{ "id": "epbhxmq0ba", "slug": "clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba", "title": "Clear and Present Danger", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.literature", "label": "Literature and written works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.literature" }, { "id": "culture.literature.works", "label": "Creative written works and worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.literature.works" }, { "id": "culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction", "label": "Prose fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction" }, { "id": "culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series", "label": "Novel series and sagas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series" }, { "id": "culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series.series-crime-thriller", "label": "Crime, mystery, and thriller novel series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series.series-crime-thriller" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Novel series and sagas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.literature", "label": "Literature and written works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.literature" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works", "label": "Creative written works and worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction", "label": "Prose fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series", "label": "Novel series and sagas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Clear and Present Danger: Tom Clancy's 1989 Putnam technothriller, a Jack Ryan series novel (cataloged as #6) about a covert US war against Colombian drug cartels, adapted as the 1994 Harrison Ford film.", "snippet": "Clear and Present Danger: Tom Clancy's 1989 Putnam technothriller, a Jack Ryan series novel (cataloged as #6) about a covert US war against Colombian drug cartels, adapted as the 1994 Harrison Ford film.", "node": "culture.literature.works.works.prose-fiction.series.series-crime-thriller", "markdown": "# Clear and Present Danger\n\n**Clear and Present Danger** is a technothriller by [Tom Clancy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-clancy), published by G. P. Putnam's Sons of New York in 1989, in which CIA figure Jack Ryan is drawn into a covert war between the United States and a Colombian drug cartel.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) • [2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html) The publisher markets it as a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller, and it was Clancy's fifth number-one bestseller by HarperCollins's count.[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/) • [4](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/) Its position in the Jack Ryan series is cataloged differently by different sources: WorldCat lists it as number 6 in the Jack Ryan Universe series, while [HarperCollins](https://www.edgepedia.org/harpercollins) counts it as the fifth bestseller rather than the fifth novel.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) • [4](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| First edition | Putnam, New York, ©1989; 656 pages, 24 cm; ISBN 0399134409[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) • [2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html) |\n| Premise | Colombian drug lords assassinate the US ambassador and the visiting head of the FBI, triggering a covert American response that goes wrong[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/) |\n| Series placement | Number 6 in the Jack Ryan Universe per WorldCat; called Clancy's fifth No 1 bestseller by HarperCollins[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) • [4](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/) |\n| Contemporary criticism | Kirkus found the book so detailed that Ryan does not appear until about 100 pages into a roughly 500-page pre-publication copy[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/) |\n| Film adaptation | 1994 Paramount film, 144 minutes, PG-13, starring Harrison Ford and Willem Dafoe; Los Angeles opening 3 August 1994[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59763-CLEAR-AND-PRESENT-DANGER) • [7](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/clear-and-present-danger) |\n| Recent edition | Little, Brown Book Group reissue, July 20, 2023, 400 pages, ISBN 9781408728062[8](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=fz19EAAAQBAJ) |\n\n## Plot summary\n\nThe story begins with an attack meant as a message. Colombian drug lords, tired of being harassed by US law enforcement, assassinate the American ambassador and the visiting head of the FBI; their message, in HarperCollins's synopsis, is \"leave us alone.\"[4](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/) • [3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/) The American government answers with a covert response that the official synopsis describes as going wrong.[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/)\n\nThe covert war itself is fought with the high-tech weaponry characteristic of Clancy's fiction. In the New York Times review's summary, a team of Army commandos assassinates workers at coca-processing sites in the Colombian jungle while Navy smart bombs destroy the haciendas of the Medellín cocaine cartel, killing women and children along with the drug lords.[2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html) Kirkus's pre-publication summary adds that America secretly invades Colombia, bombs Medellín, and that the drug lords in turn assassinate the US attorney general.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/)\n\n**Ryan's investigation.** Jack Ryan, newly named Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA, should be privy to the operation in Colombia but has been left completely in the dark; with the help of CIA field officer John Clark, he sets out to learn what is really going on.[9](https://tomclancy.com/product/clear-and-present-danger) Ryan and Clark expect danger from outside the government, but the greatest danger of all may come from within.[4](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/) Kirkus describes interlocking subplots set in the White House, at sea, in the Rockies, in Medellín, and at Langley, with the drug lord advised by an ex-KGB operative who counterplots against the Americans.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/)\n\n## Background and context\n\nThe novel marks a shift in Clancy's subject matter. Kirkus noted that this time out the best-selling author swivels his guns away from his usual Russian targets and toward a nearly homegrown menace, the cocaine lords of Colombia.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/) The New York Times reviewer framed the book against the late-1980s escalation of American drug policy: the new President in the novel has gone far beyond [Nancy Reagan](https://www.edgepedia.org/nancy-reagan)'s \"Just say no,\" launching a covert war against the cartel with sophisticated weaponry, laser beams, and enormous firepower.[2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html)\n\nThe reviewer also flagged the book's moral texture: at first the reader might erroneously conclude that the author approves of the murderous and illegal activities depicted, an ambiguity the novel develops as the operation's costs accumulate.[2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html)\n\n## Characters and continuity\n\nRyan recurs from earlier Clancy novels as the series protagonist; Kirkus's review identifies him as the CIA-agent hero, veteran of three past Clancy novels.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/) John Clark, the CIA field officer, partners with Ryan on the investigation and is a central figure in the Colombia operation.[9](https://tomclancy.com/product/clear-and-present-danger) On the government side, Vice Adm. James Cutter, the President's national security adviser, is portrayed as a villainous figure who enables the covert operation.[2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html) Opposing the Americans is the drug lord advised by an ex-KGB operative.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/)\n\n## Publication and contemporary reception\n\nThe first edition ran 656 pages at $21.95, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1989.[2](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html) • [1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) WorldCat records multiple print bindings with ISBNs including 9780399134401, 9780425122129, 9780425122938, 9780425144374, and 9780451489821, the last of which is the current [Penguin Random House](https://www.edgepedia.org/penguin-random-house) paperback.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) • [3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/) A Thorndike-Magna large-print edition followed in 1990 at 1,140 pages.[10](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=-2fdNwd1TYEC)\n\nContemporary critics converged on the book's scale and density. Kirkus called it \"so complex, so intricately researched and detailed\" that Ryan does not appear until about 100 pages into the roughly 500-page pre-publication copy, and closed by calling it \"Dazzling macho-entertainment.\"[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/) The length criticism is relative to the published edition: Kirkus's figure describes the pre-publication copy, while the first edition ran 656 pages.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/) • [1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912)\n\n## By the numbers\n\nEdition lengths vary widely by format and market: 656 pages in the 1989 Putnam first edition, 816 pages in the HarperCollins Australia paperback reissued on 07/09/1994 at 22.99 AUD, 1,140 pages in the 1990 Thorndike-Magna large print, and 400 pages in the 2023 Little, Brown reissue.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912) • [4](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/) • [10](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=-2fdNwd1TYEC) • [8](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=fz19EAAAQBAJ) The 1994 film runs 144 minutes.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59763-CLEAR-AND-PRESENT-DANGER)\n\n## Film adaptation\n\nParamount released the film adaptation in 1994, directed as the third of the Clancy-based features and starring [Harrison Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/harrison-ford) in his second outing as Ryan after *[Patriot Games](https://www.edgepedia.org/patriot-games-film)* (1992), with [Willem Dafoe](https://www.edgepedia.org/willem-dafoe) as Clark.[7](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/clear-and-present-danger) • [6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59763-CLEAR-AND-PRESENT-DANGER) The American Film Institute catalog records a 144-minute, PG-13 drama with a Los Angeles opening on 3 August 1994 and a New York opening the week of 3 August 1994.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59763-CLEAR-AND-PRESENT-DANGER)\n\nThe film departs from the novel in several structural ways. The inciting murder is changed: instead of the novel's assassinations of the US ambassador and the FBI head, the film opens with the murder of a prominent US businessman and friend of the president who has been in league with the cartels.[11](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clear-and-present-danger-1200438316/) Ryan's position is adjusted so that he is acting CIA deputy director of intelligence due to the illness of his boss, played by [James Earl Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-earl-jones), rather than newly named to the post.[11](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clear-and-present-danger-1200438316/) The covert operation is run by national security adviser James Cutter ([Harris Yulin](https://www.edgepedia.org/harris-yulin)) and CIA hard-liner Robert Ritter ([Henry Czerny](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-czerny)); the secret paramilitary force they send into Colombia is captured and then abandoned by the President's lackeys, and Ryan rescues it with the renegade operative Clark.[11](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clear-and-present-danger-1200438316/) • [7](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/clear-and-present-danger) Dafoe's Clark leads Latino guerrilla fighters against the drug kingpin Ernesto Escobedo (Miguel Sandoval), whose lawyer and former Castro aide Felix Cortez is played by Joaquim de Almeida.[11](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clear-and-present-danger-1200438316/)\n\nVariety judged the film the most interesting of the first three Clancy adaptations for its complex plot, double-edged characters, and political relevance to recent history, while finding the final action scene anticlimactic.[11](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clear-and-present-danger-1200438316/)\n\n## Legacy and later editions\n\nThe novel has appeared in editions across multiple decades, with editions documented in 1989, 1990, 1994, and 2023. Penguin Random House currently lists the US paperback under ISBN 9780451489821, and the official Tom Clancy site carries tie-in branding for the Amazon series *Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan* starring [John Krasinski](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-krasinski).[3](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/) • [9](https://tomclancy.com/product/clear-and-present-danger) A Little, Brown Book Group reissue dated July 20, 2023 documents a UK edition; its back matter states that starting with *The Hunt for Red October*, all of Clancy's books hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, that seven of his novels were made into major motion pictures, and that Clancy died in 2013.[8](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=fz19EAAAQBAJ) Reader reviews quoted on the 2023 edition's page rate it among Clancy's best and prefer it to the film version.[8](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=fz19EAAAQBAJ)\n\nWithin the franchise, the novel stands as the installment that moved the series from Cold War adversaries to the drug war, and as the source of one of the three early Clancy films.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/) • [7](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/clear-and-present-danger)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Clear and present danger, WorldCat bibliographic record](https://search.worldcat.org/title/19845912?oclcNum=19845912)\n2. [Review of Clear and Present Danger, The New York Times, August 13, 1989](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/no-headline-771089.html)\n3. [Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291932/clear-and-present-danger-by-tom-clancy/)\n4. [Clear and Present Danger, HarperCollins Australia](https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006177302/clear-and-present-danger/)\n5. [Clear and Present Danger, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-clancy/clear-present-danger/)\n6. [Clear and Present Danger (1994), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59763-CLEAR-AND-PRESENT-DANGER)\n7. [Clear and Present Danger, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/clear-and-present-danger)\n8. [Clear and Present Danger, Tom Clancy, Little, Brown 2023 edition, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=fz19EAAAQBAJ)\n9. [Clear and Present Danger, official Tom Clancy site](https://tomclancy.com/product/clear-and-present-danger)\n10. [Clear and Present Danger, Thorndike-Magna large print 1990, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/Clear_and_Present_Danger.html?id=-2fdNwd1TYEC)\n11. [Review of Clear and Present Danger (1994), Variety](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clear-and-present-danger-1200438316/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Prose fiction › Novel series and sagas › Crime, mystery, and thriller novel series*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Clear and Present Danger\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Clear and Present Danger](https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba](https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Clear and Present Danger\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/clear-and-present-danger-epbhxmq0ba. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Clear and Present Danger: Tom Clancy's 1989 Putnam technothriller, a Jack Ryan series novel about a covert US war against Colombian drug cartels, adapted as the 1994 Harrison Ford film." }