Iris Johansen Books in Order – Complete List
New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award winner Iris Johansen is an American novelist who writes romantic suspense novels, thrillers, contemporary romance, and historical romance novels. She is the author of the popular Eve Duncan series involving the tormented forensic sculptor who is still grieving the loss of her child, Bonnie, who was kidnapped and mercilessly killed.
Iris Johansen has several additional series including the spin-off series called Catherine Ling, a shadowy CIA Operative raised in Hong Kong, the Kendra Michaels series, the brilliant marine architect Hannah Bryson series, and the latest Kira Drake series, not to mention the numerous romance series written in the past.
Here is the list of Iris Johansen’s books in reading and publication order for all her popular series and standalone novels.
New Iris Johansen Books
Eve Duncan Books in Publication Order
- The Face of Deception, 1998
- The Killing Game, 1999
- The Search, 2000
- Body of Lies, 2002
- Blind Alley, 2004
- Countdown, 2005
- Stalemate, 2006
- Quicksand, 2008
- Blood Game, 2009
- Eight Days to Live, 2010
- Chasing The Night, 2010
- Eve, 2011
- Quinn, 2011
- Bonnie, 2011
- Sleep No More, 2012
- Taking Eve, 2013
- Hunting Eve, 2013
- Silencing Eve, 2013
- Shadow Play, 2015
- Hide Away, 2016
- Night and Day, 2016
- Mind Game, 2017
- Shattered Mirror, 2018
- Dark Tribute, 2019
- Smokescreen, 2019
- The Persuasion, 2020
- The Bullet, 2021
- A Face to Die For, 2022
- Captive, 2022
- The Survivor, 2023
Eve, Quinn, and Bonnie Series in Publication Order
Catherine Ling Books in Publication Order
- Chasing The Night, 2010
- What Doesn’t Kill You, 2012
- Live to See Tomorrow, 2014
- Your Next Breath, 2015
- Vendetta, 2018
Kendra Michaels Books in Publication Order
with Roy Johansen
- Close Your Eyes, 2011
- Sight Unseen, 2014
- The Naked Eye, 2015
- Night Watch, 2016
- Look Behind You, 2017
- Double Blind, 2018
- Hindsight, 2020
- Blink of an Eye, 2021
- Killer View, 2022 (written by Roy Johansen with a foreword by Iris Johansen)
- More Than Meets The Eye, 2023
- Flashback, 2024
Kendra Michaels Short Stories
- With Open Eyes (#1.5), 2012
Hannah Bryson Books in Publication Order
with Roy Johansen
- Silent Thunder, 2008
- Shadow Zone, 2010
Logan Tanner Books in Reading and Publication Order
- High Stakes, 2021
Kira Drake Books in Publication Order
- On the Hunt, 2024
Standalone Romantic Suspense Books
- The Ugly Duckling, 1994
- Long After Midnight, 1997
- And Then You Die, 1997
- No One To Trust, 2002
- Dead Aim, 2002
- Fatal Tide, 2003
- Firestorm, 2004
- On The Run, 2005
- Killer Dreams, 2006
- Pandora’s Daughter, 2007
- Dark Summer, 2008
- Deadlock, 2009
- Storm Cycle, 2009 (with Roy Johansen)
- The Perfect Witness, 2014
- No Easy Target, 2017
- Chaos, 2020
Anthologies in Publication Order
- Suspense Magazine November 2011, 2011 (edited by John Raab)
Historical and Contemporary Romance Series in Publication Order
Standalone Romance Novels in Publication Order
Iris Johansen Biography
The New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen was born in 1938 in St Louis, Missouri. She moved to Georgia where she currently lives with her family.
She only started to write books after her children went to college. The first genre Iris Johansen wrote her initial books in was romance fiction in the 1980s.
The crime fiction author started writing contemporary romance novels, however, she soon changed to the new mystery genre because (in the author’s own words):
I loved writing romance because I am a great fan of the happy ending. I started writing suspense because of the challenge of all the twists and in depth character studies that it offered me. I still try to incorporate a love story in all my books. It’s the best of both worlds for me!
A decade later, in the early 1990s, Edgar Award winning author Iris Johansen switched to writing historical suspense romances, however, in 1996 she once again changed the genre she crafted her books in and started to write romantic suspense thriller novels.
The Kendra Michael series and the Hannah Bryson series are co-authored with her son Roy Johansen. Killer View was written by Roy, with a forward note by Iris Johansen. Both mother and son have written several New York Times bestsellers. In addition, her daughter Tamara is the author’s research assistant, which makes the whole family part of Iris Johansen’s writing family. The first book the author duo wrote together was Silent Thunder, published in 2008.
Kendra was for the first 20 years of her life blind, but now she is a darling of most law enforcement agencies due to her unique skills and superb powers of observation and analysis. Due to her early years as a blind person, over the years she has learned to become hyper aware of her surroundings. She perfected the art of picking up even the most subtle audio, olfactory, and tactile cues in order to be able to navigate her world.
While the main Iris Johansen books for the Eve Duncan series include all 30 novels, some of them have also been classified into other mini-series (like the ‘new’ Eve Duncan 2013 trilogy with Taking Eve, Hunting Eve, and Silencing Eve, as well as the Eve, Quinn and Bonnie trilogy published in 2011).
However, overall they are all part of what is considered the Eve Duncan series, all the novels having her as a central character. Eve Duncan’s love interest is Joe Quinn, an ex-SEAL, ex-FBI agent, and later turned cop. The series is classified as a romantic suspense thriller, which is one of my favorite mystery genres.
The first book in the Eve Duncan series was published in 1998 with the title The Face of Deception, and it was a major hit right away. From the very start, we get to know Eve who, due to her own major loss in life, is trying to help other parents who have lost their children to crimes, by reconstructing children’s faces from skulls.
At the same time, throughout the entire book series, we see Eve’s main goal in life: to find the bones of her missing daughter, Bonnie, and bring her home, so she can bury her. Usually, the publication order of the series is also the chronological order.
Mind Game focuses on Jane MacGuire who goes back to Scotland to search for Cira’s treasure (more about Scotland is written in Hide Away). While she still dreams of Cira, her family, and the treasure she supposedly buried in Scotland, she is now also plagued by dreams of another young woman, this time the woman being Jane’s contemporary and probably still live. But not for long, unless Jane and Seth Caleb (Jane’s big love) can find her in time.
Iris Johansen Awards and Nominations
- Romantic Times Historical Romance Winner in 1996
- Romantic Times Suspense Winner in 1999
- Romantic Times Career Achievement — Thriller Winner in 2016
Novel Adaptations
In 2011, the highly popular Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen was adapted into a Lifetime film called The Killing Game, which was based on the second novel in the series. The film featured Laura Prepon in the role of the series’ main character, Eve Duncan, who is a forensic sculptor with a talent for reconstructing the faces of murder victims.
The Killing Game film was directed by Bobby Roth, who is known for his work on other television series such as Lost and Prison Break. Roth’s direction was key in bringing Johansen’s intricate plot and characters to life on the screen. His ability to build tension and suspense in a scene, combined with his skill at developing complex characters, made the film adaptation a success.
Jill Blotevogel was responsible for adapting the novel into a screenplay for the film. Blotevogel is a highly regarded screenwriter, having worked on a number of popular television series including Scream: The TV Series and The Vampire Diaries. Her experience in adapting complex source material for the screen made her the perfect choice for bringing Johansen’s novel to life in a new and exciting way.
Overall, the film adaptation of The Killing Game was a success, with fans of the Iris Johansen Eve Duncan series eagerly tuning in to see their favorite character brought to life on the small screen. With a talented cast, skilled director, and experienced screenwriter, the film was able to capture the essence of the novel and bring it to life in a way that was both thrilling and suspenseful.
Should We Read the Iris Johansen Books for the Eve Duncan Series in Order?
Reading the Iris Johansen books in order for her Eve Duncan series is a must because the stories in the suspense thriller novels interconnect, and more importantly, we get to see the development of the main character, Eve Duncan. In addition, the related series featuring Catherine Ling and Kendra Michaels should be also read in order since the main characters also appear more than once in the Eve Duncan books.
Having read all Iris Johansen books in order that have been published until today (including her Loveswept romance novels), I recommend you pick up all the books in the series.
There are so many threads in this popular series with the main characters involved that you won’t want to skip even a single book. Besides, the books are highly addictive. Just check out all the comments on this post to see just how much people enjoy reading it. Sure, there are 24 books (including the novella) so far, but it is a very easy series to read and it reads extremely fast. There were days when I’ve read an Eve Duncan book in one afternoon.
So yes, I recommend giving the Even Duncan books and overall the Iris Johansen books – all gritty suspense thrillers – a serious look and don’t skip even one book because the threads are complicated and older ones pick up every couple of books once again.
I just love the Eve Duncan series I have started reading more of Iris Johansen books I can’t seam to put them down. Iris Johansen is my favorite author.
Do authors in the mystery and thriller genre tend to draw inspiration from real individuals when creating their characters, or do they prefer to invent them entirely from their imagination?
No easy target looking for a sequel?
Love all ur books..
I “inherited” my mother’s love for reading hence I inherited her books after her untimely death at 75 years young on 20 Apr 2017 at their home in my young brother’s (age 45) arms (dad passed in hospital 25 Apr 2017 at 80 years young of broken heart after mom called him after she made his bed in Heaven) but in the collection of books was her love of Iris Johansen she had got from beginning until she passed. I do not know how many she had chance to read tho but she read every chance she had no matter where she was–kitchen table–outside–recliner–break at work–hotels–you name it she was reading & I remember growing up her reading to us 6 kids then she would read her own book till she fell asleep–yes I found her asleep at kitchen table or recliner or outside or hotels with a book in her hands open to the page she was reading & she never dropped it as if tried to take away even 30 mins later she grabbed it denied she was sleeping & could sleep all night with it in her hand & wake up with same page opneed. So I inherited her love for reading at young age I loved to read in elementary school & still do whenever I can & wherever I can just like my mom. So thanks Iris & other authors for giving us books to keep on reading. Love all your books!!
Iris Johansen is marvelous. I’m in the middle of her Eve Duncan series and read about 3 a week if I have time. The books are wonderfully written. I will finish this series and start on the others.
You’re missing Kendra Michaels book Sleep No More also listed as Eve Duncan 15.
Iris Johansen is my favorite author!! I’ve read pretty much all of her books except the romance ones. I love the wind dancer series and all the standalone books! I have all of them up until the 2 new ones that are due to come out this year!!
Mrs. Johansen needs to get a better editor. I love the Eve Duncan Series but I hate inconsistencies in the books. I’m currently reading Taking Eve and there was a mention about how Bonnie was lost a decade ago. Try over 2 decades. A few books ago, it was mentioned that Joe was in his 30’s. Try again editor. Joe and Eve are both in their mid to late 40’s.
I believe Iris Johansen has lost her ability to write. You have not heard about Jane and the guy that wants to be her boyfriend, her other adopted daughter along with Eve`s son. Since the son has been born she no longer gets visits from Bonnie.. It is like she has killed the series or has severe writers block. She only puts out one or two books a year. She has fallen off of the regular authors I have stored because she does not write enough books any more.. Iris last two books have been about K. Michael’s.
I just finished no easy target and was wondering if there will be a sequel. I would love it there was. I have seen a devoted fan and loved each and everyone of her books..