Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan character first appeared in his 1984 novel The Hunt for Red October before being played by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck on the silver screen. Now Jack Ryan is a successful Amazon Prime series. If you've read the books and seen the movies and the Prime series, it's time to dive deeper into the world of spies and espionage. Here are 10 books fans of Jack Ryan will also enjoy.
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Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series is known to deliver thrills similar to Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books, and Executive Power is a great example. After a Navy SEAL team is ambushed in the Philippines, Rapp detects a leak within the U.S. State Department. As full of intrigue as it is non-stop action, Executive Power wraps
an examination of political power in a spy thriller like the best Jack Ryan books do. Read here.
Daniel Silva has written a long list of bestselling spy stories, but perhaps his best is The Kill Artist, the first in his Gabriel Allon series. Allon starts the book on the run from his past, living a quiet life as a restorer of priceless artworks. But as is the case in many great espionage thrillers, Allon gets called back into the game
"one last time." He's partnered with an agent posing as a beautiful French model, and the duo races to stop a terrorist on a killing spree. The Kill Artist is a great page-turner full of twists and turns. Read here.
One of the best things about the Jack Ryan books is the inside look at Washington, D.C. Informed by Clancy's real-life experiences, the level of authenticity he brought to characters and situations made his stories all the more suspenseful. Margaret Truman's novels have that same feeling, with
Murder in Georgetown particularly effective. Reporter Joe Potamos is hot on the case of a senator’s daughter found dead in Washington's C&O Canal. This book is very easy to get wrapped up in, and you don't want it to end. Read here.
Readers who like the peek into CIA operations that Jack Ryan offers will enjoy Brad Taylor's Pike Logan series. Taylor, a former Delta Force operator, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the 17 Logan adventures he's written so far. The first in the series, One Rough Man, is a quick-paced military thriller
so good that you'll want to start the next book right away. Read here.
Before Tom Clancy, there was John le Carré. His books about spy extraordinaire George Smiley are well-known as classics, particularly Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But the origin of Smiley is actually in this book, a quick and astounding thriller. Clocking in at around 150 pages in most editions, Call for the Dead wastes no
space and is jam-packed with action, adventure, and a very dour British take on the role of a spy. Essential reading for all fans of the spy thriller genre. Read here.
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Clear by Fire is the first in the Search and Destroy Thriller series by Joshua Hood, a decorated combat veteran and former member of the 82nd Airborne Division. Hood's experience brings authenticity to the story of American soldier Mason Kane. A member of the Anvil Program, a unit of black-ops soldiers, Kane
refuses an order with which he can't agree. This makes him a target of both his colleagues and the U.S. government. Labeled a terrorist, he has to unravel a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the President's inner circle to gain his freedom. Riveting and exciting, Clear by Fire is a page-turner in the truest sense. Watch here.
The first book in the Unsanctioned Asset series, Brad Lee's A Team of One introduces us to former Navy SEAL "Axe" Southmark. Called out of retirement at the behest of the President and teamed up with the President's niece, Axe discovers a plot to bomb New York City. It seems the plan is being aided by a
traitor inside the top levels of government. Exhilarating in ways similar to the best Jack Ryan stories, A Team of One benefits from Lee's gift for creating realistic and believable characters. Read here.
Jason Kasper has been mentioned by readers and critics as potentially the next Tom Clancy. His time in the U.S. Army as a Green Beret captain gave him a wealth of experience to turn into compelling stories, and The Enemies of My Country backs this up. Our hero is David Rivers, an elite assassin who
discovers a plot to attack America. The target isn't just anywhere in America — it's his hometown in Virginia. This is a tightly paced and controlled military thriller. Read here.
Frederick Forsyth is a well-known name in the world of espionage thrillers, thanks to classics like The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File. The Fox usually isn't mentioned simultaneously with those works, but it's just as good and worth seeking out. Briskly paced and written in Forsyth's unmistakable style,
The Fox concerns former British Secret Intelligence Service Chief Adrian Weston, who is called back into duty after a seemingly impossible cyberattack has taken down the defenses of major Western powers. A race against time, The Fox is a compulsive page-turner. Read here.
Although he writes in a different genre than Tom Clancy did, the former lawyer John Grisham is still a recommended author for fans of the Jack Ryan series. Both Clancy and Grisham rose to prominence in the 1980s after gaining experience in their respective fields. And both writers are masters of crafting
fiction that feels real, with behind-the-scenes insights peppered throughout their books. One of the best examples of this is Rogue Lawyer. Our protagonist, attorney Sebastian Rudd, takes on cases that other lawyers won't. His office is a bulletproof van, giving you some idea of his clientele. This is both a thriller and a thought-provoking look at who is entitled to justice in America. Read here
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Bonus Picks! Watch and Listen to These Titles Similar to the Jack Ryan Series
Fans of the Jack Ryan show on Amazon Prime should listen to The Langley Files podcast. Through podcast episodes with engaging guests, the show offers a peek into the notoriously secretive CIA. The show's goal is to share insight into the agency's core mission. As such, it's a rare look into the real world of spies.
The movie adaptation of the earliest chronological story in the Jack Ryan universe is also an Amazon Prime Video production and is recommended viewing for all fans of the series. Watch here.
There you have it! If you've read the books and seen the movies and the Prime series, it's time to dive deeper into the world of spies and espionage. Here are 10 books fans of Jack Ryan will also enjoy.
