The Hunt for Red October... Red Storm Rising... Patriot Games... The Cardinal of the Kremlin... Tom Clancy's novels now total, remarkably, over 15 million copies in print, and The Cardinal of the Kremlin was hailed by reviewers as his finest novel yet.  "Terrific characters... the authentic feel of espionage... a superlative rendering of modern warfare... Clancy delivers," wrote Bob Woodward in The Washington Post.

And now Clancy delivers again, with a novel as explosive as today's headlines.

At what point does criminal activity threaten national security?  When can a nation respond to it as to an enemy?  These are the questions Jack Ryan must consider when he hears the awful news: Colombian drug lords, tired of being harassed by U.S. law enforcement agents, have assassinated three high American officials, and that is just the beginning.  The message is clear:  Leave us alone.

But they have pushed too far.  Someone steps quietly over the line they have drawn, deploying covert-action teams in Colombia.  At home, too, men armed with the most sophisticated tools their country can devise begin to take the fight to the enemy.  But does anyone know who the real enemy is, and how much action is too much?  Who is doing what?  Which line has been crossed?  Ryan and his "dark side," a shadowy field officer known only as Mr. Clark, must find out.  They expect danger from without -- but the danger from within may be the greatest of all.

As Clancy takes us through the twists and turns of Clear and Present Danger, he blends the exceptional realism and authenticity that are his hallmarks with intricate plotting, knife-edge suspense, and a remarkable cast of characters.  This is Clancy at his very best -- and that is "the best there is."