Stephen Coonts

Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American thriller and suspense novelist.

Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town, and earned a B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968.[1] He entered the Navy upon graduation and went to flight school, earning his wings as a naval aviator in 1969. He flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. (His navigator-bombardier on his first cruise was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant, who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.)

After the war, Coonts served as a flight instructor for A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). After being honorably discharged from active duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as a lawyer for several oil and gas companies, pursuing his writing interests in his free time. He retired from the Naval Reserve after 21 years of service as a Commander.

Coonts began writing Flight of the Intruder in 1984, and it was published by the US Naval Institute Press in 1986. That book, based in part on his experiences as an A-6 pilot during the Vietnam War, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists, and later (1991) was made into a movie. This launched his career as a novelist, and he continued writing adventure-thrillers, most of them based on the main character from his first book, Jake Grafton. Coonts has also written several other series and stand-alone novels, but is best known for the Grafton books. In 1992, he was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at his alma mater, West Virginia University.[2][3] In 2014 West Virginia University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.

Today Coonts continues to write, having had sixteen New York Times bestsellers (out of 36 books). He lives in Colorado with his second wife, Deborah Jean.[4] He is divorced from romantic mystery novelist Deborah Coonts.

Bibliography

Jake Grafton Series

Note: The list below represents Stephen Coonts' suggested reading order.[5]
# Title Publication Date ISBN Notes
1 Flight of the Intruder 1986 0-87021-200-1 filmed in 1991
2 The Intruders 1994 1-59114-128-1
3 Final Flight 1988 0-385-24555-6
4 The Minotaur 1989 0-440-20742-8
5 Under Siege 1990 0-671-72229-8
6 The Red Horseman 1993 0-671-74887-4
7 Cuba 1999 0-312-20521-X Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
8 Hong Kong 2000 0-312-25339-7 Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
9 America 2001 0-312-25341-9 Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
10 Liberty 2003 0-312-28361-X Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
11 Pirate Alley 2013 0-312-37284-1 Also featuring Tommy Carmellini

Tommy Carmellini Series

Note: The list below represents Stephen Coonts' suggested reading order.[6]
# Title Publication Date ISBN Notes
1 Liars and Thieves 2004 0-312-28362-8 Also known as: Wages of Sin
2 The Traitor 2006 0-312-32359-X
3 The Assassin 2008 0-312-99446-X Also featuring Jake Grafton
4 The Disciple 2009 0-312-37283-3 Also featuring Jake Grafton
5 Pirate Alley 2013 0-312-37284-1 Also featuring Jake Grafton

Saucer Series

# Title Publication Date ISBN
1 Saucer 2002 0-312-98321-2
2 Saucer: The Conquest[7] 2004 0-312-99448-6
3 Saucer: Savage Planet[8] 2014 1-250-06198-9

Deep Black Series

# Title Publication Date ISBN Co-authored with:
1 Deep Black 2003 0-312-98520-7 Jim DeFelice
2 Biowar 2004 0-752-86117-4 Jim DeFelice
3 Dark Zone 2004 0-752-87785-2 Jim DeFelice
4 Payback 2005 0-312-93698-2 Jim DeFelice
5 Jihad 2007 0-312-93699-0 Jim DeFelice
6 Conspiracy 2008 0-312-93700-8 Jim DeFelice
7 Arctic Gold 2009 0-312-94695-3 William H. Keith
8 Sea of Terror 2010 0-312-94696-1 William H. Keith
9 Death Wave 2011 0-312-67113-X William H. Keith

Others

As editor

Non-Fiction

References

  1. ↑ Author Journal About Page from Author Webpage. Accessed 31July2013.
  2. ↑ Coonts Entry at the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Accessed 31July2013.
  3. ↑ Class Years Entry at the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Accessed 31July2013.
  4. ↑ Biography from Author Webpage. Accessed 31July2013.
  5. ↑ "Reading Order of the Jake Grafton Series as Suggested by The Author".
  6. ↑ "Reading Order of the Tommy Carmellini Series as Suggested by The Author".
  7. ↑ "Saucer: The Conquest: Stephen Coonts: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. 2004-09-02. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  8. ↑ "Saucer: Savage Planet: Stephen Coonts: 9781250061980: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2014-04-28.

External links

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