Most Popular Books by Stephen Coonts

Stephen Coonts'' bestelling novels takes readers into the heart of harrowing, pulse-pounding action, whether on land, on sea, or in the air. Now, this master of full-tilt, blockbuster suspense turns into a lush setting 90 miles from U.S. soil. In Cuba, Fidel Castro lies dying. Human sharks are circling. And one man has his finger on the trigger of a weapon that will change everything... Admiral Jake Grafton is overseeing a shipment of nerve gas being transferred for a top-secret U.S. stockpile at Guantanamo Bay. But a power struggle inside Cuba has ignited an explosive plot and turned a horrific new weapon on the U.S. Now, Jake must strap himself into the cockpit of a new generation of American aircraft and fly blind into the heart of an island that is about to blow--and take the whole world with it...

Captain Jake Grafton faces the duel threats of a determined assassin and a vicious drug lord, both intent on plunging the U.S. into chaos.

1973. The Vietnam war.

"From the master of the techno-thriller, a gripping tale of a new Russo-Japanese war"—and the international team of soldiers attempting to stop it ( People ). Four Japanese nationalists storm Tokyo''s imperial palace and behead the emperor. Their goal: to invade Russia and conquer oil-rich Siberia in order to dominate the globe. Soon the world explodes in war, as Japan, Russia and the United States go head-to-head in a struggle that threatens total destruction. Now three men from three different nations must meet their ultimate challenge: to fight as patriots in a war driven by greed and madness—and save the planet from nothing less than a full-scale nuclear attack.

“Move over Clancy! [Stephen] Coonts'' power is his use of real and immediate crisis, and human failings, topics crying for discussion and worthy of high drama.”—John Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy After flying A-6 Intruders in Vietnam and commanding an air wing in the Mediterranean, Jake Grafton is grounded. He draws assignment to the Pentagon where he takes on development of the navy''s new top-secret stealth attack plane—the A-12. At every turn, Jake encounters political and technical problems. Before long he learns of Minotaur, a mole hidden in the Pentagon who is funneling American defense secrets to the Russians. Who can he be? Jake sets out to find him.

A smash bestseller that spent over six months on the New York Times bestseller list, Flight of the Intruder became an instant classic. No one before or since ever captured the world of Navy carrier pilots with the gripping realism of Vietnam veteran Stephen Coonts, who lived the life he wrote about. More than a flying story, Flight of the Intruder is also one of the best novels ever written about the Vietnam experience. It''s all here—the flying, the dying, the blood and bombs and bullets, and the sheer joy—and terror—of life at full throttle. "Gripping...Smashing. — The Wall Street Journal Grazing the Vietnam treetops at night at just under the speed of sound, A-6 Intruder pilot Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton knows exactly how precarious life is. Landing on a heaving aircraft carrier, dodging missiles locked on his fighter, flying through clouds of flak—he knows each flight could be his last. Yet he straps himself into a cockpit every day. "Extraordinary!"— Tom Clancy Then a bullet kills his bombardier while they''re hitting another ''suspected'' truck depot. Jake wonders what his friend died for—and why? Hitting pointless targets selected by men piloting desks just doesn''t make sense. Maybe it''s time to do something worthwhile. Something that will make a difference... "Superbly written." — Washington Times Jake and his new bombardier, ice-cold Tiger Cole, are going to pick their own target and hit the enemy where it hurts. But to get there and back in one piece is going to take a lot of nerve, even more skill, and an incredible amount of raw courage. Before it''s over, they''re going to fly into hell.

While in Hong Kong investigating a political scandal for the U.S. government, Jake Grafton''s wife is kidnapped and he is pulled into the vortex of a high-tech civil war.

New York Times bestselling author Stephen Coonts brings the action close to home in this fast-paced military thriller, America Dispatched on a trial run, NASA''s SuperAegis satellite has been created as the foundation of an international antimissle defense system. But moments after dispatch, it vanishes. Rear Admiral Jake Grafton fears something worse than a grave malfunction--he suspects sabotage... The USS America--the world''s most technically advanced nuclear submarine--is launched on its maiden voyage. Then shortly after steaming out of harbor, the unthinkable happens. Pirated by terrorists, America disappears beneath the roiling waves of the Atlantic, its Tomahawk warheads aimed directly at the United States... An ingeniously calculated war has been waged--but the rouge enemy is far more insidious than Jake Grafton ever imagined. His mission: ferret out the core group responsible, overtake the stealth sub, and destroy it. But times is running out, and the race is on for Grafton to blow the covert operation out of the water before an entire nation is brought to its knees.

A riveting Vietnam War story--and one of the most dramatic in aviation history--told by a New York Times bestselling author and a prominent aviation historian Every war has its "bridge"--Old North Bridge at Concord, Burnside''s Bridge at Antietam, the railway bridge over Burma''s River Kwai, the bridge over Germany''s Rhine River at Remagen, and the bridges over Korea''s Toko Ri. In Vietnam it was the bridge at Thanh Hoa, called Dragon''s Jaw. For seven long years hundreds of young US airmen flew sortie after sortie against North Vietnam''s formidable and strategically important bridge, dodging a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft fire and enemy MiG planes. Many American airmen were shot down, killed, or captured and taken to the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" POW camp. But after each air attack, when the smoke cleared and the debris settled, the bridge stubbornly remained standing. For the North Vietnamese it became a symbol of their invincibility; for US war planners an obsession; for US airmen a testament to American mettle and valor. Using after-action reports, official records, and interviews with surviving pilots, as well as untapped Vietnamese sources, Dragon''s Jaw chronicles American efforts to destroy the bridge, strike by bloody strike, putting readers into the cockpits, under fire. The story of the Dragon''s Jaw is a story rich in bravery, courage, audacity, and sometimes luck, sometimes tragedy. The "bridge" story of Vietnam is an epic tale of war against a determined foe.

The New York Times–bestselling icon of the techno-aviation thriller takes to the skies in this memoir of a great American adventure in an open-cockpit biplane. It was a bird’s-eye view of America—and the trip of a lifetime for author Stephen Coonts and his fourteen-year-old son. But even for Coonts, who had clocked 1,600 hours as a naval aviator and was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross commendation, this was a first. He’d be flying closer to the earth than he ever had before. His big yellow wood-and-canvas bird was the Cannibal Queen, a Stearman open-cockpit biplane built in 1942. Destined for the scrap yard, it was rescued and restored for what Coonts would call his “Stearman summer.” On a clear June afternoon in 1991, Coonts and his son took off to see the country the same way the barnstormers flew their Jennys: with a map and a compass. Coonts followed highways, railroad lines, back roads, mountains, rivers, and landmarks. For the next three months, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, he touched down on the diverse landscapes of each of the forty-eight contiguous states to record the stories of the American countryside, its spirited people, and its rich history. Soaring from big cities to the heartland, experiencing everything from Bourbon Street jazz and small-town barbershop quartets to greasy spoons and backyard barbeques, the author of Flight of the Intruder and The Art of War captures not only the singular thrill of biplane aviation, but a nostalgia for the simple pleasures of an America thought lost and forgotten. Stephen Coonts found it, and in The Cannibal Queen he shares every exultant moment. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

NSA operative Charlie Dean attempts to locate a missing scientist specializing in germ warfare.

In his first solo case, burglar-turned-CIA agent Tommy Carmellini investigates a massacre with links to the U.S. government, a situation that causes him to wonder whom he can trust. By the author of America and The Flight of the Intruder. Unafraid to walk both sides of the law to attain his goals, CIA operative Tommy Carmellini is sent to post guard duty at a farmhouse in West Virginia. When he arrives, he finds the guards shot dead and a ruthless team of American commandos killing everyone in sight. Carmellini escapes in a hail of bullets with what seems to be the sole survivor-a stunningly attractive translator, who then steals his car and abandons him after a deadly mountain car chase. But someone else survived the massacre-someone who holds the answers to a deadly conspiracy. Catapulted into a life and death struggle, Tommy must employ all his savvy and skill just to stay alive. But to find out who is hunting him and why, he''ll need the help of retired Admiral Jake Grafton. Now they must learn to tell friend from foe as they fight their way through a poisonous wilderness of intrigue, all the way to a presidential convention in New York City-and to the surprising identity of someone standing on the verge of absolute power who has jeopardized the safety of the entire nation to prevent a dark secret from ever seeing the light of day.

The most daring -- and deadly -- terrorist plot of all time is about to unfold aboard the supercarrier USS United States. If it succeeds, the balance of nuclear power will tilt in favor of a remorseless Arab leader. And it looks as if no one can stop it - except navy "jet jock" Jake Grafton. "Cag " Grafton is one helluva pilot. His F-14 Tomcat is one helluva plane. But some of Jake''s crewmates have already vanished. A woman reporter who boarded the ship in Tangiers may not be who she claims to be. And Jake may have to disobey a direct order from the President himself for one spine-tingling, hair-raising Final Flight.

Together in Paris, CIA agent Tommy Carmellini and his boss Jake Grafton work to uncover the French intelligence service''s alleged secret agent among Al Queda and the intelligence he or she holds.

Carmellini is back after "The New York Times"-bestseller "The Traitor," in a plot involving a mysterious poisoning, a beautiful and complicated woman, and an attempt to destroy a brilliant terrorist mastermind.

When newly appointed CIA director Jake Grafton hears murmurings of a Chinese plot to attack the US and assassinations of upper level goverment officials occur, he must investigate the threat and stop China.

As the USSR collapses, thousands of nuclear warheads may end up in the wrong hands in this thriller from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of War. Jake Grafton has been promoted to deputy director of a new US intelligence agency—and the stakes of his commission are higher than ever before. With the Soviet Union on the brink of dissolution, a vast nuclear arsenal is suddenly ripe for the taking by mercenaries, rogue nations, and insane Russian nationalists. Grafton must stop them, and he may have to do it alone—because not everyone supposedly on his side wants him to succeed. From the “masterful storyteller” whose blockbuster tales of international suspense include Flight of the Intruder and Liars & Thieves, The Red Horseman is a startling vision of the apocalyptic danger that emerged at the end of the Cold War, a threat that still exists wherever weapons of mass destruction remain poorly secured. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.