Don Bentley is an American novelist. He is known for the Jack Ryan Jr. novels, which are part of the

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

universe, and the Matt Drake series of novels. He is currently the writer of the Mitch Rapp series of novels, originally by

Vince Flynn Vincent Joseph Flynn (April 6, 1966 – June 19, 2013) was an American author of political thriller novels featuring the fictional assassin Mitch Rapp. He was a story consultant for the fifth season of the television series ''24 (television), 24'' ...

Early life

Bentley graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

with a bachelor's degree in

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

. He also graduated from

Seton Hill University Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded i ...

with a master's degree in fine arts.

Career

Bentley served as a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

helicopter pilot while stationed in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He also served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. After his military service, he joined the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

as a special agent. Bentley released his debut novel, ''Without Sanction'', in 2020. Featuring the character Matt Drake, it was based on Bentley's own experiences in the military and the FBI. It was followed by ''The Outside Man'' (2021), ''Hostile Intent'' (2022), and ''Forgotten War'' (2023). Bentley was approached by

’s longtime editor Tom Colgan about writing the Jack Ryan Jr. series of novels, succeeding Mike Maden. His debut, '' Target Acquired'', was released in 2021. It was followed by '' Zero Hour'' (2022), ''Flash Point'' (2023) and ''Weapons Grade'' (2023). Bentley took over for Kyle Mills as the author of the Mitch Rapp series of novels, originally written by

. His debut, ''Capture or Kill'', was released in 2024. It was followed by ''Denied Access'' (2025).

Bibliography

Matt Drake series

*''Without Sanction'' (2020) *''The Outside Man'' (2021) *''Hostile Intent'' (2022) *''Forgotten War'' (2023)

Jack Ryan Jr. series

Featuring characters created by

*'' Tom Clancy: Target Acquired'' (2021) *'' Tom Clancy: Zero Hour'' (2022) *''Tom Clancy: Flash Point'' (2023) *''Tom Clancy: Weapons Grade'' (2023)

Mitch Rapp series

Featuring characters created by

*''Capture or Kill'' (2024) *''Denied Access'' (2025)

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Don Living people 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American military writers American thriller writers Techno-thriller writers 21st-century American male writers