It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutting-edge ballistic missile submarine Red October, and marks the first appearance of Clancy's most popular fictional character, Jack Ryan, an analyst working for the Central Intelligence Agency, as he must prove his theory that Ramius is intending to defect to the United States.
The Hunt for Red October launched Clancy's career as a novelist, especially after then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan remarked that he had enjoyed reading the book.
It is equipped with a "caterpillar drive", a cutting-edge silent propulsion system that makes audio detection by passive sonar difficult and enables the submarine to sneak its way into American territorial waters and launch nuclear missiles with little to no warning.
Ramius was ordered to conduct military exercises with Soviet Alfa-class attack submarine V. K. Konovalov, commanded by his former student Viktor Tupolev, to test the effectiveness of the caterpillar drive.
Ryan becomes responsible for shepherding Ramius and his submarine away from the pursuing Soviet fleet and meets with Royal Navy acquaintance Admiral John White, commanding a task force from the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.
To convince the Soviets that Red October has in fact been destroyed, a decommissioned US ballistic missile submarine, USS Ethan Allen, is blown up underwater as a deception.
A depth gauge taken from Red October's main instrument panel is made to appear as if it had been salvaged from Ethan Allen's wreckage.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Igor Loginov, a cook on Red October who is actually an undercover GRU officer, has remained aboard after the other crewmen evacuated.
The Hunt for Red October introduced Tom Clancy's writing style, which included technical details about weaponry, submarines, espionage, and the military.
'"[3] The novel shares elements with James Clavell's works, particularly Shōgun (1975) and Noble House (1981), where political power is used instead of physical confrontation with an enemy.
However, instead of running away from responsibilities, a theme common in contemporary American literature, Clancy subverts the convention by having Ryan rushing toward the burdens of the adult world.
Moreover, the book introduced Jack Ryan as a new archetype of the American hero – an everyman who uses his prior knowledge instead of physical power in solving a particular crisis.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan had pronounced the book, which was given to him as a Christmas gift, as "the perfect yarn" and "unputdownable"; his endorsement eventually boosted the novel's sales and solidified Clancy's reputation as a bestselling author.
"[20] Due to an extensive marketing campaign by the Naval Institute Press for their first published work of fiction, which was initially aimed at the military, the book sold 45,000 copies by March 1985.
[24] In a 1991 interview, Clancy remarked of the film's success: "It was reasonably true to the spirit of the book, although the movie had a lot of technical errors in it and some changes in the story which I do not think is necessary.
"No one encapsulated the mindset and mentality of the Reagan era more, as the Cold War was heating up for the last time and we were entering a new age of modern warfare.
Clancy's books tapped into our fears and helped define our psyches, even as he reinvigorated the thriller genre by bringing millions of new readers into the fold.
"[29] On April 20, 2018, The Hunt for Red October was included in the list of 100 most-loved books in the U.S., compiled by PBS as part of their new series and multi-platform initiative The Great American Read.
[30][31] The book appeared in a fake commercial ad serving as a teaser trailer for the third season of the Netflix web television series Stranger Things, which was released on July 16, 2018.