Thirty years ago Tom Clancy was a Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had been an English major at Baltimore's Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, "The Hunt for Red October," sold briskly as a result of rave reviews and then catapulted onto the "New York Times "bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it "the perfect yarn." Since then Clancy has established himself as an undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity, intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense. Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science and is pursuing his master's in intelligence studies with a concentration in criminal intelligence. He is the author of the Gray Man novels: "The Gray Man," "On Target," "Ballistic "and "Dead Eye." In his research for them, he traveled to seven countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combat tactics.