Stephen Coonts Books in Order

Stephen Coonts is a renowned American thriller and suspense novelist. Born on July 19, 1946, in Buckhannon, West Virginia, he grew up in a small coal-mining town. Coonts earned his B.A. degree in political science from West Virginia University in 1968 and soon entered the Navy, where he flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War. He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and received numerous Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, Coonts served as a flight instructor and later as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard the USS Nimitz. Following his honorable discharge as a lieutenant in 1977, he pursued a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer, nurturing his writing interests in his free time. Coonts' writing career took off with the publication of Flight of the Intruder in 1986, which spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists and was adapted into a movie in 1991. This critically acclaimed novel, based on his experiences as a bomber pilot, launched Coonts' career as a novelist. He has since become a master of the thriller genre, captivating readers worldwide with his gripping stories.