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 the following year and 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 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 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.
Coonts published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder 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]
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 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
- Fortunes of War (1998), ISBN 0-312-18583-9, ISBN 0-312-96941-4
- The Garden of Eden (2006) (writing as Eve Adams)
- The Sea Witch (May 2012), ISBN 0-7653-3231-0, ISBN 978-0-7653-3231-8
As editor
- The 17th Day (1999)
- Combat (2001)
- Victory (2003) ISBN 0-312-87462-6 OCLC 51322993
Non-Fiction
- The Cannibal Queen: A Flight into the Heart of America (1992), ISBN 0-671-74884-X
- War In The Air: True Accounts (1996), ISBN 0-671-88190-6
- On Glorious Wings: The Best Flying Stories (2003), ISBN 0-312-87724-2
- Victory (2003), ISBN 0-312-87462-6
References
External links