Lincoln Child Books in Order

Lincoln Child is an American thriller author best known for co-creating the Pendergast series with Douglas Preston, a collaboration that started with Relic in 1995 and has continued over twenty New York Times bestselling novels, with several reaching #1. Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were both selected by NPR readers as among the 100 greatest thrillers ever written.

Before he became an author, Child worked eight years at St. Martin’s Press, starting from editorial assistant to full editor. He edited well over a hundred books and founded the publisher’s mass-market horror division. During this time, he also edited Douglas Preston’s nonfiction book Dinosaurs in the Attic, which created a working and friendly relationship that would last for decades. The initial result of their collaboration was Relic, which launched the Pendergast series and reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Lincoln Child left publishing in 1987 to work in tech at MetLife. When Relic was published, he left to write full time. He has also written the solo Jeremy Logan series, which follows a Yale professor who investigates phenomena that have no obvious rational explanation, a series that has also created multiple bestsellers.

This page lists all Lincoln Child books in order, including the Pendergast series and other work co-authored with Douglas Preston, the Jeremy Logan series, and his standalone novels.

Latest Lincoln Child Books

More upcoming releases:

• Dead Man’s Journey (January 2027)

How the Series Connect

Lincoln Child’s two main series, Pendergast (co-authored with Douglas Preston) and Jeremy Logan (solo series) are not related at all. They share no characters or settings. You can start either one without any knowledge of the other.

The one exception is within the Pendergast universe itself: several books in the Nora Kelly series (also co-authored with Douglas Preston) feature characters that were first introduced in the Pendergast novels. See the Douglas Preston page for details on that overlap.

FBI Agent Pendergast Series (Books in Order)

The Pendergast series follows FBI Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast, an eccentric, independently wealthy FBI investigator from New Orleans who takes on cases that combine crime, science, history, and the genuinely unexplained. He works solo and gets no assignments from the Bureau, lives in and works a mansion on Riverside Drive in New York, and brings a certain charm, an especially high level of intelligence, and a unique style to every investigation.

For the full Pendergast reading order, see Pendergast Books in Order.

Co-authored with Douglas Preston.

1. Pendergast: The Beginning, 2026
2. Relic, 1995
3. Reliquary, 1997
4. The Cabinet of Curiosities, 2002
5. Still Life with Crows, 2003
6. Brimstone, 2004
7. Dance of Death, 2005
8. The Book of the Dead, 2007
9. The Wheel of Darkness, 2008
10. Cemetery Dance, 2009
11. Fever Dream, 2010
12. Cold Vengeance, 2011
13. Extraction, 2012
14. Two Graves, 2012
15. White Fire, 2013
16. Blue Labyrinth, 2014
17. Crimson Shore, 2015
18. The Obsidian Chamber, 2016
19. City of Endless Night, 2018
20. Verses for the Dead, 2018
21. Crooked River, 2020
22. Bloodless, 2021
23. The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, 2023
24. Angel of Vengeance, 2024

Reading notes:

• Pendergast: The Beginning is a novel set before the events of Relic but published much later.

Other Pendergast Books

• Aloysius X. L. Pendergast: Mysterious Profiles, 2023

Nora Kelly Series (Books in Order)

The Nora Kelly series follows museum archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson as they investigate crimes where the past often meets the present. The series is set mostly in the American Southwest and begins with Old Bones, however, the much earlier published standalone novel Thunderhead introduces a younger Nora Kelly. Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson first appear in earlier Pendergast novels, which gives extra background information to loyal series readers. However, the Nora Kelly books can be read on their own.

Co-authored with Douglas Preston.

1. Thunderhead, 1999
2. Old Bones, 2019
3. The Scorpion’s Tale, 2021
4. Diablo Mesa, 2022
5. Dead Mountain, 2023
6. Badlands, 2025
7. Dead Man’s Journey, 2027

Gideon Crew Series (Books in Order)

The Gideon Crew series follows physicists and thief Gideon Crew, who works extremely dangerous intelligence missions for a private firm. Gideon is terminally ill throughout the entire series, which makes him willing to take risks most operatives wouldn’t consider. The series is considered an adventure-thriller with a strong scientific element. The standalone The Ice Limit is connected to the fourth Gideon Crew book, Beyond the Ice Limit.

Co-authored with Douglas Preston.

Reading Order

1. Gideon’s Sword, 2011
2. Gideon’s Corpse, 2012
3. The Lost Island, 2014
4. Beyond the Ice Limit, 2016
5. The Pharaoh Key, 2018

Dr. Jeremy Logan Series (Books in Order)

The Jeremy Logan series follows Dr. Jeremy Logan, a Yale professor who describes himself as an “enigmalogist,” a specialist in phenomena that defy rational explanation. He investigates the strange cases no one else will take seriously: anomalies, unexplained events, things that don’t fit in people’s normal worldview. The series gradually shifts him from supporting character to full protagonist as the story progresses.

1.  Deep Storm, 2007
2. Terminal Freeze, 2009
3. The Third Gate, 2012
4. The Forgotten Room, 2015
5. Full Wolf Moon, 2017
6. Chrysalis, 2022

Standalone Novels

• Mount Dragon, 1996 (with Douglas Preston)
• Riptide, 1998 (with Douglas Preston)
• Thunderhead, 1999 (with Douglas Preston)
• The Ice Limit, 2000 (with Douglas Preston)
• Lethal Velocity, 2002 (also published as Utopia)
• Death Match, 2004

Novellas, and Short Stories

Co-authored with Douglas Preston

• Gaslighted: Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast, 2014 (with Douglas Preston and R. L. Stine)
• Gone Fishing, 2017 (with Douglas Preston; features Vincent D’Agosta)

Short Story Collections and Anthologies

Tales of the Dark Anthology

1. Tales of the Dark, 1987
2. Tales of the Dark 2, 1987
3. Tales of the Dark 3, 1988

• Dark Company, 1984
• Dark Banquet, 1985
• Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, 2006 (with James Patterson)
• Gone Fishing and Other Stories, 2012
• FaceOff, 2014

Lincoln Child Biography

Lincoln Child is a New York Times bestselling American author of thrillers, best known for the popular Pendergast novels, which he co-authored with Douglas Preston.
Author website: prestonchild.com

Lincoln Child was born in Westport, Connecticut, in 1957. He graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with a degree in English literature, then moved to New York in 1979 to work in publishing. He was hired as an editorial assistant at St. Martin’s Press and later he became a full editor by 1984. During that period he edited well over a hundred books, worked with authors including James Herriot and M. M. Kaye, and collecte several anthologies of ghost and horror stories. These stories more or less established a mass-market horror division at the publisher. He also edited Dinosaurs in the Attic by Douglas Preston, and the two struck up a friendship and working relationship that would lead to their debut novel Relic in 1995.

In 1987, he left his publishing job to work in computer systems as an analysis at MetLife, which showed his long-term interest in technology that went back to his years in high school. Within a couple of years, Lincoln Child left MetLife to write full time.

The Pendergast series, co-written with Preston, has been continued for over thirty years. Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by NPR readers as among the 100 greatest thrillers ever written. More than twenty-six of their collaborations and solo novels have become bestsellers, with three debuting at #1 on the New York Times list. Lincoln Child has spoken about Pendergast being partly inspired by his own diverse interests, such as the character’s academic knowledge, his love for forensic science, and his tendency to operate outside of the usual institutional rules, all which the author finds interesting.

His solo work is the Jeremy Logan series, which follows a Yale professor of medieval history who describes himself as an “enigmalogist,” that is someone who is usually called in to investigate events that have no ordinary explanation. The series began with Deep Storm (2007) and currently has 6 novels.

Lincoln Child has lived in New Jersey and, more recently, in Sarasota, Florida.

Lincoln Child Books Adaptations

• The Relic – adapted into the film Relic (1997)

Lincoln Child Awards and Honors

Nominations and Shortlists

• The Ice Limit – Evergreen Book Award (2003)
• Still Life with Crows – Audie Awards nomination for Science-Fiction (2004)
• Brimstone – Audie Awards nomination for Mystery and Science-Fiction (2005)
• White Fire – International Thriller Writers Award, Best Hardcover Novel (2014)
• Blue Labyrinth – Audie Awards nomination for Thriller or Suspense (2016)
• Crimson Shore – Audie Awards nomination for Mystery (2017)
• Full Wolf Moon – Goodreads Choice Award nomination (2017)
• The Scorpion’s Tail – Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Mystery (2022)

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