Order of Book Series
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Matt Helm Books in Order

Matt Helm by Donald Hamilton contains 27 books, published between 1960 and 1993. The first book is Death of a Citizen (1960) and the newest is The Damagers (1993). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
27
Published
1960–1993
Pages on record
4,855 in 20 of 27 books
Reading time
81–121 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,855 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 20 of 27 titles with a page count on record.

See all 27 books in order Printable Matt Helm checklist

Matt Helm is Donald Hamilton's American agent, working assassination and counter-espionage jobs through 27 catalogued books. Death of a Citizen (1960) opens the run, followed by The Wrecking Crew (1960), The Removers (1961), The Silencers (1962), Murderers' Row (1962) and The Ambushers (1963). The last catalogued entry is The Damagers, published in 1993, and the series is likely complete.

How many Matt Helm books are there?

Matt Helm has 27 books, released between 1960 and 1993.

Matt Helm Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 27 Matt Helm 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.

  1. Cover of The Wrecking Crew by Donald Hamilton, book 2 of the Matt Helm series (1960)
  2. Cover of The Silencers by Donald Hamilton, book 4 of the Matt Helm series (1962)
  3. Cover of Murderers' Row by Donald Hamilton, book 5 of the Matt Helm series (1962)
  4. Cover of The Ambushers by Donald Hamilton, book 6 of the Matt Helm series (1963)
  5. Cover of The Shadowers by Donald Hamilton, book 7 of the Matt Helm series (1964)
  6. Cover of The Ravagers by Donald Hamilton, book 8 of the Matt Helm series (1964)
  7. Cover of The Devastators by Donald Hamilton, book 9 of the Matt Helm series (1965)
  8. Cover of The Betrayers by Donald Hamilton, book 10 of the Matt Helm series (1966)
  9. Cover of The Menacers by Donald Hamilton, book 11 of the Matt Helm series (1968)
  10. Cover of The Intimidators by Donald Hamilton, book 15 of the Matt Helm series (1974)
  11. Cover of The Terminators by Donald Hamilton, book 16 of the Matt Helm series (1975)
  12. Cover of The Annihilators by Donald Hamilton, book 20 of the Matt Helm series (1983)
  13. Cover of The Detonators by Donald Hamilton, book 22 of the Matt Helm series (1985)
  14. Cover of The Vanishers by Donald Hamilton, book 23 of the Matt Helm series (1986)
  15. Cover of The Frighteners by Donald Hamilton, book 25 of the Matt Helm series (1989)
  16. Cover of The Threateners by Donald Hamilton, book 26 of the Matt Helm series (1992)
  17. Cover of The Damagers by Donald Hamilton, book 27 of the Matt Helm series (1993)
  1. 1
    Death of a Citizen1960 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1960240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Wrecking Crew1960 · 272 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1960272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Removers1961 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1961240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Silencers1962 · 223 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1962223
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Murderers' Row1962 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1962240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Ambushers1963 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1963240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Shadowers1964 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1964224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Ravagers1964 · 236 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1964236
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Devastators1965 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1965256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Betrayers1966 · 272 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1966272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Menacers1968 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1968256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Interlopers1969 · confirmed 2/4
    1969–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Poisoners1971 · confirmed 2/4
    1971–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Intriguers1972 · 209 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972209
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Intimidators1974 · confirmed 2/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Terminators1975 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1975224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Retaliators1976 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1976224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Terrorizers1977 · confirmed 2/4
    1977–
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  19. 19
    The Revengers1982 · confirmed 2/4
    1982–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Annihilators1983 · confirmed 2/4
    1983–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Infiltrators1984 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Detonators1985 · 345 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985345
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Vanishers1986 · 171 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1986171
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Demolishers1987 · confirmed 2/4
    1987–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Frighteners1989 · 314 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1989314
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Threateners1992 · 35 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199235
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    The Damagers1993 · 282 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993282
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Is there a chronological order for Matt Helm?

No separate chronological order is on record for Matt Helm, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.

Do you have to read Matt Helm books in order?

You should read the Matt Helm books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Matt Helm book also stands alone.

Where to start with Matt Helm

Start with Death of a Citizen (1960), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Matt Helm book?

The Damagers (1993) is the newest Matt Helm book released so far.

Is there a new Matt Helm book coming?

No next Matt Helm book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Matt Helm at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Matt Helm title on record dates from 1993, 33 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Matt Helm books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
4,855 pages across the 20 of 27 books with a recorded length, a median of 240 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Matt Helm books, 12 of 27, were published in the 1960s.

What the Matt Helm books are about

19 of the 27 Matt Helm books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: helm, matt (fictitious character) is tagged on 16 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Helm, matt (fictitious character) 16 of 19 books
  • Espionage 11 of 19 books
  • Thrillers 11 of 19 books

More books by Donald Hamilton

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.