#25 Jack Ryan Books by Tom Clancy
This is a broad range of books that officially stretch 21 books. However, there is a notable dropoff in quality at one specific book. So I will go with the two best that bookend so many of the other quality books.
The Hunt for Red October
\The book begins with the younger Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) that, so many come to know in the Hunt for Red October. As a CIA office worm, he is drawn into the world of a field agent mostly by chance. We have all seen the movies, and TV shows. The movies make it seem as Jack Ryan does it all. Yet, the genius of the novel is that it is a team. There are many many people behind the scenes in the military, and intelligence agencies that make it all happen.
So he gets info, speaks with friends and other agents, and develops a working thesis of what is going on. This is at the height of the Reagan Cold War, you are a few years before the walls will come tumbling down. Russia has made a nearly silent submarine, that will be masterful as a first strike weapon. In that process they give command to their greatest sub commander, Sean Connery,….. er no. It is actually Marco Ramius. He has picked his crew, and the officers plan to defect and deliver the boat to the Americans.
He sends a letter to his commander of what is going to do, and heads to the deep ocean. Furthermore, he has burned the bridges behind him, and the Soviets go hunting him. Enough clues are left out there that Jack Ryan comes to the conclusion that the sub is defecting. However, so many others believe that he is going rouge and going to launch the nukes at the USA on its own.
So a mad dash as he is given the authority to check if the defection is real, and most of the US and Soviet navies are out to sink it. So many people are gathering info along the way.
The best middle books in the series
You then start into a chain of Jack Ryan Books. The movies starring Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine. Like the earlier novels, none of these books are like the movies. The central core, yes, but not really.
The best of these books are the Sum of All Fears and Clear and Present Danger. You see Jack Ryan go from a CIA office worker to slowly evolve into a skilled field agent, and then moving up the leadership in the CIA. The President comes to trust him, and so does congress. They love him and his skill. These books lead to the single best book in the series.
Executive Orders.
This book is almost the best book that he wrote. In the book before this, Jack uncovers serious issues with the Vice President, and he is asked to resign, and does Jack is asked to fill the role of Vice President. The Senate loves him, and he is quickly approved to fill out the last 18 months of the term.
As he was traveling to the Capitol building to be sworn in, a terrorist pilot crashes a cargo plane into the capitol building. Who was in there? The president, justices, senators, department heads and so many more of the governor’s leadership.
In a flash, he finds himself at the head of a decapitated country. It can make no laws or deal with what comes. Iran, India, China, domestic militiamen all make a move. You see terrorists try to kill Jacks family, and a biological Ebola attack launched on the US.
In the middle of this he is in a job that he never wanted and politics are kicking in. There are always people who want to be in power.
Conclusion
I have loved these books for the technical detail. He will stop in the middle of a sequence to explain the weapons systems, and tactics. He explains the weakness and failure rates of systems. I think often we are tols to accept that they always work, or always fail. Usually ours always works, and the enemies always fails. In reality it is in the middle.
The characters also do not want to be there. They know it is a job, and they are doing their job, but they dont want to be there.
If you want to, read executive orders as a stand alone. There is enough explanation in the books that you do not have to read them all. I have only filled in holes later in my life from the books I read as a college student.