Air pilots book series in reading order

by Captain W.E. Johns

by Mack Maloney

Richard Bach

25 books• 3 series

Richard Bach is an American author whose books circle flight. The catalogue holds 25 titles dated 1963 to 2018, opening with Stranger to the Ground (1963) and Biplane (1966), and grouped into an Aviation set, the Illusions books and the Ferret Chronicles. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, from 1970, ranked among the largest sellers of its decade, and so did Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, published in 1977. Air pilots, ferrets, space and time, and metaphysical fantasy are the catalogued subjects. Much of the work is semi-autobiographical, and Bach has flown as a hobby since the age of 17. Life with My Guardian Angel (2018) is the last catalogued title.

L. Ron Hubbard

110 books• 5 series

L. Ron Hubbard (Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, March 13, 1911 to January 24, 1986) was an American writer and the founder of Scientology. The early career produced a large body of pulp science fiction and fantasy. The catalogue holds 110 books, starting in 1934 with Sea Fangs, Dead Men Kill, Hurtling Wings and Twenty Fathoms Down. Series include Mission Earth, Slaves of Sleep and collections of western and science fiction short stories. Hubbard wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950, a book described as pseudoscientific, created Scientology in 1952 and led the Church of Scientology until 1986. Subjects include air pilots, sea stories, westerns and crime.

Biggles is the character Captain W.E. Johns is known for, an air pilot at the centre of adventure stories beginning with Biggles The Camels Are Coming (1932). Four further series sit beside it: Worrals, Gimlet, Steeley and Timothy 'Tiger' Clinton. Flight, aircraft, wartime service and, later, science fiction run through the subjects. The Johns catalogue holds 156 titles dated 1931 to 2022, opening with The Modern Boy's book of aircraft (1931), at a median of 183 pages.

Military aviation drives Dale Brown's technological thrillers. Patrick McLanahan and Brad McLanahan are the recurring characters across a catalogue of 52 books that opens with Flight of the Old Dog (1987) and reaches Devil's Fortress (2024). Dreamland, Puppet Master, Nick Flynn and the Jason Richter books are the named series. The United States Air Force, weapons systems, espionage and terrorism fill the subject tags.

Lindsay McKenna is the pseudonym of Eileen Nauman, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1967 and has also been a volunteer firefighter, an EMT in Arizona and a pilot. Nauman is known as the Top Gun of Women's Military Fiction. The catalogue records 148 books from Captive of Fate (1983) to No Turning Back (2024). Morgan's Mercenaries and its sub-series, Delos, Wind River Valley, Shadow Team and Black Jaguar Squadron are among the series, and military veterans, cowboys and Wyoming appear in the subjects alongside romantic suspense.

Contemporary romance is the territory of Jill Shalvis, an American novelist whose work includes the Lucky Harbor books. The catalogue records 140 books, opening with Summer of Fire in 1996 and extending to Falling into You in 2026. Heartbreaker Bay, Wildstone, Animal Magnetism, Sunrise Cove, Cedar Ridge and Sky High Air are among the series. Firefighters, bush pilots, sisters, California and Washington state appear in the subject tags, and Shalvis is still publishing.

Aviation is the through-line of John J. Nance's catalogue: 22 books published between 1984 and 2017, from Splash of Colors, an account of the collapse of Braniff International, to 16 Souls (2017). Nance, born in 1946, is an American pilot, attorney and analyst of aviation and healthcare safety as well as a novelist. Air pilots, airlines, aircraft accidents and their investigation fill the subjects, alongside terrorism and the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Kat Bronsky is the one series, and the catalogue is likely complete.

Melody Anne's catalogue holds 92 books, from The Billionaire Wins the Game (2011) to Turbulent Fires (2025). The Billionaire Falls, The Billionaire's Dance, The Tycoon's Proposal and The Tycoon's Revenge also date from 2011, and Blackmailing the Billionaire, Midnight Fire and Midnight Moon from 2012. Anderson Billionaires, Anderson Heirs, Anderson Special Ops, Billionaire Aviators, Undercover Billionaire, Unexpected Heroes and Rise Of The Dark Angel are among the series. Contemporary romance, air pilots and erotic stories appear in the subjects.

Elizabeth E. Wein, born October 2, 1964, is an American-born writer who holds American and British citizenship. Wein is known chiefly for young adult historical fiction, and Code Name Verity (2012) and Rose Under Fire (2013) sit among the catalogued titles, with subject tags for air pilots and the Second World War. The Winter Prince (1993) is the first of the books listed, and the series list includes Lion Hunter: Arthurian and Lion Hunters: Mark of Solomon. Mordred, knights and princesses also appear in the subject tags. Stateless (2023) is the newest title.

Espionage, terrorism and the Second World War supply Jack Higgins with his material. Higgins published the earliest of 76 catalogued books as Harry Patterson, among them Sad Wind from the Sea (1959), Cry of the Hunter (1960) and Hell Is Too Crowded (1962). Sean Dillon, Paul Chavasse, Liam Devlin and Martin Fallon head series of their own, alongside standalone thrillers. The Midnight Bell, published in 2016, closes the catalogue.

Connie Shelton writes mysteries with women sleuths. Charlie Parker and Samantha Sweet are the recurring figures, and subjects include women private investigators, women accountants, Albuquerque and New Mexico, missing persons, crime and the occult and supernatural. The 59 catalogued titles open with Deadly Gamble and Vacations Can Be Murder in 1995 and reach Bestsellers Can Be Murder in 2026. Series listed include Samantha Sweet, Heist Ladies Caper Mystery, Ghost in the Library and Adventures of Daisy and Maisie.

David Freed came to fiction from journalism. Reporting on criminal justice for the Los Angeles Times, Freed shared the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting for coverage of the 1992 Rodney King riots. The seven catalogued novels form the Cordell Logan series, which runs from Flat Spin (2012) to Deep Fury (2024) and turns on pilots, murder and investigation. Freed also works as an educator and screenwriter, and published a humorous collection of job application letters, Dear Ernest and Julio, in 1997.

Cindy Dees writes romantic suspense, with special forces and undercover operations among the subject tags. The catalogue holds 83 books from Behind Enemy Lines (2002) to Where the Sky Begins (2026). Medusa Project, H.O.T. Watch, Charlie Squad, Code: Warrior SEALs, Blackjacks, Runaway Ranch and Doctors Unlimited are among the series, and Hot Soldier Down (2002) and Kill Zone (2004) are early titles. Fantasy also appears in the subjects, alongside the Sleeping King series.

Rachel Lee writes romance, with catalogue subjects that include romantic suspense, contemporary romance, police, Wyoming, Florida, fantasy and vampires. The 122 recorded books run from An Officer And A Gentleman (1991) to Lethal Homecoming (2026). Conard County is listed among the characters, and series include Conard County: The Next Generation, Claiming, Months Trilogy, Ilduin and Office 119. Early titles include Cherokee Thunder (1992) and Ironheart (1993).

Gina Ferris Wilkins, born Gina Vaughan on December 20, 1954, in Little Rock, Arkansas, is an American romance novelist with more than 85 novels. Wilkins publishes as Gina Ferris, Gina Wilkins and Gina Ferris Wilkins. The catalogue records 94 books starting with Hero in Disguise (1987), with Hero by Nature and Hero for the Asking following in 1988. Subjects include contemporary romance, single fathers, physicians, medical students, private investigators, twins and weddings. Series include Family Found, Southern Scandals, Doctors in Training, McClouds of Mississippi, Bride Mountain and Soldiers and Single Moms.

Aeronautics and aviation were the specialist field of Martin Caidin, an American author and screenwriter born September 14, 1927, who died March 24, 1997. Caidin started writing fiction in 1957, and the total output passed 50 books of fiction and nonfiction plus more than 1,000 magazine articles. The novel Cyborg became the basis of The Six Million Dollar Man franchise, and Caidin also produced numerous military histories, most of them about aviation. Caidin was a pilot and restored a 1936 Junkers Ju 52. Early titles include Rockets and Missiles, Past And Future (1954) and Black Thursday (1960).

Mack Maloney writes men's adventure and military science fiction. Wingman (1987) opens a catalogue of 45 books that reaches The God Satellite in 2022, with the pilot Hawk Hunter at the centre of the Wingman novels. Seven series carry the Maloney name, including Wingman, Starhawk, Superhawks, Chopper Ops, Pirate Hunters and Codename: Starman. Air pilots, pirates and suspense recur as subjects; no new title has appeared since 2022.

Max Hennessy

26 books• 9 series

Max Hennessy was a pen name of John Harris (1916-1991), a British novelist who also wrote as Mark Hebden and under his own name. The Harris output includes crime novels featuring Inspector Pel; his 1953 novel The Sea Shall Not Have Them was filmed in 1954. Under the Hennessy name this listing gathers 26 books dated 1971 to 2022, taking in both world wars, air pilots, cavalry and British naval operations, in sequences such as the Martin Falconer Thrillers, Captain Kelly Maguire and the RAF Trilogy.

T.J. Newman writes standalone thrillers built around aviation and disaster. Three novels are catalogued: Falling (2021), Drowning (2023) and Worst Case Scenario (2024). Air pilots, terrorism and suspense are the recorded subjects. Newman keeps each book self-contained rather than running a series, and the catalogue remains open.