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Series · techno-thriller
Tom Clancy's Power Plays
The Tom Clancy's Power Plays series by Tom Clancy has 8 known books (8 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Politika (1997). Tom Clancy wrote the series; books 1-8 were ghostwritten by Jerome Preisler.
- Books
- 8 known books (8 novels)
- Published
- 8
- First published
- 1997
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Thriller, Science Fiction
- Last checked
Start here: Politika (1997) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Politika
Politika came out in 1997 at 384 pages, a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler. It is where Tom Clancy's Power Plays begins. ruthless.com follows it.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Politika - Book 2:
ruthless.com
ruthless.com is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler, running at 368 pages in 1998. It sits at #2 in Tom Clancy's Power Plays's reading order. It picks up after Politika and hands off to Shadow Watch.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of ruthless.com - Book 3:
Shadow Watch
Shadow Watch, published in 1999 at 368 pages, is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler. It sits at #3 in Tom Clancy's Power Plays's reading order. It picks up after ruthless.com and hands off to Bio-Strike.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shadow Watch - Book 4:
Bio-Strike
Bio-Strike, published in 2000 at 464 pages, is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler. It holds position #4 in Tom Clancy's Power Plays. Reading order runs Shadow Watch to this book to Cold War.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bio-Strike - Book 5:
Cold War
Cold War is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler, in 2001 at 337 pages. It is entry #5 in Tom Clancy's Power Plays. It picks up after Bio-Strike and hands off to Cutting Edge.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Cold War - Book 6:
Cutting Edge
Cutting Edge is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler, running at 421 pages in 2002. It holds position #6 in Tom Clancy's Power Plays. It sits between Cold War and Zero Hour.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Cutting Edge - Book 7:
Zero Hour
Zero Hour is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler, running at 337 pages in 2003. It sits at #7 in Tom Clancy's Power Plays's reading order. Cutting Edge comes before it, Wild Card after.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Zero Hour - Book 8:
Wild Card
Wild Card, published in 2004 at 335 pages, is a novel credited to ghostwriter Jerome Preisler. It is the most recent entry in Tom Clancy's Power Plays. It follows Zero Hour.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wild Card
About the Tom Clancy's Power Plays series
Power Plays swaps the government agencies of Clancy's other franchises for the private sector: Roger Gordian is the founder and CEO of UpLink International, a Silicon Valley satellite-and-telecommunications giant whose reach into the developing world makes him a de facto player in geopolitics whether he wants to be or not. When UpLink's people, technology or interests come under threat -- corporate sabotage, bioweapons, an African warlord, a cyberattack targeting the world's financial infrastructure -- Gordian turns to Sword, an in-house crisis-response team built from former intelligence and special-operations veterans who operate with the resources of a nation-state but answer to a corporate boardroom rather than the White House.
Created by Tom Clancy and prolific anthologist-packager Martin H. Greenberg, every entry was written by Jerome Preisler, who kept the series' focus squarely on the collision between global business and global security -- industrial espionage, satellite warfare, bioterrorism aimed at agriculture, financial-system attacks -- during a period (1997-2004) when techno-thrillers were reckoning with the internet's arrival as a genuine battlefield. The result reads like Clancy's own work scaled down to boardroom stakes and private muscle: still geopolitically engaged, but narrower in cast and briskly paced across eight novels that never outstayed a five-hundred-page welcome.
Frequently asked questions
Who writes the Tom Clancy's Power Plays series?
Tom Clancy wrote the series; books 1-8 were ghostwritten by Jerome Preisler.
How many Tom Clancy's Power Plays books are there?
Eight, from Politika (1997) to Wild Card (2004). Some retail listings describe the series as having 'nine novels', but no ninth title appears in any bibliography, publisher catalogue or ISBN registry checked for this entry, so it's treated here as an unverified error rather than a real missing book.
Did Tom Clancy write the Power Plays books?
No. Clancy and packager Martin H. Greenberg created the series concept, but every novel was written by Jerome Preisler, credited on the cover under the Tom Clancy brand.
What order should I read the Power Plays books in?
Publication order, starting with Politika (1997). Roger Gordian's UpLink International and his Sword crisis team develop across the series, so sequence matters more here than in some of Clancy's other multi-author franchises.
Is Power Plays connected to Jack Ryan, Op-Center or Net Force?
No. It's a separate Tom Clancy-branded universe centred on a private technology company rather than a government agency, with no shared characters across any of those franchises.
Is the Power Plays series finished?
Yes, functionally. No new entry has been published or announced since Wild Card (2004), over two decades ago, so it's treated as completed rather than merely dormant.
If you like the Tom Clancy's Power Plays series
Reading order last verified .