Treasure troves book series in reading order

by Jack Du Brul

by Liz Kessler

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.

Carolyn Keene is a Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, the credit on the Nancy Drew mysteries. Mildred Wirt Benson, one of the writers behind the name, used it from 1929 to 1953 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. The catalogue lists 647 Carolyn Keene books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery (all 1930) and reaching Vans & Villains (2026). Series include Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, Nancy Drew Diaries, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and Dana Girls Mystery Stories.

Chris Kuzneski

13 books• 3 series

Chris Kuzneski writes treasure-hunt thrillers. Thirteen books are catalogued between The Plantation (2000) and The Malta Escape (2018), across two series, Payne & Jones and Hunters: Origins. Antiquities, tombs, treasure troves and archaeologists supply the subject headings. Kuzneski, an American novelist born in 1969, took the International Thriller Writers award for 2016 Book of the Year with The Prisoner's Gold, and the work has also been honoured by the Florida Book Awards. Nothing new has appeared since 2018.

Cherry Adair, born 2 April 1951, is a South African-American writer of romantic fiction who lives near Seattle, Washington. The catalogue lists 38 books from The Mercenary (1994) to Whirlpool (2018). Kiss and Tell (2000), Hide and Seek (2001), In Too Deep (2002), Out of Sight (2003), On Thin Ice (2004) and Edge of Danger (2006) mark the middle of the run. T-FLAC anchors several series, including the Wright Family, Black Rose, Edge and Bodyguard trilogies and Fallen Agents of T-FLAC, alongside Cutter Cay and Lodestone. Romantic suspense, terrorism prevention, salvage and treasure appear in the subject tags.

Jayne Ann Krentz, born Jayne Castle on 28 March 1948 in Cobb, California, is an American romance novelist with New York Times bestsellers under seven pseudonyms. Three names remain in use: Krentz for contemporary romantic suspense, Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense and Jayne Ann Castle for futuristic and paranormal romantic suspense. More than 35 million copies are in print. The catalogue lists 205 books, from Vintage of Surrender (1979, as Jayne Castle) to Enter the Nightmare (2026), with The Book Hunter due in 2027. Early titles also appeared as Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor and Stephanie James. Series include Burning Cove, Eclipse Bay and the Dreamlight Trilogy.

Gordon Korman

119 books• 22 series

Gordon Korman is a Canadian writer of children's and young adult fiction whose books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. The catalogue holds 119 titles, from This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! (1977) to Sleepless (2026). Subject tags cover schools, friendship, humorous stories, adventure, mystery and detective stories, and shipwrecks. Series headings include Swindle Mysteries, Masterminds, Everest, Dive, Titanic, Ungifted and the Monday Night Football Club. Gordon Korman remains actively publishing.

Enid Blyton

957 books• 42 series

Enid Blyton (11 August 1897 to 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer and one of the best-selling authors of children's literature, with more than 600 million copies sold and translations into ninety languages. Blyton wrote on education, natural history, fantasy, mystery and biblical stories. Noddy, the Famous Five, the Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers and Malory Towers are the best-remembered Blyton books, and St Clare's, Mary Mouse and Toyland Stories are also listed. The catalogue opens with The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies (1924), and The Naughtiest Girl in the School (1930) and The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair (1937) follow. Titles dated after Blyton's death also appear, up to Stories of Wonders and Wishes (2023).

Gigi Pandian

27 books• 5 series

Gigi Pandian writes three mystery series: the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries, the Accidental Alchemist books and the Secret Staircase Mysteries. Artifact (2012) is the earliest of 27 catalogued titles, which reach The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve (2026). East Indian American women, women historians, treasure troves, alchemists and gargoyles fill the subject tags.

Alex Archer is the name on the Rogue Angel series, 66 catalogued books published between 2006 and 2025. Annja Creed, a woman archaeologist, is the recurring character, and the books mix antiquities, adventure and suspense with fantasy. Destiny (2006) opens the run, followed by Solomon's Jar (2006), The Spider Stone (2006) and a rapid 2007 sequence including Forbidden City, God of Thunder, Provenance, Secret of the Slaves, Serpent's Kiss, The Chosen and The Lost Scrolls. Shadow Highlanders (2025) is the newest title, at a median of 320 pages.

James Patterson

510 books• 73 series

James Patterson, born on March 22, 1947, is an American writer whose catalogue here holds 514 books published from 1976 to 2027. The run opens with The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), and Along Came a Spider (1992) and Kiss the Girls (1995) follow later. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard, NYPD Red, Private, Middle School and the Women's Murder Club are among the Patterson series, alongside standalone thrillers, non-fiction and romance. Marshall Karp shares the credit on 5 of the books. Patterson's sales exceed 425 million copies, and Patterson was the first person to sell one million e-books. Forbes ranked Patterson the highest-paid author in 2016, for a third year running, and the National Book Foundation gave Patterson the Literarian Award in November 2015. 27 Stars is scheduled for 2027.

Nelson DeMille

34 books• 8 series

Nelson Richard DeMille, born on 23 August 1943, was an American novelist of action-adventure and suspense fiction who died on 17 September 2024. Plum Island, The Charm School and The General's Daughter are among the DeMille novels, and DeMille also published as Jack Cannon, Kurt Ladner, Ellen Kay and Brad Matthews. The catalogue lists 34 books, from The Sniper (1974) to The Tin Men (2025). Series include Joe Ryker, John Sutter and Scott Brodie & Maggie Taylor, and John Corey and Paul Brenner are among the recurring characters. Subjects include terrorism, espionage and the Middle East.

Greg Iles

19 books• 4 series

Suspense set largely in Mississippi is Greg Iles's territory, above all in the Penn Cage novels, which take a lawyer through buried family secrets and murder. Iles's 19 catalogued books open with Spandau Phoenix (1993) and close with Cemetery Road (2019), taking in the Penn Cage and Mississippi sequences and a set of standalone thrillers. The catalogue is listed as likely complete.

Louis L’Amour

183 books• 11 series

Westerns are what Louis L'Amour is catalogued for - 183 titles built on frontier and pioneer life. The Sackett family novels form the largest sequence, with Kilkenny, Chantry, Bowdrie and Talon beside them. L'Amour also wrote Hopalong Cassidy novels, among them The Riders of High Rock and The Rustlers of West Fork (1951). Smoke from This Altar (1939) is the earliest entry, and the Lost Treasures line carries later releases through 2019.

Thomas Perry was an American writer of mystery and thriller novels, born August 7, 1947, who died on September 15, 2025. The Butcher's Boy (1982) was Perry's debut and received the 1983 Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. The catalogue lists 41 books, from that debut to The Get Out (2026). Series are Jane Whitefield, Butcher's Boy and Jack Till, and titles include Metzger's Dog (1983), Vanishing Act (1995) and Shadow Woman (1997). Subject headings cover assassins, the Mafia, government investigators and Indians of North America.

Gary Paulsen

181 books• 17 series

Survival and outdoor adventure run through Gary Paulsen's writing for young readers. The catalogue holds 181 books, from Some Birds Don't Fly (1968) to Northwind (2022), at a median length of 105 pages. Brian Robeson, Francis Tucket, Duncan Culpepper, Murphy and the World of Adventure books head the series lines, with non-fiction and picture books alongside. No new Paulsen title has appeared since 2022.

Douglas Preston

54 books• 9 series

Douglas Preston writes thrillers with horror and science fiction edges, built on serial murder, antiquities and government investigation. Aloysius Pendergast is the character the catalogue is best known for, with Nora Kelly, Gideon Crew, Wyman Ford and the Cash & Colcord books beside him. Fifty-seven catalogued titles run from Dinosaurs in the Attic (1986) through Relic (1995) and Riptide (1998) to Pendergast, and Resurrection is scheduled for 2027.

Barbara Delinsky, born Barbara Ruth Greenberg on August 9, 1945, is an American romance novelist with 19 New York Times bestsellers. Delinsky has also used the pen names Bonnie Drake and Billie Douglass, and 1982 titles such as A Time to Love are listed under Douglass. The catalogue counts 96 books from 1981 to Tender Loving Care (2024), starting with Surrender by Moonlight and Passionate Touch. Series include Crosslyn Rise, Blake Sisters and Victoria Lesser, and mothers and daughters recur in the subjects.

Matthew Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer, born 2 July 1974, whose books sell internationally. The catalogue lists 41 titles, from Contest (1996) and Ice Station (1998) to The Detective (2025). Reilly's series are Jack West Jr., Shane Schofield, Hover Car Racer, Troll Mountain and Tournament, plus a set of short stories. Subject tags include antiquities, automobile racing, action and adventure, and children's fiction.

Brian Jacques

42 books• 7 series

Redwall made Brian Jacques (1939-2011) a fixture of children's fantasy. The English author's 42 catalogued books open with Redwall in 1986 and close with The Rogue Crew in 2011, most of them set in and around the imaginary Redwall Abbey and peopled by mice, badgers, otters and other animals. Jacques also wrote the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series and two short story collections, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales and The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns. The books are pitched at grades 3-5.

Jack Du Brul is an American techno-thriller novelist, born October 15, 1968, in Burlington, Vermont. Vulcan's Forge (1998) opens the catalogue of 14 books, followed by Charon's Landing (1999), The Medusa Stone (2000), Pandora's Curse (2001), River Of Ruin (2002) and Deep Fire Rising (2003). The Lightning Stones (2015), The Titanic Secret (2019) and The Iron Storm (2025) are later titles. Philip Mercer is the series on the author page, and Isaac Bell also appears among the characters. Geologists, terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, Nazis and treasure feature in the subject tags.

Dan Gutman

198 books• 23 series

Dan Gutman is an American writer of mainly children's fiction, born in 1955. The best-known lines are the My Weird School books, The Genius Files and the Baseball Card Adventures, which began with Honus & Me. The catalogue holds 198 books from It Ain't Cheating If You Don't Get Caught (1990) to Mrs. Towne Is a Clown! (2026), including early baseball titles such as Baseball Babylon (1992). Subjects include schools, teachers, baseball, time travel and humorous stories.

Sandra Hill writes historical and contemporary romance, and new beginnings is the theme running through the work. The Reluctant Viking (1994) opens a catalogue of 61 books that reaches Jinx Christmas (2026), taking in two Viking series, the Cajun and Creole Historical books, Deadly Angels, Bell Sound, Jinx and the Tante Lulu Adventures. Vikings, time travel, vampires, angels and Navy SEALs recur as subjects. Hill grew up in central Pennsylvania, attended Penn State and worked ten years in journalism before that first novel.

Scott Mariani, born 1 January 1968 in St Andrews, Scotland, is a British Sunday Times bestselling thriller writer. Ben Hope, a former SAS Major who once studied theology, is the hero of the thrillers Mariani is best known for, and the first of them, The Alchemist's Secret (2007), held No.1 on the UK Amazon Kindle chart for six weeks running. The catalogue counts 45 books from How to Write a Thriller (2007) to The Black Eagle (2026). Will Bowman, Vampire Federation and DI Tom McAllister are other series.

Marine archaeologist Jack Howard is the figure David Gibbins built his fiction on. Gibbins, born in 1962, is an underwater archaeologist as well as a novelist, and the 14 catalogued books mix archaeological expeditions, treasure troves and antiquities with action and suspense. The catalogue opens with Atlantis (2005) and reaches Daughter of Attila (2025); Total War Rome is a second series beside Jack Howard. Gibbins remains actively publishing.