Acclaimed US thriller writer Tom Clancy has died at the age of 66.

Clancy is most famous for his novel Red Storm Rising, later turned into a game by military sim specialists Microprose, and his Jack Ryan series.

Mr Clancy died in a hospital in Baltimore according to his publishers.

A number of Clancy’s books, including The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, were turned into movies.

In 2002 Ben Affleck took over the role of Ryan, previously played by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, in The Sum of All Fears, intended as a reboot of the =film series.

A fifth film, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, is due to hit cinemas in December.

Unlike previous instalments the new film isn’t based on any particular Tom Clancy novel but instead features an original story conceived by screenwriter Hossein Amini.

In it Star Trek actor Chris Pine takes over the role of Ryan, opposite Keira Knightley as Cathy Ryan and Kenneth Branagh as Viktor Cherevin.

The author’s books also inspired the popular Splinter Cell video game series.