John Lantigua Books in Order
John Lantigua has written 12 books, published between 1987 and 2022. The first book is Heat Lightning (1987) and the newest is In the War Zone of the Heart (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 12
- Published
- 1987–2022
- Pages on record
- 1,935 in 7 of 12 books
- Reading time
- 32–48 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,935 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 12 titles with a page count on record.
John Lantigua is an American journalist and crime novelist. Lantigua's journalism awards include the 1999 Pulitzer Prize, for work on voter fraud at The Miami Herald, and immigration coverage for The Palm Beach Post won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 2004 and 2006. Lantigua's crime fiction includes the series featuring Willie Cuesta, a Cuban American private investigator based in Miami. The catalogue lists 12 books from Heat Lightning (1987) to In the War Zone of the Heart (2022), including Burn Season, Twister and The Lady from Buenos Aires.
How many John Lantigua books are there?
John Lantigua has 12 books, released between 1987 and 2022. 6 of them belong to the Willie Cuesta Mystery series.
John Lantigua Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 12 John Lantigua 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.
- 1Heat Lightning1987 · confirmed 2/41987–2/4
- 2Burn Season1989 · confirmed 2/41989–2/4
- 3Twister1992 · 269 pages · confirmed 2/419922692/4
- 419992612/4
- 5The Jungle2001 · 387 pages · confirmed 2/420013872/4
- 620013122/4
- 720072242/4
- 820112622/4
- 9The Big Split of the Near Future2012 · confirmed 2/42012–2/4
- 10Smuggled Across the U.S. - Mexican Border2017 · confirmed 2/42017–2/4
- 1120202202/4
- 122022–2/4
John Lantigua 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.
Willie Cuesta Mystery in order
6 booksStandalone books
6 books6 John Lantigua titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read John Lantigua books in order?
You only need to read John Lantigua books in order within the Willie Cuesta Mystery series, which holds 6 of the 12 John Lantigua books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with John Lantigua
Start with Heat Lightning (1987), the earliest published title.
What is the newest John Lantigua book?
In the War Zone of the Heart (2022) is the newest John Lantigua book released so far.
Is there a new John Lantigua book coming?
No next John Lantigua book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
John Lantigua at a glance
- Paused
- No new John Lantigua title has appeared for 4 years. The last was published in 2022.
- Release pace
- John Lantigua books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 1,935 pages across the 7 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 262 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most John Lantigua books, 3 of 12, were published in the 2010s.
What the John Lantigua books are about
10 of the 12 John Lantigua books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 4 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective 4 of 10 books
- Cuban Americans 2 of 10 books
- Private investigators 2 of 10 books