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Tom Clancy

Tom Clancy (Tom Clancy, 1947–2013) — a renowned American writer, a "master of bestsellers" in the genre of military-political thriller and gripping fiction. Creator of the expansive literary cycle about Jack Ryan, whose novel "Threat Vector" (Pravo ostatochnoho rishennya, 2012) prophetically depicted the russian seizure of Crimea and full-scale aggression against Ukraine several years before the real events of 2014.

Overview

Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. is considered one of the founders and most prominent representatives of the "techno-thriller" genre. Born in 1947 in Baltimore (Maryland). Because of poor eyesight he could not build a military career, yet his fascination with the military, analysis, and weaponry is reflected in his detailed techno-tactical and political prose. His debut novel "The Hunt for Red October" (Poluvannya na "Chervonyy zhovten", 1984), published when he was 37, became a worldwide bestseller and launched the series about Jack Ryan — a CIA analyst who later becomes President of the United States.

A special place in Clancy's work is occupied by the novel "Threat Vector" (Pravo ostatochnoho rishennya, 2012, co-authored with Mike Graney). In this work the writer incredibly accurately predicted the key elements of the russian aggression of 2014: hybrid instigation of interethnic hostility, the use of paid skinheads and provocateurs, FSB special units in civilian clothes, the elimination of pro-russian and opposition figures, the forceful seizure of Crimea, and the offensive into the Donbas with the aim of reaching Kyiv.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Biography and career (1947–2013): born in Baltimore, dreamed of military service, but due to his visual impairment devoted himself to literature. The debut "The Hunt for Red October" brought worldwide fame and launched the Jack Ryan cycle. Many works of the series ("Patriot Games" (Ihry patriotiv), "The Sum of All Fears" (Tsina strakhu), "Clear and Present Danger" (Pryama ta yavna zahroza)) were adapted into films in Hollywood.
  • The Jack Ryan series: Clancy's central epic, in which the protagonist rises from CIA analyst to President of the United States. The series is distinguished by its realistic portrayal of geopolitics, intelligence work, and modern weaponry.
  • The novel "Threat Vector" (Pravo ostatochnoho rishennya, 2012): a novel written with co-author Mike Graney, which foretold the annexation of Crimea by the russian federation and the offensive into eastern Ukraine.
  • The model of russian aggression in the work:
  • Revanchist leadership of the rf: the President of russia, Volodin (a former Chekist), seeks the restoration of the USSR and removes any obstacles or witnesses (in particular, he kills the head of the SVR Biryukov, the retired FSB officer Golovko with the help of radioactive polonium, as well as the pro-russian politician in the Verkhovna Rada, Oksana Zuyeva).
  • Destabilization and chaos in Kyiv and Crimea: the FSB, through the criminal authority Hlib Rizany (a native of Dzhankoi), fuels interethnic hostility, plants paid activists in Kyiv, and organizes skinhead attacks on Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in Sevastopol.
  • The seizure of Crimea and the CIA operation: the CIA "Campus" unit in Sevastopol clashes with prepared FSB militants disguised as civilians. President Ryan directs aviation (MV-22 from Poland and F-16 from Turkey) to evacuate Americans from the secret facility "Mayak" (Lighthouse).
  • Full-scale offensive and finale: russia occupies Crimea and begins an offensive into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, heading for Kyiv. However, the aggression is halted by kompromat on the FSB leadership (Roman Talanov) regarding the embezzlement of 200 million dollars of "party gold." Volodin retreats from eastern Ukraine, but Crimea remains under russian occupation.
  • Author's assessment and analysis: the work emphasizes that neglect of defense capability and the groundless reduction of the army inevitably lead to the loss of territory.
  • Crimea in the Works of Foreign Literature: Jack Ryan Saves Ukraine — an article by Valerii Verkhovsky in the newspaper "Krymska svitlytsia" (2018, No. 11), the principal source of information about Tom Clancy and the novel "Threat Vector."
  • Andrii Shchekun — the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Krymska svitlytsia."
  • Valerii Verkhovsky — a writer and journalist, author of the study on the depiction of Crimea in the works of Tom Clancy.
  • Dzhankoi — a city in northern Crimea, the hometown of the novel's character Hlib Rizany.
  • Sevastopol — a city in Crimea where, according to the novel's plot, the CIA facility "Mayak" (Lighthouse) is located and armed clashes take place.
  • Black Sea Fleet — a naval formation whose zone of influence is the setting for the events of the novel.
  • Beryl Bainbridge — an article in the same rubric about the depiction of Crimea in foreign literature.
  • Brian Garfield — an article in the same rubric about the American writer and his novel with a Crimean plot.
  • Harold Lamb — an article in the same rubric about the American writer and the Cossack-Crimean cycle.
  • Jasper Fforde — an article in the same rubric about the Welsh science-fiction writer and the Crimean plot.
  • Jules Verne and Crimea — an article about the depiction of Crimea in the work of the French writer Jules Verne.
  • Colleen McCullough — an article in the same rubric about the Australian writer.
  • Louis Boussenard — an article in the same rubric about the French writer.
  • Mark Twain — an article in the same rubric about the American writer.
  • Michael Moorcock — an article in the same rubric about the British science-fiction writer.