Veterans book series in reading order

by Robyn Carr

by Max Allan Collins

by Nicholas Petrie

by Alex Kava

by Charles Todd

by Rachel Lee

by Walter Mosley

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).

Robyn Carr is the American author of the Virgin River books, and an executive producer on the television versions of Virgin River and Sullivan's Crossing. The catalogue records 70 Carr books, from Chelynne (1980) to The Friendship Club (2024). Thunder Point, Sullivan's Crossing and the Grace Valley Trilogy are Carr's other series. Several novels, The Hero among them, reached The New York Times Best Seller list. Subject tags on the books include contemporary romance, California, single mothers, veterans and city and town life.

Historical romance set in the Regency and the wider Georgian period is Mary Balogh's territory. Born Mary Jenkins in Swansea on 24 March 1944, Balogh moved to Canada in 1967, taught in Kipling, Saskatchewan, and became a school principal there before the first novel appeared in 1985. The catalogue runs to 106 books, from A Chance Encounter (1985) to A Waltz to Remember (2026). Series headings include Westcott, Bedwyn Family, Survivor's Club, Huxtable Quintet, Simply Quartet, Dark Angel and Ravenswood. Mary Balogh is still publishing.

Max Allan Collins

199 books• 34 series

Max Allan Collins, born March 3, 1948, is an American mystery writer who also works in comics, graphic novels and screenplays. Collins created the Ms. Tree and Road to Perdition comics, the second of which became a film, and the series characters Quarry, a hitman, Nolan, a thief, and private investigator Nate Heller. Collins wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for years, and the Mystery Writers of America named Collins a Grand Master in 2017. Catalogue entries run from Bait Money (1973) to Quarry's Reunion (2026), with Eliot Ness, Mallory and Disaster among the other series.

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.

Marilyn Pappano/ Rachel Butler is the combined catalogue name for 76 books from 1987 to 2020. Contemporary romance and romantic suspense appear among the subjects, with widows, veterans, assassins, women journalists and kidnapping also recorded. The Lights of Home (1987) is the first title and Dangerous Reunion (2020) the latest. Series include Copper Lake, Bethlehem, Southern Knights, Heartbreak Canyon, Tallgrass, Cedar Creek and Rawlins Brothers.

Charles Todd writes historical mysteries set around the First World War. Inspector Ian Rutledge, a police detective, and Bess Crawford, a nurse, head the two main series in a catalogue of 50 titles that begins with A Test of Wills (1994). A Day of Judgment is the most recent book, and A Deadly Cost is dated 2027. Short stories and standalone novels round out the list.

Stephen Hunter, born March 25, 1946, is an American novelist, essayist and film critic. The 33 catalogued books run from The Master Sniper (1980) to The Gun Man Jackson Swagger (2025). Series include the Swaggerverse and Hunter's non-fiction. Recurring characters include Bob Lee Swagger, Earl Swagger and Ray Cruz. Subjects include snipers, veterans, thrillers, espionage and World War II. Other titles include Target (1985), Point of Impact (1993) and Dirty White Boys (1994).

Maggie O'Dell, a criminal profiler, and Ryder Creed, who works with search dogs, carry Alex Kava's two thriller series. A Perfect Evil (2000) opens the O'Dell run, and the catalogue reaches 27 books with Chasing Creed in 2026. Criminal profilers, women detectives, veterans and search dogs are the catalogued subjects, with Washington D.C. among the settings.

Janet Dailey

161 books• 16 series

Janet Anne Haradon Dailey (1944-2013) was an American author of romance novels, translated into nineteen languages and sold in the hundreds of millions of copies. The Dailey catalogue holds 161 books opening with No Quarter Asked (1974), followed by state-titled entries including Savage Land: Texas (1974), Darling Jenny: Wyoming (1975) and Dangerous Masquerade: Alabama (1976). Subjects cover contemporary and historical romance, western romance, ranch life, love stories, Christmas stories and the Calder family. Series listed include the Calder Saga, New Americana, Tylers of Texas, Bannon Brothers and Christmas Tree Ranch. The listing also carries titles dated after 2013, running to Kill for a Million (2026).

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.

Dale Mayer's catalogue runs to 327 books across romantic suspense, military romance, paranormal fiction and mystery. The series include SEALs of Honor, Heroes for Hire, the K9 Files, Psychic Visions, Hathaway House, the Mavericks, Lovely Lethal Gardens and the Kate Morgan thrillers. Publication started in 2011 and continues to 2027, when Cruz Control follows.

Lori Wilde is the current pen name of Laurie Blalock Vanzura, a Texas-born American writer of contemporary romance who first published as Laura Anthony. The catalogue counts 156 books from Look Alike Bride (1997), issued as Laura Anthony, to A Perfect Christmas Night (2025). Twilight, Texas, Cupid, Texas, Kringle, Texas, Texas Rascals and Moonglow Cove are among the series. Small towns, Christmas, cowboys and Texas recur in the subject tags.

Peter Straub

39 books• 2 series

Horror and psychological crime define Peter Straub's work, with the Vietnam War and its veterans behind a good deal of it. Ghost Story (1979), Shadowland (1980) and Floating Dragon (1982) belong to the horror line, while the Blue Rose Trilogy brings in serial murder and Tom Pasmore. Thirty-nine catalogued titles run from Ishmael (1972) to The Process (is a Process All Its Own) in 2017.

Glen Erik Hamilton writes the Van Shaw crime series. The debut, Past Crimes (2015), won the Anthony, Macavity and Strand Critics awards for best first novel. Five more follow to Island of Thieves (2021): Hard Cold Winter (2016), Every Day Above Ground (2017), Mercy River (2019) and A Dangerous Breed (2020). Army rangers, veterans and murder are the recurring subjects. Hamilton, a native of Seattle, grew up aboard a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest.

Adrian Magson is a British novelist working in espionage and crime. Ten lines run through the catalogue, among them Inspector Lucas Rocco, Harry Tate, Riley Gavin & Frank Palmer, the Marc Portman books, Cruxys Solutions Investigations and Gonzales & Vaslik Investigations, along with non-fiction and short stories. Thirty-eight books are catalogued between The Lost Patrol (2002) and Lethal Target (2026). Journalists, veterans, intelligence work, missing persons and terrorism recur as subjects.

Nick Oldham writes police procedurals. Henry Christie is the recurring detective across a catalogue of 39 books published between 1996 and 2026, from A Time For Justice (1996) to Death at the Castle Gates (2026). Steve Flynn and Jessica Raker lead two further series, and standalone novels sit beside them. Murder investigation, crime, ex-police officers and English settings are the subject headings, and One Dead Witness (1998), The Last Big Job (1999), Backlash (2001) and Psycho Alley (2006) fall in the earlier stretch. The median book runs 224 pages.

Rebecca Winters is one of the names used by Rebecca Brown Burton, a United States romance writer who lived from February 14, 1940 to February 15, 2023. Burton wrote more than 175 romance novels as Rebecca Burton, as Rebecca Brown Burton and, for Harlequin, as Rebecca Winters. The catalogue lists 167 books, beginning with The Loving Season (1979) under the Rebecca Burton name and ending with A Big Sky Cowboy (2023). Tags cover contemporary and western romance, ranchers, twins and veterans, and series include Lone Star Lawmen, Wind River Cowboys and Montanari Marriages.

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).

Megan Crane, born around 1973, is an American novelist who also writes as Caitlin Crews and is one half of Hazel Beck, a byline for upmarket paranormal women's fiction. The catalogue holds 41 books from English as a Second Language (2004) to The Cowboy's Pretend Bride (2026), including Everyone Else's Girl (2005), Frenemies (2007) and Names My Sisters Call Me (2008). Subjects include romantic suspense, veterans, sisters, small towns and humour. Series include Alaska Force, Careys of Cowboy Point, Greys of Montana, Devil's Keepers, Fortunes of Lost Lake and Bloodlore. Katherine Garbera, Kathleen O'Brien and Joanne Walsh each share the credit on 1 book.

Robert Olen Butler

29 books• 5 series

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler's short story collection, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993. Butler, born January 20, 1945, is an American fiction writer whose catalogue runs to 29 books published between 1981 and 2021. The Vietnam War appears among the recorded subjects, along with the First World War, veterans and married people. The Alleys of Eden (1981) opens the listing, followed by Sun Dogs (1982), Countrymen of Bones (1983) and On Distant Ground (1985), and Late City (2021) is the newest entry. Christopher Marlowe Cobb is the character of one recorded series.

Barbara Longley writes romance, including time-travel and fantasy romance. A catalogue of 20 books opens with Heart of the Druid Laird (2011) and runs to His Heart’s Melody (2024). Subjects recorded across those titles include Scotland, Iraq War veterans, disabled veterans, single mothers, Indiana and Minnesota. Longley's series include Perfect, Indiana; Loch Moigh; Haneys; MacCarthy Sisters; and Star Launch. The catalogue is ongoing.

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.

Elly Griffiths

49 books• 6 series

Elly Griffiths is the pen name of Domenica de Rosa, a British crime novelist born in 1963. Three series appear under the Griffiths name: the Ruth Galloway books, a series featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto, and the Harbinder Kaur novels. The catalogue lists 49 books from 2001 to 2026, the earliest being The Little Book of Shakespeare and Food, credited as Domenica de Rosa. The Crossing Places (2009) and The Janus Stone (2010) come later, and the Justice Jones and Ali Dawson series are also listed. Subjects include women forensic anthropologists and archaeologists.