Dirk Pitt Thriller Series - Clive Cussler/ Dirk Cussler

Clive and Dirk Cussler

Clive Cussler, 1931-2020, was not only a novelist, but a real-life undersea explorer. He received numerous awards not only for writing, but for his maritime exploits.

Although the books tend to be highly on the fantastic side, often with alternative history, and almost techo-thrillers, you can be relatively sure the marine science is all based in fact.

The Dirk Pitt novels have a central theme of being underwater thrillers, usually revolving around recovery of some treasure or shipwreck. The series was begun by Clive Cussler who also founded the actual agency called the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) that appears in the books. Several books were co-authored with his son Dirk, who continued the series after his father's death in 2020.

They almost always begin with some real or possible episode in history that then ties in to the present-day plot.

The books include a fair amount of hardcore fighting, and the plots are always tied to deep sea explorations or recovery operations.

Recurring characters:
Dirk Pitt
Dirk Pitt, Junior- Dirk's son
Summer Pitt- Dirk's daughter
Hiran Yaeger, tech guru
Al Giordino, underwater technology director
Rudi Gunn, NUMA assistant director
James Sendecker, Admiral US Navy, then US Vice President

#1 The Mediterranean Caper 1973

#2 Iceberg 1975

#3 Raise the Titanic! 1976

#4 Vixen 03 1978

#5 Night Probe 1981

#6 Pacific Vortex! 1983

#7 Deep Six 1984

#8 Cyclops 1986

#9 Treasure 1988

#10 Dragon 1990

#11 Sahara 1992

#12 Inca Gold 1994

#13 Shock Wave 1996
This volume is overly long and the science seems totally suspect, even for a fictional thriller. But there is no end to the thrills.

The book begins with a totally fictional story of a ship transporting convicts from Britain to Austrailia in the 1700s. It founders in a storm and the captain along with a handfull of crew and passengers survives and establishes residence on a small volcanic island. Eventually the captain and ship's carpenter are rescued and taken back to civilization, but the others choose to stay on the island and establish a small population, headed by Highwayman Dorsett and thief Betsy Fletcher. Near the end of the Captain's life, these settlers send him their children to be educated in England. They also send uncut diamonds to pay for that education.

The main story takes up 4 generations later with the most prominent of the Dorsett descendents running his own diamond cartel. He has returned to Gladiator Island (named for the original ship) and is mining the two "pipes," one in each volcano, for the diamonds. He is ruthless and greedy. His three daughters are all Amazons. The youngest gave birth to twin sons out of wedlock, and she alone opposes her father. The father has kidnapped the boys and is using them to manipulate Maeve to do his bidding.

Meanwhile, an unexplained plague has wiped out a whole colony of penguins and also killed most of the people aboard a cruise vessel. Apparently by chance, Maeve who is one of the tour guides, survives. On a nearby ship, oddly enough, one of her older sisters has also survived.

Pitt and NUMA are sent to investigate the event. Pitt and Maeve are attracted to each other.

The "plague" turns out to be engineered by papa Dorsett for reasons of personal gain, and NUMA is determined to save the next target, the city of Honululu.

#14 Flood Tide 1997

#15 Atlantis Found 1999
This begins with many things that I really love in a good thriller- an asteroid strike in Hudson Bay at the end of the last ice age (actually an hypothesis that won't die), an ancient chamber discovered in a mine cave-in, an unknown alphabet.

The story just gets more crazy from there. Don't look for reality, just go with the flow. The Fourth Destiny has been working for decades to take over the world by causing another catastrophe similar to the one that occurred after the pre-historic asteroid strike. Of course Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino are in the middle of the action.

I'll admit to being disappointed that even though there is a graphic with the unknown alphabet, the story doesn't go in to any detail about decoding it. The premise is that whatever Atlantis was, it certainly wasn't called that at the time. The book posits that it was a connected series of port cities that traveled the entire globe until the tidal waves caused by the asteroid wiped it out.

As is true in several of the books, they meet "Dad," who is Clive Cussler.

#16 Valhalla Rising 2001

#17 Trojan Odyssey 2003

#18 Black Wind 2004 (with Dirk Cussler)
Black Wind begins with a Japanese submarine being sent to the west coast of the US near the end of World War ii with a payload of biological warfare "bombs," but the sub is sunk without ever delivering the deadly cargo.

Two men stationed at a remote Coast Guard station in Alaska, and their dog, die from cyanide poisoning, and apparently connected to that episode, a reasearch team downwind is exposed to smallpox. When NUMA goes to explore the possible location of the source of these airborne threats, their helicopter is shot down by a Asians on a fishing trawler.

These events and other odd incidents appear to be linked to the Japanese Red Army, a militant group that had be thought long defunct.

However, it turns out that someone else is attempting to recover the lost biological weapons while diverting the blame to Japan. The action goes on and on for 600 pages.

#19 Treasure of Khan 2006 (with Dirk Cussler)

#20 Arctic Drift 2008 (with Dirk Cussler)

#21 Crescent Dawn 2010 (with Dirk Cussler)

#22 Poseidon's Arrow 2012 (with Dirk Cussler)

#23 Havana Storm 2014 (with Dirk Cussler)

#24 Odessa Sea 2016 (with Dirk Cussler)

#25 Celtic Empire 2019 (with Dirk Cussler)

#26 Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea 2021 (by Dirk Cussler)

#27 Clive Cussler's The Corsican Shadow 2023 (by Dirk Cussler)
The story begins during WWII in 1940 when a man appears on the dock at LeHavre, France. I tries to get aboard a channel ferry for England. When he is denied passage, in desperation he attempts to at least have his suitcases taken. Meanwhile, a German air strike creates chaos.

Jump ahead to the present. Someone is apparently saboutaging metropolitan water supplies. Dirk Pitt is part of an operation to explore and salvage the wreck of a channel ferry. An international businessman is attempting to scrape together enough money to avoid total ruin at the hands of the mafia.

Fairly worthless industrial diamonds are found aboard the wreck that Dirk explored. But the more they look into what should have been on that ferry, the more complicated things become.

And a young female French research scientist who is helping Dirk is have a love affair with a very shady character.

Mystery Series- Kay Scarpetta

Patricia Cornwell

The primary character in this series is Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, based in Richmond. Forensic science and the evidence which can be uncovered by an autopsy are the forces driving the plots.

Kay's neice, Lucy, is a primary character. Through the series, she grows from a tween into a brilliant and dangerous woman. Her forte is computers, but she manages to get into all kinds of scrapes. Her mother, Dorothy, is forever jealous of Aunt Kay, because Lucy really prefers Kay. Dorothy is narcissistic and man crazy. She and Kay have numerous fights. Their mother usually takes Dorothy's side. This family tension drives many of the side plots.

Scarpetta's love life evolves throughout the series.

I like this series a lot for the solid forensics with the dysfunctional relationships as counterpoint. Lucy is a favorite supporting role.

Recurring Characters:
Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for Virginia
Lucy, her neice
Dorothy, her sister
Pete Marino, policeman
Benton Wesley, FBI Special Agent
Temple Gault, archenemy criminal, appears in several books

#1 Postmortem 1990

#2 Body of Evidence 1991

#3 All That Remains 1992

#4 Cruel and Unusual 1993
As this book begins, a death row inmate is about to be electrocuted. His sentence is not commuted, and the body comes to Scarpettas morgue. A minor accident involving some broken bottles of formalin distracts the autopsy assistant, and fingerprints of the dead man are not taken.

Then a fingerprint that matches the dead man's file turns up at a new murder scene. While trying to sort this out, they discover that all official records of the prints of this criminal have disappeared from the police files.

Lucy comes to visit her aunt and quickly demonstrates how easily someone who knew how could make changes in the database records. This is the first book where we see how adept Lucy is with computers.

When more murders occur with confusing evidence, the press begins a campaign to smear Scarpetta and make it look like she hasn't been doing her job.

#5 The Body Farm 1994
The Body Farm is a real place, correctly called the University of Tennessee's Forensic Anthropology Center. There research is done to determine how bodies decompose under various environmental conditions. It plays a key role in determining the location where a murder occurred in this book.

Scarpetta, Marino, and Wesley are called to North Carolina as a special task force to help solve the murder of a young girl in a small town. The crime seems to mirror several committed in Cruel and Unusual. The harder the trio hunts for clues the more perplexing the situation becomes.

Marino is a heart attack waiting to happen, and he becomes involved with the mother of the murdered girl. Kay and Benton discover they are attracted to each other, despite Benton's seemingly placid marriage.

Lucy gets her first job with the FBI, working on a program to track violent criminals. But soon it appears that Lucy has gone rogue and broken into the FBI's entire database to sell espionage secrets.

#6 From Potter's Field 1995

#7 Cause of Death 1996

#8 Unnatural Exposure 1997

#9 Point of Origin 1998

#10 Scarpetta's Winter Table 1998

#11 Black Notice 1999

#12 The Last Precinct 2000

#13 Blow Fly 2003

#14 Trace 2004

#15 Predator 2005

#16 Book of the Dead 2007

#17 Scarpetta 2008

#18 The Scarpetta Factor 2009

#19 Port Mortuary 2010

#20 Red Mist 2011

#21 The Bone Bed 2012

#22 Dust 2013

#23 Flesh and Blood 2014

#24 Depraved Heart 2015

#25 Chaos 2016

#26 Autopsy 2021

#27 Livid 2022

#28 Unnatural Death 2023

#28 Identity Unknown 2024

#30 Sharp Force 2025

Mystery Series - Lucas Davenport

John Sandford (Random House)

Lucas Davenport is the creation of John Sandford (born 1944), pseudonym of John Roswell Camp. Throughout the long series, Davenport evolves.

Davenport has various roles in the Minneapolis Police Department, or in some way connected to it, as he has several run-ins with them over the course of his career. In some books he works for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, or is a US Marshall.

His family life provides counterpoint to the high-action police work.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Lucas Davenport
Sister Mary Joseph (Elle Kruger)
Weather Karkinnen- his wife
Kidd- computer genius (there is a separate series featuring him)
Letty- adopted daughter
Virgil Flowers- fellow detective (there is a separate series featuring him)

#1 Rules of Prey (1989)

#2 Shadow Prey (1990)

#3 Eyes of Prey (1991)

#4 Silent Prey (1992)

#5 Winter Prey (1993)

#6 Night Prey (1994)

#7 Mind Prey (1995)
A mother and her two daughters are kidnapped in broad daylight by throwing them into a van as the girls are being picked up after school. The woman is a psychiatrist. It is unclear if the kidnapper is a former patient or a family member. There is big money in the family and a convoluted chain of inheritance if the mother and/or children die.

Davenport's gaming company is strongly involved in the solution to the crime.

This book has some violent content involving children, so it's probably not a good read for people who are sensitive on this topic.
Lucas Davenport is trying to decide whether to ask Weather Karkinnen to marry him.

#8 Sudden Prey (1996)

#9 Secret Prey (1998)

#10 Certain Prey (1999)

#11 Easy Prey (2000)

#12 Chosen Prey (2001)

#13 Mortal Prey (2002)

#14 Naked Prey (2003)

#15 Hidden Prey (2004)

#16 Broken Prey (2005)

#17 Invisible Prey (2007)

#18 Phantom Prey (2008)

#19 Wicked Prey (2009)

#20 Storm Prey (2010)

#21 Buried Prey (2011)

#22 Stolen Prey (2012)

#23 Silken Prey (2013)
This book is full of political intrigue, and your interest in that sort of complexity could affect how much you like the story.

Child pornography is found on the computer of the man running against the governonr in the election. However, the governor himself thinks the man is being framed and calls in Davenport to find out the truth of the matter because even though it is his political opponent.

The story runs from political intrigue to cyber crime to burglary. Everyone who is pursuing the case believes that someone from the opposing team is responsible, but it's hard to see how it could be done.

This is one of the books that is a crossover with the Kidd series. Computer nerd Kidd can crack almost anything.

#24 Field of Prey (2014)

#25 Gathering Prey (2015)

#26 Extreme Prey (2016)

#27 Golden Prey (2017)

#28 Twisted Prey (2018)

#29 Neon Prey (2019)

#30 Masked Prey (2020)

#31 Ocean Prey (2021)

#32 Righteous Prey (2022)
A small group five of Bitcoin billionaires decides that they are going to rid the world of one really bad person each. And they are going to do it with high publicity, taking credit for each killing.

The first two murders take place without a hitch, but when they attempt one in the Twin Cities, Davenport finds a few cracks in their careful planning.

Things begin to unravel for the Five, and law enforcement manages to figure out who is to be the next victim. They set up an elaborate surveillance.

The leader of the Five is identified, but can the entire group be found and rounded up?

#33 Judgment Prey (2023)

#34 Toxic Prey (2024)

Navajo Tribal Police - Tony and Anne Hillerman

Tony Hillerman (fair use)

Tony Hillerman, May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008, was the author of a series of mysteries featuring Navajo tribal police. The first three books feature Joe Leaphorn. The next three feature Jim Chee. After that, both men are included in the books. The crimes are always more mysterious due to the lack of understanding between Navajo, Hopi and white people's ways of thinking. They are set in the American Southwest.

Recurring Characters of note:
Joe Leaphorn, Navajo Tribal Police
Jim Chee, Navajo Tribal Police
Bernadette Manuelito, eventual wife of Jim Chee

#1 The Blessing Way (1970)

#2 Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

#3 Listening Woman (1978)

#4 People of Darkness (1980)

#5 The Dark Wind (1982)
The book opens with three Hopi men walking back from collecting spruce branches for a sacred ceremony. The find the body of a man, but since he is Navajo, and they do not want to disrupt their own ceremony, they do not report it. The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet have been cut off the dead man. By the time the body is found it is badly decomposed.

A small plane with pilot and passenger is night flying in to an arroyo bringing a cargo of cocaine. The experienced pilot crashes. When the plane is found, both men are dead, a third man has a bullet in his back, and the drugs are missing.

This incident occurs on land that has recently been transferred to the Hopi tribe by the government. It used to be Navajo. A well was dug for the Hopi, but the windmill has been severely vandalized three times.

How are these incidents related? Jim Chee is new to this jurisdiction, and he is sent to look into only the windmill damage. But he can't help but find evidence relating to the other issues.

#6 The Ghostway (1984)

#7 Skinwalkers (1986)

#8 A Thief of Time (1988)

#9 Talking God (1989)

#10 Coyote Waits (1990)
Jim Chee is patroling late one night when he receives a radio transmission from a fellow officer. They are planning to meet for coffee. While they are in contact, the officer claims he sees a person he has been chasing, someone who is vandalizing rock outcroppings with paint. He tells Chee he's going to check it out, then laughs at something.

Chee makes the decision that it does not require backup, but after the other officer does not arrive at their rendevouz, he goes to investigate, and finds the officer has been shot dead. He finds an old Navajo man, drunk, walking down the road with the murder weapon in his possession.

The case seems straightforward, but tribal family obligations force Joe Leaphorn to investigate.

#11 Sacred Clowns (1993)

#12 The Fallen Man (1996)

#13 The First Eagle (1998)

#14 Hunting Badger (1999)

#15 The Wailing Wind (2002)
Young and new, Officer Bernadette Manuelito finds a dead man in a pickup truck in one of the many dry arroyos of the area. Seeing no wounds, she assumes he drank himself to death like so many others have done. Her hobby is botany, and while waiting for other authorities to arrive, she collects some seeds for certain Navajo ceremonies and carries them in a cast-off tobacco tin she finds.

But the tin has ties not only to the dead man, but to an old murder, and a long lost gold mine. Chee and Leaphorn manage to get the tobacco tin re-placed at the site without getting Bernadette in trouble.

Denton Wiley had confessed to the old murder, served his time, and is still hunting for his wife who disappeared at about the same time. He engages Joe Leaphorn to try to find her. How are all these events related?

#16 The Sinister Pig (2003)

#17 Skeleton Man (2004)

#18 The Shape Shifter (2006)

After Tony's death, Anne Hillerman wrote the following books:

#19 2013 Spider Woman's Daughter (2103)

#20 2015 Rock With Wings (2015)

#21 2017 Song of the Lion (2017)

#22 2018 Cave of Bones (2018)

#23 2019 The Tale Teller (2019)

#24 2021 Stargazer (2021)

#25 2022 The Sacred Bridge (2022)

#26 2023 The Way of the Bear (2023)

#27 2024 Lost Birds (2024)

Mystery Series - J.P. Beaumont

J.A. Jance (Creative Commons)

Judith Ann Jance, born 1944, is an author of three different mystery series, all written under her own name. The Beaumont series features Jonas Pierpont Beaumont, a police detective from Seattle.

Technically, these are police procedurals, although Beaumont evolves through the series through various crime-fighting roles.

The Beaumont and Joanna Brady series converge in Partner in Crime, Fire and Ice, and briefly in Proof of Life.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Jonas Pierpont (J.P.) Beaumont, variously a policman, retiree, and private eye
Jonas Pierpont, J.P.'s grandfather
Mel Soames, his third wife
Ron Peters, a fellow detective
Ron's family, wife Amy, Heather and Tracie his daughters
Detective Kramer
Lars Jennsen, his AA sponsor

#1 Until Proven Guilty (1985)
#2 Injustice for All (1986)
#3 Trial by Fury (1986)
#4 Taking the Fifth (1987)
#5 Improbable Cause (1987)
#6 A More Perfect Union (1988)
#7 Dismissed with Prejudice (1989)
#8 Minor in Possession (1990)
#9 Payment in Kind (1991)
J.P. is teamed with detective Kramer because his own partner is ill. Kramer is obnoxious and self-serving. They are called to the scene of a double murder at a school administration building. A security guard and one of the staff are found dead in a janitor's closet, partially nude.

The woman's husband Pete is grief-stricken, but Kramer thinks he's a good suspect because the marriage seems to have been strained. J.P. doesn't quite agree, but he does think the man is lying about something.

Kramer continues to take all the credit for their successes in the case and blames J.P. for anything that goes wrong.

When Kramer manages to get Pete's fingerprints they learn that his name is not Pete Kelsey, and he deserted from the Army twenty years prior. But how does this give him a reason to kill his wife.

J.P. is reuninted with his grandparents after being estranged from them all his life.

This is an exceptionally clever and believable plot.

#10 Without Due Process (1993)
#11 Failure to Appear (1994)

#12 Lying in Wait (1995)

J.P.'s grandfather, from whom he gets the Pierpont name, has recently died. He is attempting to pay more attention to his grandmother.

A horrific death in a fishing boat fire turns out to be a torture murder, and the widow is a woman J.P. attended school with. Else was a cheerleader when he was a basketball player. Also living at the fishing marina is a man named Alan Torvaldsen, who was also a classmate. The dead man is Guntar Gebhardt, whose father was an S.S. officer in World War II. Guntar quietly honored his father's memory with a secret collection of toy German soldiers.

But when a woman on a nearby island dies in a similar manner, all previous conclusions seem to be wrong.

This is a fast-paced book with twists and turns at every juncture.

#13 Name Withheld (1997)
#14 Breach of Duty (1999)
#15 Birds of Prey (2002)
#16 Partner in Crime (2003)
#17 Long Time Gone (2005)
#18 Justice Denied (2007)
A young man who has been released from prison as a result of DNA testing that proved he was not guilty of the crime for which he was convicted seems to be a model citizen. He is taking care of his grandmother who raised him when he is shot point blank and killed at her front door.

J.P. is living with Mel Soames, and they both work for a special task force created by the state Attorny General. Mel is looking at former sex offenders. A disproportionate number of them have died under various scenarios after being released. She's also on the board of SESAC, a group of women who are dedicated to tracking down rapists using DNA from old rape kits that have never been tested.

J.P. has been assigned to examine old missing persons files. One is particularly puzzling. A man went missing the same day Mount St. Helens exploded, but the claim that he was fishing in the area and was vaporized doesn't seem to hold up.

Mel is briefly on the hot seat as it is discovered that she was in Cancun at the same time as the man who abused her best friend as a child. That friend was the reason she had joined SESAC.

Suddenly, a mysterious connection between several of these cases materializes.

J.P.'s children are now grown and Kelly has two children of her own. They all come home for J.P.'s grandmother's funeral.

#29 Fire and Ice (2009)
#20 Betrayal of Trust (2011)
#21 Ring in the Dead (novella, 2013)
#22 Second Watch (2013)
#23 Stand Down (novella, 2015)
#24 Dance of the Bones (2015) (Brandon Walker crossover)

#25 Proof of Life (2017)
Beau has retired, had knee replacement surgery, and is living happily with his third wife, Mel Soames. She is Chief of Police in Bellingham, WA. While they are having dinner out, an acquaintance of theirs, Max, a journalist stops by the table and makes several cryptic statements. Since he and Beau were never on good terms, Beau doesn't pay much attention.

However, just hours later, Max is dead. A young woman, not a blood relative of Max's, but nevertheless one of his only friends and his heir asks Beau to look into the death. She suspects it is not an accident.

If you are a dog lover, this is a great book. Beau and Mel end up "temporarily" babysitting a black Irish Wolfhound. Not only is Lucy Rambo a loveable addition to the story, she plays a large role in the denouement.

#26 Still Dead (novella, 2017)

#27 Sins Of The Fathers (2019)
#28 Nothing to Lose (2022)
#29 Den of Iniquity (2024)

Mystery Series - Anna Pigeon

Nevada Barr (Creative Commons license)

Nevada Barr, born 1952, is best known for her Nevada Barr series of mysteries set in various US National Parks and Historic Sites. The book series grew out of personal knowledge, as Barr worked as a ranger early in her life. With a background in theater, she pulled together the critical elements to write a best-selling series.

Anna Pigeon's character evolves throughout the series, but is always involved in rough-and-tumble, serious situations. The settings make the series. These are definitely not cozies, and in fact, beginning with Burn they really morph into thrillers.

#1 Track of the Cat (1993) set in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
#2 A Superior Death (1994) set in Isle Royale National Park

#3 Ill Wind (1995) set in Mesa Verde National Park
Anna is assigned to law enforcement in the area of the Anasazi Cliff Dwellers' caves. It's a busy tourist season, and due to a housing shortage, she is sharing dorm space with some of the youngest of the staff. Between beer parties and the annoyance of southern belle Jennifer who seems so unfit to be a ranger, and Jamie the interpreter who insists she is Native, but Anna suspects otherwise, Anna is having a difficult summer. There have been an unusual number of medical emergancies, attributed to the high altitude. After one young girl dies from a severe asthma attack, Anna decides to check current records with previous years to compare the frequecy of medical evacuations.

Not only does she confirm a much higher rate in the current season, but she discovers a pattern to the emergencies. Jamie attributes it to the displeased spirits of the Anasazi who have been appearing during the nights.

Then one of Anna's favorite rangers goes missing.

#4 Firestorm (1996) set in Lassen Volcanic National Park
#5 Endangered Species (1997) set in Cumberland Island National Seashore
#6 Blind Descent (1998) set in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
#7 Liberty Falling (1999) set in Statue of Liberty National Monument
#8 Deep South (2000) set in Natchez Trace Parkway
#9 Blood Lure (2001) set in Glacier National Park
#10 Hunting Season (2002) set in Natchez Trace Parkway
#11 Flashback (2003) set in Dry Tortugas National Park
#12 High Country (2004) set in Yosemite National Park
#13 Hard Truth (2005) set in Rocky Mountain National Park
#14 Winter Study (2008) set in Isle Royale National Park
#15 Borderline (2009) set in Big Bend National Park

#16 Burn (2010) set in New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
A house fire is watched by a young mother, and she believes her two daughters have died in the blaze. Then she learns that they are not dead, but she is under suspicion for setting the fire. She goes on a mission to find the girls while remaining on the run.

Anna is on leave after the traumatic events of Borderline which was supposed to be a respite in itself. She's in New Orleans and living in the cottage of a friend. A young punk named Jordan turns out to be one of her neighbors. The boy seems to be involved in voodoo and other strange practices.

#17 The Rope (2012) set in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
#18 Destroyer Angel (2014) set in Superior National Forest
#19 Boar Island (2016) set in Acadia National Park

Mystery Series - Alex Cross

James Patterson

James Patterson, born 1947, is one of the most prolific and richest authors of all time. He has written or co-authored well over 100 books. There are currently 32 books in the Alex Cross series.

Alex Cross is a psychologist and police detective, an FBI agent, and one of the most popular fictional black heroes. He's a large man with plenty of brains to go with his imposing presence. His family is highly important to him. Since his first wife was killed, he is continually searching for another woman.

These are police and/or psychological thrillers with plenty of gory and disturbing details.

Series location: primarily Washington, DC and surrounding area.

Recurring characters of note
Maria- Cross' first wife, the mother of Damon and Jannie
Nana Mama- Cross' grandmother who has always been in charge
Damon- his oldest child
Jannie (Janelle)- his daughter
Ali (Alex Junior)- son by his second wife
John Sampson- Cross' partner, they've been friends since childhood, a 6'9" giant
Kyle Craig- an enigma who fills several roles throughout the series
Adele Finaly- Alex's own therapist
Gary Soneji- a recurring nemesis

#1 Along Came a Spider (1993)
In this series opener, Alex and his friend John Sampson seem closer to their black-culture background with a lot of jive talk and comments about being given no respect by whites. They are investigating the murder of three black people from one family when they are pulled off the case to investigate the kidnapping of two rich white children from a prestigious day school. The are naturally resentful.

The math teacher, Gary Soneji, has abducted Maggie Rose and "Shrimpie" Goldberg.

We are let into the twisted mind of Gary Soneji for the first time, with his manic desire to be "The Son of Lindburgh" and to perpetrate the "Crime of the Century." But "Shrimpie" dies by accident as his frail constitution can't handle the dose of sedatives Soneji gives him.

We meet Alex's family- Nana Mama who has raised him since he was ten after his mother died. Nana is a retired schoolteacher and then principal. She doesn't pull any punches. His first wife, Maria, has been dead two years, and Damon and Jannie are still young enough to cuddle.

A fluke mistake results in Soneji's capture. Alex interviews him multiple times in prison, wondering if the man is a consummate actor or truly has multiple personalities.

Meanwhile, the Secret Service men who were assigned to the children are let go. Their supervisor, Jezzie Flannagan, hasn't been fired, but she's depressed. She turns to Alex for comfort and they begin a torrid affair, each sharing hurts from their pasts.

But Soneji masterminds a brilliant escape from the prison.

Note: this was made into a movie starring Morgan Freeman, but don't even bother with the movie. About all it has in common with the book is the very basics of the plot and the characters. It's shallow and doesn't hold together well at all.
#2 Kiss the Girls (1995)

#3 Jack & Jill (1996)
The book begins with an immediate introduction into two high-profile cases. There are a man and woman who are killing people in Washington, DC, apparently chosen at random as part of a bizarre game. Also, someone is murdering small children who attend the same school as Cross' son.

There is more than one twist to the plot before the cases are resolved.

The spectre of Gary Soneji is never far from Alex's mind.

We learn how Alex's parents died and why Nana Mama raised him since he was nine years old. It is mentioned how Alex's first wife died, but this contradicts the details given in Cross. He meets Christine.

#4 Cat and Mouse (1997)
There are two intertwined plots in this book. Alex's nemesis Gary Soneji is still around and intent on mass murders with more apparent abandon then previously. Cross figures out why the man has changed and tries to get ahead of his thinking. Another murderer, dubbed Mr. Smith, has been methodically killing and dismembering one person at a time across the globe. Thomas Pierce is brought in by the FBI, as his amateur study of the killer is most thorough.

Soneji meets his own supposed death, but vows to reach out and kill Cross from beyond the grave. The very next day, the detective is brutally attacked.

Cross is healing from the death of his first wife, the mother of his children. He begins to fall in love with the prinicpal of his children's school, Christine.

#5 Pop Goes the Weasel (1999)
Alex and Christine decide to get married, and the entire family is thrilled. She seems to be perfect for them all.

At work, they are dealing with a number of murders of prostitues in the Southeast (black) section of DC. Of course, the department mostly ignores this situation. Alex and his police friends are working on their own time to find the killer, but the Chief finds out and suspends the other three.

Meanwhile, we learn that there are four ex-MI6 agents playing a game of their own design called The Four Horsemen. Death, on a pale horse, was formerly a government assassin who developed a taste for killing. When Alex gets a little to close to discovering his identity, Christine is kidnapped.

Time drags on. Christine is not found, but Alex does not give up hope because he receives several phone calls which cryptically inform him that "we have her." The Chief of Detectives assigns Patsy to the find the murderer nicknamed "The Weasel." But Patsy begins to realize that Alex was doing a good job and the Chief was trying to make Cross look bad.
#6 Roses are Red (2000)

#7 Violets Are Blue (2001)
In a series this long by a good writer, you can expect to find a lot of interesting sub-genres. The theme of this book is vampires. It builds on the premise that there is a large cult of people who actually believe they are vampires.

It's no secret from the beginning that two attractive young brothers see themselves as vampires. They were raised lawlessly, by hippies, and believe none of the rules of society apply to them. They don't even really think there are rules.

But how does the story play out as Cross chases down "vampire murders" over the course of more than a decade of cases.

#8 Four Blind Mice (2002)
This book has only one story, and the reader is told right up front what is going on. An Army officer is found guilty of murdering three women. He swears he is innocent, and he is a friend of John Sampson. So Cross, who is trying to resign from being a detective, agrees to look into it. We immediately learn that the murders were done by a group of three other ex-military men, code name Three Blind Mice.

How are they finally brought to justice, why did it all happen, and who is the Fourth Mouse?

We learn about John Sampson's childhood. Nana Mama is 82 and may finally be showing her age. Alex's current flame is a Detective from SanFrancisco named Jamilla.

#9 The Big Bad Wolf (2003)
#10 London Bridges (2004)
#11 Mary, Mary (2005)
Someone in Los Angeles is killing mothers who have multiple children. The perpetrator is sending emails to a journalist about the crimes, claiming to be "Mary Smith." Cross is called in to consult (he's now with the FBT) and suspects the killer is a man using a woman's name. But no one can be sure.

We meet a woman named Mary who has three children. She apparently also suffers from lapses of time where she blacks out and can't remember what she did.

Alex is trying to gain custody of his youngest child, Ali, but Ali's mother seems to switch between being rational and vindictive.

The plot is complex and intriguing. We are let inside the killer's head a fair amount, but that doesn't really help identify the person until almost at the end of the book.

#12 Cross (2006)
This book begins with a flashback to when and how his first wife Maria died, killed by a hit man's bullet.

Then it jumps ahead to 2005 when Alex sees a hit man take a bow before he disappears. The hit man turns out the be "The Butcher," who works for the mob, freelances, and is a serial rapist for kicks. He leaves no one alive who threatens him. Is there a connection to Maria's death? Cross and Sanders embark on a long quest to hunt down "The Butcher."

#13 Double Cross (2007)
Bizarre murders begin happening that appear to be staged, literally, as in the murderer is committing them as if he is an actor on a large stage. There seems to be some clue left by the killer at each one, but Cross is having a hard time figuring out what it means.

Also, Alex is in jeopardy from Kyle Craig, despite the man being in prison.

His current girlfriend is named Bree, who is also a Detective.

#14 Cross Country (2008)
This is one of the more horrific and brutal books in the series. Alex investigates two incidents in Washington, DC, where the entire family was killed. He knows one of the victims. His search for justice takes him to Africa where he witnesses the insanity and injustice of anarchy in Siera Leone, Niger, and the Sudan. In fact, he becomes the victim of a fair amount of brutality himself.

He finally returns home, beaten both literally and in his quest for justice. There, he learns that his family has disappeared and he is kidnapped yet again.

Warning- this is a seriously violent story.

#15 Alex Cross's Trial (2009)

#16 I, Alex Cross (2009)
Alex's neice, whom he has not seen for quite a few years is murdered, and her body is disposed of in a most brutal manner. Cross gets involved in trying to solve this crime which leads him to an exclusive sex club. It involves all the alphabet soup agencies, and even the White House.

Meanwhile, Nana Mama, who is in her 90s although she won't admit to an exact age, has a heart attack.

#17 Cross Fire (2010)

#18 Kill Alex Cross (2011)
The children of the US President manage to evade their Secret Servce protectors and while out of their sight, Ethan and Zoe are kidnapped. A van is seen speeding from the school, a chase and crash ensue, but when the van is cut open, the children are not there.

Meanwhile, terrorism on US soil rachets up a notch with a potential attack on the water supply.

Alex is still with Bree.

#19 Merry Christmas, Alex Cross (2012)
#20 Alex Cross, Run (2013)
#21 Cross My Heart (2013)
#22 Hope to Die (2014)
#23 Cross Justice (2015)
#24 Cross the Line (2016)
#25 The People vs. Alex Cross (2017)
#26 Target: Alex Cross (2018)

#27 Criss Cross (2019)
Following the execution of a serial killer, Alex and John Sampson return to D.C. only to find that a copycat killer is toying with them. Or did they work to convict and execute an innocent man? This new murder and many subsequent crimes are tagged with a note from "M." Is this their old nemesis the "Mastermind?"

"M" seems to know way too much about everything, and Alex even begins to question whether someone he saw did is actually dead.

Ali, Alex's son (now 10 years old), becomes interested in mountain biking and strikes up a friendship with an Army Captain. With so many threats to his own life and his family, does Cross dare trust this near stranger to be friends with his son?

#28 Deadly Cross (2020)
#29 Fear No Evil (2021)
#30 Triple Cross (2022)
#31 Cross Down (2023) (co-written with Brenden DuBois; also a John Sampson solo book)[2]
#32 Alex Cross Must Die (2023)

Mystery Series - Kinsey Millhone

photo by Mark Coggins

Sue Grafton (1940-2017) began writing the "Alphabet Series," after a fairly successful career as a screenwriter. The books are usually categorized as hard-boiled PI thrillers. However, Kinsey Millhone brings a softer touch between the adventurous parts. They are set in the fictional Santa Teresa, which is a thinly disguised verson of Santa Barbara, California.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Kinsey Millhone, policewoman and then private investigator
Henry, her neighbor and landlord
Rosie, Henry's Hungarian sister-in-law who runs a small restaurant
Con Dolan, a cop
Cheney Phillips, a cop

"A" Is for Alibi (1982)
We meet Kinsey for the first time and most of the regular cast of characters.

Kinsey is approached by Nikki who has just been released from jail after serving time for murdering her husband. She says she did not do it and hires Kinsey to find out who did.

The murdered man, a lawyer named Laurence Fife, wasn't a nice man. Nikki was his second wife, and he had had a long string of affairs as well. Kinsey begins interviewing the people involved. She finds herself strongly attracted to Laurence's law partner Charlie Scorsoni.

In her search for answers she leads the killer to discover someone else who knows too much.

"B" Is for Burglar (1985)
"C" Is for Corpse (1986)

"D" Is for Deadbeat (1987)
Kinsey is approached professionally by a man who has recently been released from prison. He wants to pay her to deliver a cashier's check for $25,000 to someone. She reluctantly accepts the job, but quickly learns that his payment to her has bounced, he's not who he said he was, and the person who is supposed to accept the cashier's check doesn't want it.

However, she still feels obligated to do something because the check is as good as cash. The deeper she digs, the messier things get.

"E" Is for Evidence (1988)
"F" Is for Fugitive (1989)

"G" Is for Gumshoe (1990)
Kinsey returns to her renovated home (after it was destroyed by a bomb), and takes on a job to locate an elderly woman who has lived most of her life as a recluse in a desert "community" populated by people considered homeless. But the woman is missing, and someone seems to be trying to kill Kinsey!

She becomes so alarmed that she hires a bodyguard, but working with him presents issues of a different kind. The woman is located. She is suffering from dementia and her daughter brings her to a nursing home nearby. Then the mother escapes. Relationships get complicated.

"H" Is for Homicide (1991)
I think this is one of the best books in the series. Kinsey begins with being only peripherally involved in the investigation of a network of insurance fraud where the perpetrators file small claims that can't be disproven. The number of claims adds up to significant losses for the insurance companies.

While trying to track down Bibianna, who may be involved in these scams she ends up being picked up and sent to jail with the woman. She doesn't dare blow her cover, so she plays along. Bibianna's boyfriend, Raymond, has Tourette's Syndrome. Most of the time, he's just odd, but when he has a full-blown attack he's unpredictable and scary. Kinsey ends up having to participate in the racket until she can make contact with anyone in the lawful world.

"I" Is for Innocent (1992)
"J" Is for Judgment (1993)
"K" Is for Killer (1994)
"L" Is for Lawless (1995)
"M" Is for Malice (1996)
"N" Is for Noose (1998)
"O" Is for Outlaw (1999)

"P" Is for Peril (2001)
Kinsey is asked to investigate what happened to Dr. Purcell who disappeared nine weeks earlier. The doctor's ex-wife is her client. The doctor's current young wife is very much a part of the investigation. It turns out that Purcell was about to be investigated for Medicare fraud as he is the administrator for a nursing facilty. That, coupled with a couple of disappearances in the past have made the authorities less interested in suspecting that something happened to the doctor. There have been no bodies matching his that turned up and no hospitals treating anyone matching his description.

Meanwhile, Kinsey is trying to find new office space. She finds a nice remodeled duplex half that is perfect for her needs. The brothers who are renting it seem fine at first, but before long, there seems to be something off about them.

"Q" Is for Quarry (2002)
Year is 1987. Millhone has just moved to new offices after years of sharing space in the Kingman building. Her friend, Con Dolan, is on medical leave after suffering a heart attack. He wants to privately look into a cold case with an old cop friend Stacey, who is being treated for cancer. Kinsey agrees to work with them.

This book is based on an actual case of an, even yet, unidentified body of a young girl who was murdered in 1969. Other than the basic facts of the body, the rest of the story is complete fiction.

Kinsey, Con, and Stacey travel to Lompoc to see where the body was found, and Kinsey is stunned to find it has connections to her estranged biological family. We learn how Kinsey's parents died when she was five.

"R" Is for Ricochet (2004)
"S" Is for Silence (2005)

"T" Is for Trespass (2007)
This is one of the very best of this series.

The elderly,, cranky neighbor of Kinsey and Henry, Gus, takes a fall and is badly injured. When he is able to return home, he needs the care of a home nurse since his only relative, a neice, lives in New York. Kinsey does a background check and hires Rosie to care for Gus. However, Gus fails to improve and Rosie moves in to help full-time.

Kinsey becomes suspicious, but Rosie continues to get good recommendations wherever Kinsey checks.

"U" Is for Undertow (2009)
"V" Is for Vengeance (2011)
"W" Is for Wasted (2013)
"X" (2015)
"Y" Is for Yesterday (2017)