Tom Clancy's 13th bestselling novel, The Teeth of the Tiger, was launched on August 11 with a 1.7 million printing. His publisher, Putnam, reports that his national media tour attracted some of the author's largest crowds ever. In Washington, D.C., Clancy signed more than 1,700 copies at the Quantico and Pentagon bookstores and another 1,000 books at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va. Some 1,500 books were signed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., at a special event during which Clancy was interviewed on stage by R. Lee Ermet, host of The History Channel's Mail Call. And Wednesday evening, in a nonmilitary setting—the Barnes & Noble in San Antonio, Tex.—Clancy signed more than 1,800 books. All this, plus big sales nationwide, made Teeth #1 on all the national bestseller charts, knocking off Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Clancy is the fifth author to oust that book from its top perch; time will tell if Clancy can hold on to the lead for more than the single week enjoyed by Janet Evanovich, John Sanford and Nora Roberts or the two weeks Armageddon (book #11 in the Left Behind series) spent at #1. Clancy's latest had a slower first-week opening at the three national chains—Barnes & Noble, Borders and Waldenbooks—than his 2002 bestseller, Red Rabbit. The numbers were about 60,000 vs. 68,000—an 11.8% drop. His biggest first-week opening at the three chains was back in September 2000, for The Bear and the Dragon, which sold almost 100,000 copies in its opening week. But since reviews for The Teethof the Tiger were much better than for Red Dragon (PW noted that "it's a big improvement"), as word of mouth from satisfied fans spreads, overall sales should increase.