Special forces (military science) book series in reading order

by Carl Bowen

by Patrick Lee

Carl Bowen has 41 books in the catalogue, from Project Utopia (1999) to Gods and Thunder (2017). Special forces, soldiers and terrorism appear among the subject headings, alongside graphic novels and adaptations. The Bowen series are Shadow Squadron, Firestormers, Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Tribe Novel and Aberrant. Predator & Prey: Vampire (2000) and Silent Striders & Black Furies (2001) are early titles.

Pike Logan carries the thrillers of Brad Taylor, a run of 31 books that starts with One Rough Man (2011) and reaches Shadow Strike. Special forces work, terrorism and espionage supply the material, and a set of Taskforce novellas sits alongside the novels. Taylor publishes into 2027, when Omega Authority follows.

Richard Marcinko

20 books• 2 series

Rogue Warrior (1992) opens Richard Marcinko's catalogue and gives it its recurring figure. Marcinko, born in 1940 and died in 2021, was the first commanding officer of US Navy SEAL Team Six and a Vietnam veteran before turning author. 20 catalogued books span 1992 to 2014, mixing action fiction about special forces and terrorism with leadership and business titles such as Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior (1996). Curse of the Infidel (2014) is the most recent, and the catalogue is likely complete.

Jeremy Robinson mixes science, history and mythology across thrillers and science fiction, publishing also as Jeremy Bishop, Jeremiah Knight and other pen names. Born October 22, 1974, Robinson is known for the Nemesis Saga and the Chess Team books, and for the non-fiction Screenplay Workbook, which Lone Eagle Press issued in 2003 and which opens the catalogue's 90 titles. The novels have been adapted as comic books, optioned for film and television, and translated into thirteen languages. Other series listed include Antarktos Saga, Infinite, Cerberus Group and Jack Sigler: Continuum. Subjects include terrorism, special forces, scientists and horror.

Donald Eugene Pendleton (December 12, 1927 to October 23, 1995) was an American author of fiction and non-fiction who created Mack Bolan, a character with hundreds of millions of copies sold since a 1969 debut. From 1980, other authors wrote the Bolan books under the Pendleton name, at first with Pendleton's editorial guidance. Pendleton also wrote six Joe Copp, Private Eye novels and six Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective novels. Early titles include The Insatiables (1967), War Against the Mafia (1969) and Miami Massacre (1970).

Laura Kaye

39 books• 9 series

Laura Kaye is the name an American historian and author publishes romance under; historical fiction appears under the name Laura Croghan Kamoie. Forty-one books are catalogued as Kaye between 2011 and 2021, across series including Hard Ink, Raven Riders, Blasphemy, Hearts Of The Anemoi, Warrior Fight Club and Vampire Warrior Kings. Forever Freed and Hearts in Darkness opened the run in 2011, and Fighting the Fire (2021) closed it. Veterans, special forces, motorcyclists and gods recur as subjects.

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.

James Rollins

48 books• 10 series

James Rollins is the pen name of James Paul Czajkowski, an American writer born August 20, 1961, who gave up a veterinary practice in Sacramento, California to write full time. Rollins writes action-adventure, mystery and techno-thriller novels, often set underground or underwater, drawing on experience as an amateur caver and certified scuba diver. The catalogue opens with Subterranean (1999) and Excavation (2000), counts 49 books through Trust No One (2026), and lists Into the Serpent's Nest for 2027. Series include Sigma Force, the Order of the Sanguines, Tucker Wayne and Jake Ransom. Under a second pen name, James Clemens, Czajkowski publishes fantasy.

Dewey Andreas is the recurring lead in Ben Coes's political thrillers. Power Down (2010) starts a catalogue of 12 books that reaches Hijack (2026), with a Rob Tacoma series and Dewey Andreas novellas beside it. Special forces, intelligence officers, terrorism and coups d'etat fill the subject tags, in settings from Colombia to Pakistan. Coes continues to publish.

Andy McNab is the pen name of Steven Billy Mitchell, born 28 December 1959, a British novelist and former Special Air Service soldier. Public recognition came with Bravo Two Zero, an account of a Gulf War mission McNab led with the SAS, for which the Distinguished Conduct Medal followed; the Military Medal had come in 1979 for gallantry with the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland. The catalogue lists 57 titles, among them two autobiographies, thrillers built around the intelligence officer Nick Stone, and books for younger readers in the Boy Soldier and Street Soldier sequences. The Rescue (2023) is the newest entry, and no further title is scheduled.

Chris Ryan

76 books• 16 series

Chris Ryan is the pen name of Colin Armstrong, a British author, television presenter and security consultant born in 1961 who served as a sergeant in the Special Air Service. After fellow patrol member Andy McNab published Bravo Two Zero in 1993, Ryan told the story of that mission in The One That Got Away (1995). Strike Back became a Sky 1 television series, and Ryan co-created the ITV action series Ultimate Force. The catalogue lists 76 Ryan books up to Traitor (2024), including Stand By, Stand by (1996) and The Kremlin Device (1998). Series include Danny Black, Agent 21, Geordie Sharp, Matt Browning and Special Forces Cadets.

Tom Clancy

72 books• 9 series

Tom Clancy, born Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. on April 12, 1947 and dead on October 1, 2013, was an American writer of techno-thrillers, a form that carries technical detail about espionage and military science. An insurance agent before publishing, Clancy debuted with The Hunt for Red October in 1984. The Ryanverse books follow Jack Ryan, an analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency. Subjects across the listing include terrorism, suspense and espionage. The catalogue carries 72 titles under the Clancy name dated 1984 to 2023, with Bill McCay, Grant Blackwood and Peter Telep credited on one or two each.

Suzanne Brockmann, born 1960, is an American writer of romantic fiction, some of it under the name Anne Brock. Brockmann lives near Boston, Massachusetts. The catalogue counts 69 books, opening with Future Perfect in 1993 and running to Jules Cassidy, P.I. in 2026. Troubleshooters and Tall, Dark & Dangerous are recurring series, and Navy SEALs, terrorism, kidnapping and government investigators appear in the subjects, together with romantic suspense.

Betsy Brannon Green writes mystery and romantic suspense from a Latter-day Saint perspective, with Mormon characters and communities at the centre. Green's 22 catalogued books, published between 2001 and 2015, include the Haggerty Mystery series plus the Kennedy Killingsworth, Duty, Eureka and Proceed With Caution runs and a set of standalone novels. Undercover operations, kidnapping and police investigation drive the plots. Hearts in Hiding (2001) opens the catalogue and Puzzle Pieces (2015) is the last catalogued title.

Patrick Lee writes technothrillers. The first three of his 7 catalogued books form a trilogy around Travis Chase, an ex-convict pulled into events involving highly advanced technology: The Breach (2009), Ghost Country (2010) and Deep Sky (2011). Three more take Sam Dryden, a former soldier, into high-tech trouble that shades into the supernatural: Runner (2014), Signal (2015) and Dark Site (2019). The Breach reached the USA Today bestseller list in January 2010. The list closes with Wild Night (2022) and has been dormant since.

Jim Eldridge, born November 1944, is an English screenwriter for radio, film and television with hundreds of scripts broadcast over a career of more than 30 years. Radio shows created by Eldridge include King Street Junior, The Demon Headmaster, Shut UP and Parsley Sidings, and television creations include Powers, Time of My Life and Uncle Jack. The catalogue holds 117 books from Down Payment On Death (1972) to The Museum Detectives' Christmas Mystery (2026), with Murder at the Vatican due in 2027. Bogeys, Boils And Bellybuttons (1986), Bad Boyes (1987) and Uncle Jack and Operation Green (1990) are early titles, and series include Museum Mysteries, Hotel Mysteries, Cathedral Mysteries, DCI Paul Stark, SAS and Disgusting Dave.

Mike Maden, born 1960, is an American novelist known for a Drone series of techno-thrillers and for Jack Ryan Jr. novels in the Ryanverse, which builds on characters Tom Clancy created. The catalogue lists 12 books from Drone (2013) to Quantum Tempest (2025), including Blue Warrior (2014), Drone Command (2015), Drone Threat (2016), Point of Contact (2017), Line of Sight (2018), Enemy Contact (2019), Firing Point (2020) and Hellburner (2022). Troy Pearce is the listed series. Subject headings name drone aircraft, terrorism, special operations and intelligence officers.

Matt Rogers writes action thrillers built around special forces and retired military characters. The catalogue holds 53 books published between 2016 and 2026, opening with four 2016 titles - Hard Impact, Imprisoned, Isolated and Reloaded - and reaching The Stone in 2026. Jason King and Will Slater are the recurring leads, carrying the King & Slater, Will Slater, Jason King Files, King & Slater Jr. and Lore of King & Slater series, with Dante Jacoby, Black Force Shorts and Lynx Shorts alongside. Hostages, false imprisonment and rain forest settings recur as subjects.

Greg Rucka

105 books• 35 series

Greg Rucka, born November 29, 1969, is an American novelist and comics writer. The Atticus Kodiak novels carry Rucka's name, as do the creator-owned comics Whiteout, Queen & Country, Stumptown and Lazarus. For DC Comics, Rucka wrote long runs on Detective Comics, Wonder Woman and Gotham Central, and co-created Kate Kane, the second Batwoman; the Marvel work includes Elektra, Wolverine and The Punisher. Crossover material by Rucka includes No Man's Land, Infinite Crisis and New Krypton. The catalogue lists 106 titles from 1994 onward, with Keeper (1996) and Whiteout (1998) among the early entries and a Batwoman collection scheduled for 2027.

Horror is David Wellington's field. The American writer, born 1971, is best known for a Zombie trilogy and also publishes science fiction under the name D. Nolan Clark. Monster Island (2004) opens the 27-book catalogue, with Monster Nation the same year and Monster Planet in 2006. Vampires, zombies, werewolves, witches, knights and thieves appear in the subject records, along with the fictitious character Laura Caxton. Laura Caxton, Jim Chapel, Ancient Blades Trilogy, Red Space and Cheyenne Clark are the series credited to Wellington, whose most recent title is Erebus-13 (2026).

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.

Peter Telep is an American author, screenwriter and teacher, born in 1965, who has written more than 50 books and collaborated with Tom Clancy. Military fiction is the main strand: the United States Marine Corps, terrorism, search and rescue, and men's adventure recur as subjects, and Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell appear among the character entries. This catalogue holds 34 titles published between 1995 and 2017, from Space: Above and Beyond (1995) to Doc Harrison and the Prophecy of Halsparr (2017). Force 5 Recon, Armored Corps, the Squire Trilogy, Scott St. Andrew, Night Angel 9, Special Forces Afghanistan, Secret Corps and Doc Harrison are the listed series. Telep teaches at the University of Central Florida.

Chuck Driskell writes the Gage Hartline, Pale Horse Saga and Ronny Alley series. The catalogue lists 14 books from Doppelgänger (2012) to Time on Target (2025). Subject tags include organized crime, the Mafia and special forces. Other titles are The Diaries, Demon's Bluff, Soldier of Misfortune, Seven Years Dead and Final Mission: Zion. Driskell remains active.

Kevin Maurer writes military nonfiction. The catalogue's subjects cover the Afghan War of 2001 onward, special forces, commando operations, prisoners of war, the Korean War and American personal narratives. Maurer has 11 catalogued books published between 2010 and 2022, all credited to Maurer, from Valleys of Death (2010) to Damn Lucky (2022). Lions of Kandahar (2011), Gentlemen Bastards (2012), No Easy Day (2012), Hunting Che (2013), American Radical (2017) and Rock Force (2021) sit in the run.