Terrorism book series in reading order

by Daniel Silva

by Brad Thor

by David Hagberg

by Jack Higgins

by Alex Berenson

by Jon Land

by Carl Bowen

by James Barrington

by Duncan Falconer

by Stella Rimington

by David Poyer

by Andy McNab

by Kyle Mills

by Adam Hall

by Franklin W. Dixon

by Joe Nobody

by Malorie Blackman

by Jed Rubenfeld

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).

Vince Flynn

26 books• 2 series

Vince Flynn, an American political thriller novelist born April 6, 1966, built a series around Mitch Rapp, a fictional assassin. The catalogue opens with Term Limits (1997), followed by Transfer of Power (1999), The Third Option (2000), Separation of Power (2001) and Executive Power (2003). Terrorism, intelligence officers, presidents and Washington, D.C. are among the recorded subjects. Flynn also worked as a story consultant on the fifth season of the television series 24, and died of prostate cancer on June 19, 2013. The listing carries titles dated well after that year, up to Double Tap (2026).

John Creasey (17 September 1908 to 9 June 1973) was an English novelist of detective and crime fiction who also wrote science fiction, romance and westerns, producing more than six hundred novels under twenty-eight pseudonyms. Creasey characters include The Toff (Richard Rollison), Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, Inspector Roger West, The Baron (John Mannering), Dr Emmanuel Cellini and Dr Stanislaus Alexander Palfrey. Gideon, introduced in Gideon's Day (1955), was the basis for the 1958 John Ford film Gideon's Day and the television series Gideon's Way (1964 to 1966). The catalogue lists 497 books from Seven Times Seven (1932), with early titles as M.E. Cooke and Margaret Cooke.

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.

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.

Daniel Silva

30 books• 3 series

Daniel Silva writes espionage thrillers. The catalogue holds 30 books between The Unlikely Spy (1995) and Ransom (2026), with the Gabriel Allon novels as the main sequence, a shorter Michael Osbourne series beside it, and several standalone titles. Art restorers, assassins, terrorism and Israeli intelligence officers run through the subject tags. Silva is still publishing.

Anthony Horowitz

106 books• 23 series

Anthony Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter, born 5 April 1955, who specialises in mystery and suspense. For children and young adults Horowitz created Alex Rider, a 14-year-old British boy who spies for MI6, along with The Power of Five (titled The Gatekeepers in the US) and The Diamond Brothers. The catalogue holds 106 Horowitz books from Enter Frederick K. Bower (1978) to A Deadly Episode (2026). Other listed series include Detective Daniel Hawthorne, Susan Ryeland, Groosham Grange and the Pentagram Chronicles. Horowitz is still publishing.

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.

David Hagberg (October 9, 1942 to September 8, 2019) was an American novelist of techno-thrillers. Kirk McGarvey, a super-spy, is the character most associated with Hagberg. The listing also carries the Wallace Mahoney, Magic Man, Bill Lane and Nate Osborne and Ashley Borden series, Flash Gordon novels and non-fiction. Espionage, terrorism, intelligence officers and assassins are among the subjects, and Traitor (2022) is the newest listed title.

Brad Thor

30 books• 4 series

Brad Thor, born Bradley George Thor Jr. on August 21, 1969, is an American writer of thriller novels. Scot Harvath is the recurring character, and terrorism and espionage run through the subject headings. The catalogue counts 30 books, from The Lions of Lucerne (2001) to Choke Point (2026). The Last Patriot drew a Best Thriller of the Year nomination from the International Thriller Writers Association, and NPR listeners voted Blowback onto a list of 100 Best Ever Killer Thrillers. Thor also wrote the short story "The Athens Solution" for the anthology Thriller, edited by James Patterson.

Clive Cussler

104 books• 9 series

Clive Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. Cussler founded and chaired the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has located more than 60 shipwreck sites. Cussler's thrillers, many of them featuring Dirk Pitt, reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. The catalogue lists 105 books under Cussler's name, beginning with The Mediterranean Caper (1973), with The Serpent's Eye due in 2027. Robin Burcell shares credit on 6 of them, Jack Du Brul on 5 and Grant Blackwood on 3. Series include Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files and Sea Hunters.

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.

Kyle Mills, born August 26, 1966, is an American writer of thriller fiction. The catalogue holds 24 books, from Rising Phoenix (1997) to Fade In (2025). Terrorism, espionage, intelligence officers and government investigators run through the recorded subjects, and Mitch Rapp is listed among the characters, with Vince Flynn sharing the credit on one title. Mark Beamon and Fade are the series credited to Mills, alongside a set of standalone novels. Mills is still publishing.

Naval aviation and espionage define Stephen Coonts's thrillers. Jake Grafton leads the series that opens with Flight of the Intruder (1986), Tommy Carmellini heads a later one, and the Saucer books and Deep Black sit alongside. Terrorism, conspiracies, undercover operations and the Vietnam War are recurring subjects. Thirty-eight books run to Dragon's Jaw in 2019, and nothing new has appeared since.

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.

Marc Cameron, born 1961, is an American novelist of action adventure fiction. Cameron writes the Jericho Quinn and Arliss Cutter series and has written Jack Ryan novels set in the Ryanverse built on Tom Clancy's characters. The 26 catalogued books span 2005 to 2026. The earliest, Hard Road to Heaven (2005) and The Hell Riders (2006), appeared as Mark Henry. Later titles include National Security (2011) and Act of Terror (2012), and Backtrack (2026) is the newest.

Alex Berenson

24 books• 4 series

John Wells, an intelligence officer working undercover, leads Alex Berenson's espionage thrillers from The Faithful Spy (2006). Berenson's catalogue holds 24 books, opening with The Number (2003) and reaching The Fatherhood Manifesto in 2026, with the Unreported Truth titles and other non-fiction beside the novels. Terrorism, the CIA and undercover operations supply the material.

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.

Noam Chomsky

134 books• 4 series

Noam Chomsky (Avram Noam Chomsky, born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist and social critic, sometimes called the father of modern linguistics. Chomsky helped found cognitive science, is a major figure in analytic philosophy, and holds posts as laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and institute professor emeritus at MIT. The catalogue lists 134 books, starting with Syntactic Structures (1957) and reaching The Myth of American Idealism (2024). Subjects range from generative grammar to world politics and terrorism.

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.

Ted Bell, born Theodore Augustus Bell III (July 3, 1946 – January 20, 2023), was an American suspense novelist. Bell's New York Times bestselling spy thrillers feature Lord Alexander Hawke and include Hawke (2003), Assassin (2004), Pirate (2005), Spy (2006), Warlord (2010) and Phantom (2012). Nick of Time (2000) is the first catalogued book and Warmonger (2026) the newest; Nick McIver Adventures Through Time is a second series, and time travel appears in the subjects. Before writing novels, Bell served as president and chief creative officer of the Leo Burnett Company in Chicago and later as vice chairman and worldwide creative director of Young & Rubicam.

Andrew Klavan

50 books• 9 series

Andrew Klavan writes crime and psychological suspense, with a young adult strand beside it. Face of the Earth (1980) is his earliest catalogued book, and the Cameron Winter mysteries, the Weiss and Bishop novels, the Homelanders series for teenagers, Mindwar and Another Kingdom follow. Some early titles appeared as Keith Peterson. Fifty books reach Find Me Nowhere in 2026.

Chris Stewart is an American author, businessman and politician, born in 1960, who represented Utah's 2nd congressional district from 2013 until resigning in 2023. Stewart graduated from Utah State University in 1984, joined the United States Air Force, and later led the Shipley Group as president and CEO. The Great and Terrible series and the bestsellers Seven Miracles That Saved America and The Miracle of Freedom are the best known of 29 catalogued books, which open with Shattered Bone (1997) and close with I Can't Eat No Pippin Apples (2018). Terrorism, military aviation, spiritual warfare and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supply the subject matter.

Anthony A.J. Tata writes military thrillers, with catalogue subjects covering terrorism, the Taliban, paramilitary forces, conspiracies and soldiers. Tata's 18 catalogued books start with Sudden Threat (2008) and run to Brace for Impact (2025). The listed series are Reaper, Threat, Zara Sheridan, and the Captain Jake Mahegan and Garrett Sinclair series published as A.J. Tata. Rogue Threat (2009), Hidden Threat (2011), Three Minutes to Midnight (2016) and Ghost Target (2018) appear among the titles.