14. "The Hunt For Red October" (1984) - Tom Clancy
The international number-one bestseller that launched Tom Clancy towards future heights of a spy-novel great, "The Hunt for Red October" introduces Jack Ryan to the literary world. Released in 1984, CIA analyst Ryan leads a group of covert US Naval officers deep into Soviet territory in order to attempt to steal a cutting-edge nuclear submarine along with 26 defecting Soviet officers. A 1990 film starring Alec Baldwin as Ryan was made, and this helped to showcase Clancy's daring and brilliant espionage thriller in (most) of its glory. A nuclear Third World War is just moments away if anyone makes the wrong decision - and this leads to a novel that shreds the nerves of the reader throughout with its brilliant use of suspense.