Stephen Coonts

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Stephen Coonts
Born (1946-07-19) July 19, 1946 (age 79)
Buckhannon, West Virginia, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
Alma materWest Virginia University (BA)
GenreSpy fiction
Years active1984–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2011; died 2025)​
Website
www.coonts.com

Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American spy thriller and suspense novelist.

Early life, education, and military career

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Stephen Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. Following high school graduation, he earned a B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968.[1] After joining the Navy upon graduation and then going to officer candidate school, Coonts went to flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola and earned his wings as a naval aviator in 1969.

Coonts was later assigned to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and VA-128 to train in the A-6 Intruder, a medium attack, all-weather, carrier-based jet. After training, he was attached to and deployed with VA-196 to Vietnam. With 196, he served aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) on two cruises and accumulated 1600 flying hours in the A-6. Coonts was awarded several commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After Vietnam, Coonts served as an A-6 flight instructor for two years, then was assigned as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). He separated from the active duty Navy as a lieutenant in 1977 but remained as reserve officer, retiring as a commander with a total of 21 years of service.

Post military career

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Lawyer

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After leaving active duty, 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.

Writer

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Coonts began writing Flight of the Intruder in 1984; it was published by the US Naval Institute Press in 1986. The novel, based in part on his experiences as an A-6 pilot during the Vietnam War, remained for 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and in 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] In 2014, West Virginia University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.

As of 2013, Coonts continues to write, having had 16 New York Times bestsellers (out of 36 books). He lives in Colorado.[4] He was married to romantic mystery novelist Deborah Coonts, his third wife, from September 2011 until her death on February 1, 2025.[5]

Bibliography

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Jake Grafton series

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Note: The list below represents Stephen Coonts' suggested reading order.[6]
# Title Publication date ISBN Notes
1 Flight of the Intruder 1986 0-87021-200-1 Adapted into a film 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

Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini series

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Note: The list below represents Stephen Coonts' suggested reading order.[7]
# 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
6 The Art of War 2016 1-786-48363-8 Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
7 Liberty's Last Stand 2016 1-621-57507-8 Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
8 The Armageddon File 2017 1-621-57659-0 Also featuring Tommy Carmellini
9 The Russia Account 2019 1-621-57660-0 Also featuring Jake Grafton

Saucer series

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# Title Publication date ISBN
1 Saucer 2002 0-312-98321-2
2 Saucer: The Conquest[8] 2004 0-312-99448-6
3 Saucer: Savage Planet[9] 2014 1-250-06198-9

Anthologies

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# Title Publication date ISBN
1 Combat 2002 0-8125-7615-2
2 Combat Vol. 2 2002 0-8125-7616-0
3 Combat Vol. 3 2002 0-8125-7617-9
4 On Glorious Wings 2005 0-8125-7863-5
5 Victory 2003 0-7653-0581-X
6 Victory: Call to Arms 2004 0-8125-6167-8
7 Victory: Into the Fire 2004 0-8125-6168-6
8 Victory: On the Attack 2004 0-8125-6169-4
9 War in the Air 1999 0-6718-8191-4

Deep Black series

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# 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

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  • Fortunes of War (1998), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • The Garden of Eden (2006) (writing as Eve Adams)
  • The Sea Witch (May 2012), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

As editor

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  • The 17th Day (1999)
  • Combat (2001) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Victory (2003) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). OCLC 51322993

Non-fiction

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  • The Cannibal Queen: A Flight into the Heart of America (1992), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • War In The Air: True Accounts (1996), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • On Glorious Wings: The Best Flying Stories (2003), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Victory (2003), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

References

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  1. ^ Author Journal About Page from Author Webpage. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  2. ^ Coonts Entry Archived September 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine at the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  3. ^ Class Years Entry Archived October 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine at the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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