Thirty years ago Tom Clancy was a Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had been an English major at Baltimore's Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October--the first of the phenomenally successful Jack Ryan novels--sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Timesbestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it -the perfect yarn.- From that day forward, Clancy established himself as an undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity, intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense. He passed away in October 2013. David Michaels is the author of two Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon novels and several Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell novels.