James Patterson is one of the most prolific authors of our time. Here's how to read his many book series in chronological order.

How to read James Patterson books in order

James Patterson is a prolific author known for his gripping crime and thriller novels. He has written over 200 books, many of which feature popular recurring characters. Patterson's writing style is fast-paced and suspenseful, making his books a popular choice for readers looking for thrilling page-turners. Some of his most popular series include the Alex Cross series, the Women's Murder Club series, and the Maximum Ride series. Whether you're a long-time fan or just discovering his work, this guide will help you navigate James Patterson's extensive catalog and find your next thrilling read.

Who is James Patterson?

James Patterson is an American author and philanthropist who is known for his popular crime and thriller novels. He was born in 1947 in Newburgh, New York, and began his writing career in the 1970s. He has written over 200 books, many of which have become bestsellers and have been adapted into movies, TV shows, and graphic novels. Patterson is known for his fast-paced writing style, short chapters, and engaging plots. He writes in a variety of genres, including young adult fiction, true crime, thrillers, children’s books (like the Katt Dogg series), and more. In addition to his writing, he is a passionate advocate for literacy and education and has donated millions of dollars to support reading initiatives and bookstores.

An Introduction to James Patterson’s writing

James Patterson is a popular writer best recognized for his suspenseful crime and thriller thrillers. He has written numerous bestsellers including the Women's Murder Club series, Alex Cross series, Michael Bennett series, and Maximum Ride series. Patterson's writing style is fast-paced and engaging, with short chapters and thrilling plots. His work includes standalone novels such as When the Wind Blows, Mary Mary, and Roses Are Red. He has also co-written books with Brendan DuBois, as well as contributed to the BookShots series. Patterson's work has been adapted into movies and TV shows, and his books can be found on Amazon and in bookstores.

Book series written by James Patterson

James Patterson's thrilling book series is recommended to all mystery and thriller enthusiasts. His Women's Murder Club series follows a group of female friends solving crimes in San Francisco, while his Alex Cross series focuses on a detective and psychologist solving cases in Washington D.C. In Alex Cross’s Trial, Patterson delves into historical fiction, exploring the life of his famous protagonist's great-uncle. Mary Mary is a standalone novel that follows a detective solving a series of murders in Los Angeles. The People vs. Alex Cross finds Cross fighting for his own innocence in court. Patterson has also written numerous standalone books and contributed to Bookshots, a series of short stories. His books are a must-read for fans of thrillers and crime novels. The following are all the book series written by James Patterson:

• Alex Cross
• Women's Murder Club
• Michael Bennett
• Private
• Investigation Discovery’s True Crime Series
• NYPD Red
• Detective Harriet Blue
• Billy Harney
• Invisible
• Instinct
• Rory Yates
• Maximum Ride
• Daniel X
• Witch & Wizard
• Middle School
• Confessions
• Crazy House

Overview of James Patterson books in publication order

The year 1976 was significant in the literary world since it was the year James Patterson released his debut novel, The Thomas Berryman Number. The newest ones among other 396 books are Countdown (2023), Jacky Ha-Ha Gets the Last Laugh (2023), and The House of Wolves (2023). His books gave some of the world's most beloved characters and series, including Alex Cross, The Women's Murder Club, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, and many others. Let’s see the publication order of some of his most famous series, but do note there are even more book series by James Patterson than these listed here.

Alex Cross books

1. Along Came a Spider (1993)
2. Kiss the Girls (1995)
3. Jack & Jill (1996)
4. Cat and Mouse (1997)
5. Pop Goes the Weasel (1999)
6. Roses are Red (2000)
7. Violets are Blue (2001)
8. Four Blind Mice (2002)
9. The Big Bad Wolf (2003)
10. London Bridges (2004)
11. Mary, Mary (2005)
12. Cross (2006)
13. Double Cross (2007)
14. Cross Country (2008)
15. Alex Cross's Trial (2009)
16. I, Alex Cross (2009)
17. Cross Fire (2010)
18. Kill Alex Cross (2011)
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)
28. Deadly Cross (2020)
29. A Time for Mercy (2020)
30. Fear No Evil (2021)

Women's Murder Club books

1. 1st to Die (2001)
2. 2nd Chance (2002)
3. 3rd Degree (2004)
4. 4th of July (2005)
5. The 5th Horseman (2006)
6. The 6th Target (2007)
7. 7th Heaven (2008)
8. The 8th Confession (2009)
9. The 9th Judgment (2010)
10. 10th Anniversary (2011)
11. 11th Hour (2012)
12. 12th of Never (2013)
13. Unlucky 13 (2014)
14. 14th Deadly Sin (2015)
15. 15th Affair (2016)
16. “The Trial” (2016), novella
17. 16th Seduction (2017)
18. “The Medical Examiner” (2017), novella
19. 17th Suspect (2018)
20. 18th Abduction (2019)
21. 19th Christmas (2019)
22. 20th Victim (2020)
23. 21st Birthday (2021)
24. 22 Seconds (2022)

Michael Bennett books

The Michael Bennett series was co-written with Michael Ledwidge.

1. Step on a Crack (2007)
2. Run for Your Life (2009)
3. Worst Case (2010)
4. Tick Tock (2011)
5. I, Michael Bennett (2012)
6. Gone (2013)
7. Burn (2014)
8. Alert (2015)
9. Bullseye (2016)
10. Haunted (2017)
11. Ambush (2018)
12. Blindside (2019)
13. The Russian (2020)

Private series

1. Private (2010)
2. Private: #1 Suspect (2012)
3. Private Games (2012)
4. Private: No. 1 Suspect (2013)
5. Private Berlin (2013)
6. Private L.A. (2014)
7. Private India: City on Fire (2014)
8. Private Vegas (2015)
9. Private Sydney (2015)
10. Private Paris (2016)
11. The Games (2016)
12. Count to Ten (2017)
13. Princess: A Private Novel (201

Investigation Discovery’s True Crime series

1. Murder, Interrupted (2018)
2. Home Sweet Murder (2018)
3. Murder Beyond The Grave (2018)
4. Murder Thy Neighbor (2020)
5. Murder of Innocence (2020)
6. Till Murder Do Us Part (2021)

NYPD Red series

1. NYPD Red (2012)
2. NYPD Red 2 (2014)
3. NYPD Red 3 (2015)
4. NYPD Red 4 (2016)
5. NYPD Red 5, or Red Alert (2018)
6. NYPD Red 6 (2020)

Detective Harriet Blue series

The Detective Harriet Blue series was co-written between James Patterson and Candice Fox. It includes the prequel novella “Black & Blue” published in 2016.

1. Never Never (2016)
2. Fifty Fifty (2017)
3. Liar Liar (2018)
4. Hush Hush (2019)

Billy Harney series

1. The Black Book (2017)
2. The Red Book (2021)
3. Escape (2022)

Invisible series

The Invisible series was co-written with David Ellis.

1. Invisible (2014)
2. Unsolved (2019)

Instinct series

1. Murder Games, or Instinct (2017)
2. Killer Instinct (2019)
3. Steal (2022)

Rory Yates series

The Rory Yates series is co-written with Andrew Bourelle.

1. Texas Ranger (2018)
2. Texas Outlaw (2020)

Maximum Ride series

1. The Angel Experiment (2005)
2. School's Out—Forever (2006)
3. Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (2007)
4. The Final Warning (2008)
5. MAX (2009)
6. Fang (2010)
7. Angel (2011)
8. Nevermore (2012)
9. Maximum Ride Forever (2015)

Maximum Ride: Hawk series

1. Hawk (2020), co-written with Gabrielle Charbonnet
2. City of the Dead (2021), co-written with Mindy McGinnis

Daniel X series

1. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (2008)
2. Daniel X: Alien Hunter (2008)

1. Watch the Skies (2009)
2. Demons and Druids (2010)
3. Game Over (2011)
4. Armageddon (2012)
5. Lights Out (2015)

Ali Cross series

1. Ali Cross (2020)
2. Like Father Like Son (2021)
3. The Secret Detective (2022)

Dog Diaries series

The Dog Diaries series is co-written with Steven Butler.

1. Dog Diaries (2018)
2. Happy Howlidays! (2018)
3. Mission Impawsible (2019)
4. Curse of the Mystery Mutt (2019)
5. Camping Chaos! (2020)
6. Dinosaur Disaster (2022)

Jacky Ha-Ha series

The Jacky Ha-Ha series is co-written with Chris Grabenstein.

1. Jacky Ha-Ha (2016)
2. Jacky Ha-Ha: My Life is a Joke (2017)

Jacky Ha-Ha graphic novels

There are two companion graphic novels, or comics, that go with the Jacky Ha-Ha book series:

1. Jacky Ha-Ha: A Graphic Novel (2020)
2. Jacky Ha-Ha: My Life is a Joke: A Graphic Novel (2021)

House of Robots series

The House of Robots series is also co-written with Chris Grabenstein and is illustrated by Juliana Neufeld.

1. House of Robots (2014)
2. Robots Go Wild! (2015)
3. Robot Revolution! (2017)
4. House of Robots 4 (2022)

Treasure Hunters series

This is another series co-written with Chris Grabenstein (and Mark Shulman for the first book) and illustrated by Juliana Neufeld:

1. Treasure Hunters (2013)
2. Danger Down the Nile (2014)
3. Secret of the Forbidden City (2015)
4. Peril at the Top of the World (2016)
5. Quest for the City of Gold (2017)
6. All-American Adventure (2019)
7. The Plunder Down Under (2020)
8. The Ultimate Quest (2022)

I Funny series

The I Funny series is co-written with Chris Grabenstein and illustrated by Laura Park.

1. I Funny (2012)
2. I Even Funnier: A Middle School Story (2013)
3. I Totally Funniest: A Middle School Story (2015)
4. I Funny TV: A Middle School Story (2015)
5. I Funny School of Laughs: A Middle School Story (2017)
6. The Nerdiest, Wimpiest, Dorkiest I Funny Ever (2018)

Max Einstein series

This is another series co-written with Chris Grabenstein.

1. Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment (2018)
2. Max Einstein: Rebels With A Cause (2019)
3. Max Einstein: Saves the Future (2020)

Middle School series

The Middle School series has multiple co-authors, including Brian Sitts, and multiple illustrators.

1. Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (2011)
2. Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! (2012)
3. My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar (2013)
4. How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill (2013)
5. Ultimate Showdown (2014)
6. How I Got Lost in London (2014)
7. Save Rafe! (2014)
8. Just My Rotten Luck (2015)
9. Rafe's Aussie Adventure (2015)
10. Going Bush (2016)
11. Dog's Best Friend (2016)
12. Middle School: Hollywood 101 (2016)
13. Escape to Australia (2017)
14. Middle School: G'day, America (2018)
15. From Hero to Zero (2018)
16. Born to Rock (2019)
17. Middle School: Master of Disaster (2020)
18. Middle School: Field Trip Fiasco (2021)
19. Middle School: It's a Zoo in Here! (2022)

Confessions series

The Confessions series is co-written with Maxine Paetro.

1. Confessions of a Murder Suspect (2012)
2. Confessions: The Private School Murders (2013)
3. Confessions: The Paris Mysteries (2014)
4. Confessions: The Murder of an Angel (2015)

Crazy House series

The Crazy House series is co-written with Gabrielle Charbonnet.

1. Crazy House (2017)
2. Fall of Crazy House (2018)

Amy Cornwall series

The Amy Cornwall series is co-written with Brendan DuBois.

1. Out of Sight or The Cornwalls are gone (2019)
2. Countdown (2023)

Non-fiction books

While known for his fiction, James Patterson has also written many non-fiction books like the previously mentioned Investigation Discovery’s True Crime series, as well as the following books:

1. The Day America Told the Truth (1991)
2. The Second American Revolution: The People's Plan for Fixing America-Before Its Too Late (1994)
3. Torn Apart (2008)
4. Against Medical Advice (2008)
5. The Murder of King Tut (2009)
6. Trump vs. Clinton: In Their Own Words (2016)
7. Filthy Rich (2016)
8. All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderers' Row (2018)
9. The House of Kennedy (2020)
10. The Last Days of John Lennon (2020)
11. James Patterson by James Patterson: The Stories of My Life (2022)

Standalone novels

Standalone fiction novels from James Patterson include:

1. The Thomas Berryman Number (1976)
2. Season of the Machete (1977)
3. See How They Run, or The Jericho Commandment (1979)
4. Virgin, or Cradle and All (1980)
5. Black Market, or Black Friday (1986)
6. The Midnight Club (1989)
7. Hide and Seek (1996)
8. Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (2001)
9. The Beach House (2002)
10. The Jester (2003)
11. Sam's Letters to Jennifer (2004)
12. Lifeguard (2005)
13. Beach Road (2006)
14. Judge and Jury (2006)
15. The Quickie (2007)
16. You've Been Warned (2007)
17. Sail (2008)
18. Sundays at Tiffany's (2008)
19. Swimsuit (2009)
20. Don't Blink (2010)
21. The Postcard Killers (2010)
22. Bloody Valentine (2011)
23. Kill Me If You Can (2011)
24. Now You See Her (2011)
25. The Christmas Wedding (2011)
26. Toys (2011)
27. Guilty Wives (2012)
28. Mistress (2013)
29. The Murder House (2015)
30. Truth or Die (2015)
31. Woman of God (2016)
32. Black Dress Affair (2017)
33. Expelled (2017)
34. The Store (2017)
35. Juror No. 3, or Juror #3 (2018)
36. The 13-Minute Murder (2018)
37. The First Lady (2018)
38. The President Is Missing (2018)
39. The Cornwalls Are Gone (2019)
40. The Inn (2019)
41. The Warning (2019)
42. Lost (2020)
43. The Summer House (2020)
44. 1st Case (2020)
45. Cajun Justice (2020)
46. The Coast-to-Coast Murders (2020)
47. The Midwife Murders (2020)
48. Three Women Disappear (2020)
49. The President's Daughter (2021)
50. The Shadow (2021)
51. The Noise: A Thriller (2021)
52. 2 Sisters Detective Agency (2021)
53. Run, Rose, Run (2022)
54. Death of the Black Widow (2022)
55. Blowback (2022)

Short stories

James Patterson has of course written many short stories over the course of his career. There are many standalone short stories and novellas, as well as collections of James Patterson’s short stories including:

1. Triple Threat (2016)
2. Kill or Be Killed (2016)
3. The Moores are Missing (2017)
4. The Moores Are Missing (2017)
5. Two From the Heart (2017)
6. The Family Lawyer (2017)
7. Triple Homicide (2017)
8. Murder in Paradise (2018)
9. The House Next Door (2019)

BookShots

BookShots are a series of short, fast-paced books by James Patterson that can be read in one sitting. These novellas are designed to deliver a thrilling reading experience, with each story being under 150 pages. You should check James Patterson's official website for the most up-to-date information on his BookShots collection as he is a highly prolific author. Here is a list of BookShots by James Patterson:

1. Cross Kill (2016)—Alex Cross series
2. Zoo 2: Animal Instinct (2016)—Zoo series
3. The Trial (2016)—Women's Murder Club series
4. Little Black Dress (2016)
5. Learning to Ride (2016)
6. Chase (2016)—Michael Bennett series
7. Let's Play Make-Believe (2016)
8. The Witnesses (2016)
9. 113 Minutes (2016)—BookShots series
10. Killer Chef (2016)—BookShots series
11. Taking the Titanic (2016)—BookShots series
12. French Twist (2016)—BookShots series
13. The Christmas Mystery (2016)—BookShots series
14. The House Husband (2017)—BookShots series
15. After the End (2017)—BookShots series
16. The Medical Examiner (2017)—Women's Murder Club series
17. Manhunt (2017)—Michael Bennett series
18. The Family Lawyer (2017)—BookShots series
19. The Store (2017)—BookShots series
20. The Moores are Missing (2017)—BookShots series
21. The Dolls (2017)—BookShots series
22. Triple Threat (2017)—BookShots series
23. Stealing Gulfstreams (2017)—BookShots series
24. Diary of a Succubus (2017)—BookShots series
25. The Lawyer Lifeguard (2017)—BookShots series
26. The Shut-In (2017)—BookShots series
27. Private: Gold (2017)—Private series
28. The Palm Beach Murders (2018)—BookShots series
29. Scott Free (2018)—BookShots series
30. Private: Princess (2018)—Private series
31. Rebound (2018) - BookShots series
32. The Chef (2019)—BookShots series
33. The House Next Door (2019)—BookShots series
34. The River Murders (2019)—BookShots series

James Patterson Audiobooks

James Patterson's books are available in audiobook format for those who prefer to listen to their favorite stories on the go or during their daily routine. One platform where you can find a collection of James Patterson's audiobooks is Speechify. Speechify is an innovative platform that offers a wide selection of audiobooks, including James Patterson's popular series and standalone novels. The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and high-quality audio narration, which makes for a fantastic listening experience. With Speechify, you can easily find and listen to James Patterson's audiobooks, such as the Alex Cross series, Women's Murder Club series, Michael Bennett series, Private series, and many more. Speechify's extensive library ensures that fans of Patterson's work will always have access to their favorite books.

Speechify

In addition to offering an extensive collection of audiobooks, Speechify provides a range of services to enhance your listening experience. Their app is available on iOS and Android devices, allowing you to listen to your favorite audiobooks anytime, anywhere. Speechify also offers features such as adjustable playback speed, easy navigation through chapters, and offline listening, so you can enjoy Patterson's thrilling stories even without an internet connection. To start enjoying James Patterson's audiobooks on Speechify, simply sign up for an account, browse their library, and select the titles you wish to listen to. With Speechify's seamless experience and vast collection, you can dive into the world of James Patterson and indulge in hours of gripping storytelling.