Honor - Book 22:
True Faith and Allegiance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of True Faith and Allegiance - Book 23:
Point of Contact
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Point of Contact - Book 24:
Power and Empire
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Power and Empire - Book 25:
Line of Sight
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Line of Sight - Book 26:
Oath of Office
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Oath of Office - Book 27:
Enemy Contact
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Enemy Contact - Book 28:
Code of Honor
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Code of Honor - Book 29:
Firing Point
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Firing Point - Book 30:
Shadow of the Dragon
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shadow of the Dragon - Book 31:
Target Acquired
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Target Acquired - Book 32:
Chain of Command
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Chain of Command - Book 33:
Zero Hour
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Zero Hour - Book 34:
Red Winter
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Red Winter - Book 35:
Flash Point
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Flash Point - Book 36:
Weapons Grade
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Weapons Grade - Book 37:
Command and Control
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Command and Control - Book 38:
Act of Defiance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Act of Defiance - Book 39:
Shadow State
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shadow State - Book 40:
Defense Protocol
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Defense Protocol - Book 41:
Line of Demarcation
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Line of Demarcation - Book 42:
Terminal Velocity
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Terminal Velocity - Book 43:
Executive Power
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Executive Power - Book 44:
Rules of Engagement
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rules of Engagement - Book 45:
The Coldest War
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Coldest War
About the Jack Ryan series
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 unofficial Pentagon-adjacent reading. After Clancy's death in 2013, Penguin Random House kept the universe going through a rotating slate of continuation authors (Mark Greaney, Marc Cameron, Mike Maden, Don Bentley, M.P. Woodward and others), branding every book "A Jack Ryan Novel" whether President Ryan, his son Jack Ryan Jr., or CIA operative John Clark is doing the legwork.
That makes this less a single continuous story than a shared universe with President Ryan as its institutional anchor — Jack Ryan Jr.'s Campus-based spy missions and his father's Oval Office plotlines run as parallel, occasionally intersecting threads. It's for readers who want military-grade technical detail and great-power conflict rather than character-driven intimacy, and who don't mind a series that's really an imprint sustained by several different writers rather than one author's singular vision.
How to read this series
Publication order is the practical default, since this is what the "Jack Ryan Novel" branding follows and what most editions are numbered by. Tom Clancy's original run has a well-known chronological quirk: Without Remorse is a prequel about John Clark's origin set years before The Hunt for Red October, and Patriot Games and Red Rabbit are also set earlier in Ryan's career than their publication dates suggest — readers who want Ryan's life story in order should read those three before The Hunt for Red October.
Beyond Clancy's twelve solo novels (through The Teeth of the Tiger, 2003), the universe splits into multiple authors writing concurrently, some (Greaney, Cameron, Woodward, Larsen) centred on President Ryan and the CIA's John Clark/Domingo Chavez team, others (Blackwood, Maden, Bentley) on Jack Ryan Jr. and The Campus. Publication order keeps the political timeline (who's president, who's married, who's died) consistent across authors, which is the main reason to stick with it rather than hunt for a strict in-story chronology that the continuation authors don't consistently maintain.
Frequently asked questions
How many Jack Ryan books are there?
45, from The Hunt for Red October (1984) to The Coldest War (November 2026), across Tom Clancy and eight continuation authors. This excludes Clancy's standalone Against All Enemies (2011), which is not part of the Jack Ryan series despite the shared branding.
What order should I read the Jack Ryan books in?
Publication order for the whole run. If you only want Clancy's original twelve solo novels in story chronology, read Without Remorse, Patriot Games and Red Rabbit before The Hunt for Red October; everything from Rainbow Six onward follows publication order either way.
Who writes the Jack Ryan books now?
Tom Clancy wrote the first twelve solo (1984-2003) and co-wrote three more before his death in 2013. Since then Mark Greaney, Marc Cameron, Mike Maden, Grant Blackwood, Don Bentley, Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson, M.P. Woodward and Ward Larsen have each contributed, usually alternating between the President Ryan and Jack Ryan Jr. storylines.
What's the difference between the Jack Ryan books and the Jack Ryan Jr. books?
They're published as one continuous numbered series, but roughly half the entries since 2014 follow President Jack Ryan and CIA officer John Clark, while the others follow his son Jack Ryan Jr. and The Campus. Both threads share the same political timeline.
What is the next Jack Ryan book?
The Coldest War by M.P. Woodward, due 24 November 2026, in which a Russian plan to open an Arctic shipping passage threatens President Ryan.
Reading order last verified .