Earl Emerson Books in Order
Earl Emerson has written 27 books, published between 1979 and 2017. The first book is Fill The World With Phantoms (1979) and the newest is Jackson Street (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 27
- Published
- 1979–2017
- Pages on record
- 6,979 in 23 of 27 books
- Reading time
- 116–174 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,979 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 27 titles with a page count on record.
Earl Emerson, born in Tacoma in 1948, writes mystery novels and thrillers across two series: the Thomas Black detective books and the Mac Fontana books. Poverty Bay took the Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America in 1986, and Emerson's work has been nominated for an Edgar. Emerson serves as a lieutenant with the Seattle Fire Department and lives in North Bend, Washington. Twenty-seven books are catalogued, from Fill The World With Phantoms (1979) to Jackson Street (2017); Seattle, Washington State and firefighting recur as subjects.
How many Earl Emerson books are there?
Earl Emerson has 27 books, released between 1979 and 2017. They include 2 series and 7 titles listed outside any series.
Earl Emerson Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 27 Earl Emerson books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Fill The World With Phantoms1979 · confirmed 2/41979–2/4
- 21985–2/4
- 319853202/4
- 419862882/4
- 519872752/4
- 619882742/4
- 719882132/4
- 81990–2/4
- 919912462/4
- 1019932452/4
- 1119943522/4
- 1219953102/4
- 1319962782/4
- 141996–2/4
- 1519962902/4
- 1619972902/4
- 1719982882/4
- 18Vertical Burn2002 · 390 pages · confirmed 2/420023902/4
- 19Into the Inferno2003 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/420033842/4
- 20Pyro2004 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/420043202/4
- 21The Smoke Room2005 · 308 pages · confirmed 2/420053082/4
- 22Firetrap2006 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/420063202/4
- 23Primal Threat2008 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/420083682/4
- 2420093662/4
- 2520132822/4
- 2620152962/4
- 2720172762/4
Earl Emerson books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Thomas Black in order
15 books- 1. The Rainy City
- 2. Poverty Bay
- 3. Nervous Laughter
- 4. Fat Tuesday
- 5. Deviant Behavior
- 6. Yellow Dog Party
- 7. The Portland Laugher
- 8. The Vanishing Smile
- 9. The Million-Dollar Tattoo
- 10. Deception Pass
- 11. Catfish Cafe
- 12. Cape Disappointment
- and 3 more in the table above
Mac Fontana in order
5 booksStandalone books
7 books7 Earl Emerson titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Earl Emerson books in order?
You only need to read Earl Emerson books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Earl Emerson
Start with Fill The World With Phantoms (1979), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Earl Emerson book?
Jackson Street (2017) is the newest Earl Emerson book released so far.
Is there a new Earl Emerson book coming?
No next Earl Emerson book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Earl Emerson at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Earl Emerson title on record dates from 2017, 9 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Earl Emerson books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 6,979 pages across the 23 of 27 books with a recorded length, a median of 290 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Earl Emerson books, 10 of 27, were published in the 1990s.
What the Earl Emerson books are about
17 of the 27 Earl Emerson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: washington (state) is tagged on 9 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Washington (state) 9 of 17 books
- Private investigators 7 of 17 books
- Thomas Black (Fictitious character) 6 of 17 books
- Fire fighters 5 of 17 books
- Fontana, mac (fictitious character) 5 of 17 books
- Mystery & detective 5 of 17 books
- Black, thomas (fictitious character) 4 of 17 books
- Mac Fontana (Fictitious character) 4 of 17 books
- Mystery & detective, hard-boiled 4 of 17 books
- Seattle (Wash.) 4 of 17 books
- Suspense 4 of 17 books
- Thrillers 2 of 17 books