Plot summary
In December 1984, Soviet engineer Dimitri Gorov tries to provide the schematics for the Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine Red October to the CIA in exchange for political asylum with his family in the United States. However, the extraction was aborted after Red October's commander Marko Ramius had already defected and offered the submarine to the U.S. Navy. [a] Distraught, Gorov drinks himself to a stupor and accidentally drowns at the Neva River.
Forty years later, Gorov's son Konstantin is in command of the Russian Navy's latest submarine Belgorod , which leaves from the Severodvinsk port for sea trials before heading west, seemingly under orders from Russian president Nikita Yermilov. Office of Naval Intelligence analyst Katie Ryan, U.S. President Jack Ryan's youngest daughter, investigates the Belgorod's modified torpedo tubes, which house Status-6 torpedoes capable of disrupting undersea sonar and communications systems across the Atlantic Ocean, as well as Gorov's history.
Director of national intelligence Mary Pat Foley tasks Campus director of operations John Clark to reach out to Russian foreign intelligence (SVR) officer Erik Dovzhenko, a double agent working for the CIA, [b] to gather information about the Belgorod. Dovzhenko warns Clark of a secret cabal of Russian military hardliners, led by Colonel General Nikolai Ilyin, who plot to launch a Status-6 torpedo from the Belgorod into Norfolk Naval Station, blame Yermilov for the attack, and overthrow him in the process. Dovzhenko is later killed by Wagner Group mercenaries ordered by Ilyin as Clark escapes.
Katie boards the USS Gerald R. Ford in the northern Atlantic Ocean to brief its carrier strike group about the Belgorod. Meanwhile, President Ryan orders a Navy SEAL team to seize the Finitor, a Russian spy boat disguised as a Cyprus-flagged research vessel, which had mapped out the Distributed Agile Submarine Hunting (DASH) deep ocean sonar node near the eastern United States. In response, the Russian Northern Fleet positions itself near the Ford's strike group. A pair of F/A-18 Super Hornets from the strike group later engages with two Russian MiG-29K fighters from the Northern Fleet, placing both sides on high alert.
Acting on a lead provided by Dovzhenko, Clark infiltrates the port of Severodvinsk with his fellow Campus operatives Domingo "Ding" Chavez, Bartosz "Midas" Jankowski, and Adara Sherman. They initiate contact with the port's weapons engineer, who confirms that the Belgorod's inventory includes Status-6 torpedoes, two of them nuclear-armed. Meanwhile, Gorov steers the Belgorod to the DASH node and launches an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) to disable one of its hubs, which had been identified by the Finitor earlier. His weapons engineer Morozov, fearful about his commander's failing health influencing his mission orders, hides the submarine's noise augmentation device, causing the Virginia-class submarine USS Washington to track down the Belgorod.
Katie boards the USS Washington to deliver intelligence about the Belgorod and its captain, who she finds out had lost his wife and unborn child and has pancreatic cancer. President Ryan contacts Yermilov through the Moscow-Washington hotline and informs him about the cabal. The Russian president orders the Northern Fleet to stand down and tasks the Yasen-class submarine Severodvinsk to intercept the Belgorod and sink her.
The USS Washington briefly loses contact with Belgorod after Gorov finds the noise augmentor and identifies Morozov as the saboteur. He launches the two nuclear Status-6 torpedoes, targeting Norfolk Naval Station and the Ford strike group. The USS Washington destroys one of the torpedoes headed for the strike group, sustaining some damage, while the second Status-6 torpedo was destroyed by Mark 45 torpedoes from the nearby USS Indiana before it reaches Norfolk. Meanwhile, the Severodvinsk tracks down the Belgorod and attacks it, but the latter avoids significant damage from the resulting explosion by quickly resurfacing, as its crew abandons the ship.
Clark and his team enter Moscow and track down Ilyin and his co-conspirators to a tavern, where he later assassinates them. President Ryan tells Katie about his involvement in finding the Red October.
Development
In 2023, Andrews and Wilson were announced as the new writers of the Jack Ryan series, succeeding Marc Cameron. [2] Speaking about their approach to the franchise, the authors said: "Some people consider the thriller genre mindless escapism, but we have a very different take. For us, storytelling is something we take very seriously—we view it as a professional opportunity to highlight the integrity, courage, and professionalism of the men and women in the military and intelligence communities who tirelessly serve this great nation without ever asking for anything in return." [2] Clancy's longtime editor Tom Colgan released a statement: "We're extremely excited to welcome Andrews & Wilson to the Clancy team. As Navy veterans themselves, they will bring the authenticity and creativity that Clancy readers demand to the Jack Ryan series." [2]
Act of Defiance was billed as a direct sequel to The Hunt for Red October, which Andrews and Wilson also credited for joining the Navy. [2] The authors added: "We wanted to achieve what Top Gun: Maverick did in film for Hunt in print!" [3]
