Tom Clancy
 We have had a lot of questions since the author's untimely death about which Tom Clancy signed books and first edition titles are the most collectible.
His first four are by all accounts the most desirable, simply due to their scarceness.
The Hunt for Red October,
his first title, had a very small run published by the Naval Institute
Press. This is the book that launched Clancy's writing career, and
introduced us to his most enduring character, Jack Ryan. Collectible
first editions are now bringing as much as $3000.
His second book,
Red Storm Rising, is one of
my favorites. It was largely written by Larry Bond, and is Clancy's
only stand-alone thriller. All of his other novels are in someway
related to Jack Ryan. A Tom Clancy collectible first edition will cost about $75.
His third novel,
Patriot Games, takes Jack
Ryan to the UK, where he is caught by chance in a terrorist attack and
ends up saving the life of the future King of England. IRA terrorists
face down Jack and the Prince of Wales in a finale that is really
far-fetched, but nevertheless quite suspenseful. You'll want to find a copy for your Tom Clancy book collection with the "errata sheet" laid-in. It explains some of the errors in
the book. A copy can cost as much as $150.
The fourth Clancy book,
The Cardinal of the Kremlin, take us into Soviet Russia where the personal aide to the Soviet Minister of Defense, a national war hero seeks to defect to the US. Jack Ryan helps him, codename "Cardinal" escape. A copy is about $50.
After these four, you can pretty much take your pick for your Tom Clancy book collection. After The Cardinal Clancy's popularity was at such a level that first edition runs were massive, so nice copies are plentiful and cheap.
The last book written by Clancy was in 2003, Teeth of the Tiger. Seven years pass before another Clancy title is released.
Dead or Alive,
written by Grant Blackwood, was published in 2010, and spent along time
at the top of the NY Times list. Blackwood, writing as David Michaels,
also penned several of Clancy's paperback thrillers.
In 2011 Against All Enemies was released, this one written by Peter Telep. A second title, Search and Destroy by Telep was supposed to follow in 2012, but was cancelled. Telep also wrote some of Clancy's paperback releases.
In 2011 Clancy began working with Mark Greaney, who began the relationship with Clancy in 2011 by writing Locked On. That was followed in 2012 by Threat Vector, and the last book, Command Authority in December 2013.
What
the future holds for Clancy's characters, and legacy is yet to be
written, but a safe bet is that we have not heard the last of Jack Ryan.
John
|
Read articles about book collecting
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Facebook
Watch our Videos