Tom Clancy Writes Again!

I've enjoyed Tom Clancy's novels and his Jack Ryan CIA character for more years than I care to relate...He has been on sort of a hiatus from his regular novels but is returning this year with his new novel Dead or Alive due this December.

Matthew Flamm, writing for Crain's New York Business dot com, reports on Mr Clancy's anticipated return:

Penguin Group will publish the blockbuster author's first hardcover novel in seven years in December.

Christmas has come early for Penguin Group (USA). Tom Clancy, the publisher's longtime blockbuster author, will soon be putting out his first hardcover novel in seven years.

Dead or Alive will hit book stores December 7 with a first printing of 1.8 million copies, Penguin announced Wednesday. The novel, about present day terrorism, brings together the author's best known characters, including CIA veteran Jack Ryan.

Mr. Clancy has collaborated on the book with Grant Blackwood, a Navy veteran and author of a series of military thrillers.

The author of 13 No. 1 New York Times best sellers, including The Hunt for Red October and The Teeth of the Tiger, Mr. Clancy was once a mainstay of Penguin's G.P. Putnam's Sons imprint. In recent years he has been producing branded lines of paperback originals, like Tom Clancy's Net Force series, which are written by other writers.

He has also been developing videogames. Penguin is hoping that Mr. Clancy's book reading audience will expand to include young gamers.

“There are a lot of kids who only know him from the video games,” said Putnam President Ivan Held. “They'll come to this and find it ripped from the headlines.”