John Sandford Books in Order

John Sandford is the pen name of John Roswell Camp, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist turned crime fiction author. He is best known for the long-running Prey series starring Minnesota investigator Lucas Davenport, one of the most persistent crime series, with close to 40 books published since 1989. In 2025, he received the Edgar Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, the organization’s highest lifetime honor.

This page lists all John Sandford books in order, including the Prey, Virgil Flowers, Letty Davenport, and Singular Menace series, standalone novels, and short fiction. Sandford also published two non-fiction books under his real name, John Camp, listed at the bottom of the page.

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Lucas Davenport Series (Books in Order)

The Prey series follows Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Lucas Davenport who handles the state’s most high-profile cases. Lucas is wealthy, driven, and willing to bend the rules, a character built for morally complex situations as much as procedural crime-solving. The series continues for over three decades and follows him from having been a Minneapolis homicide detective to becoming a BCA deputy director, with the cases becoming much more high profile along the way. From Ocean Prey (Prey #31) onward, Virgil Flowers becomes a co-lead, and Letty Davenport gets a prominent role in Toxic Prey (Prey #34).

Reading Order

1. Rules of Prey, 1989
2. Shadow Prey, 1990
3. Eyes of Prey, 1991
4. Silent Prey, 1992
5. Winter Prey, 1993 (also titled The Iceman)
6. Night Prey, 1994
7. Mind Prey, 1995
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
24. Field of Prey, 2014
25. Rhymes With Prey, 2014
26. Gathering Prey, 2015
27. Extreme Prey, 2016
28. Golden Prey, 2017
29. Twisted Prey, 2018
30. Neon Prey, 2019
31. Masked Prey, 2020
32. Ocean Prey, 2021
33. Righteous Prey, 2022
34. Judgement Prey, 2023
35. Toxic Prey, 2024
36. Lethal Prey, 2025
37. Revenge Prey, 2026

Virgil Flowers Series (Books in Order)

The spin-off Virgil Flowers series follows Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers, a tall, easygoing agent with long hair, a fondness for band t-shirts, and a habit of towing his fishing boat even while on assignment. He works in rural Minnesota, handling cases that range from small-town crimes to organized agriculture theft. Virgil first appears in the Prey series before getting his own series in 2007, and the two series cross over regularly from Ocean Prey (Prey #31) onward.

Reading Order

1. Dark of the Moon, 2007
2. Heat Lightning, 2008
3. Rough Country, 2009
4. Bad Blood, 2010
5. Shock Wave, 2011
6. Mad River, 2012
7. Storm Front, 2013
8. Deadline, 2014
9. Escape Clause, 2016
10. Deep Freeze, 2017
11. Holy Ghost, 2018
12. Bloody Genius, 2019
13. Ocean Prey, 2021
14. Righteous Prey, 2022
15. Judgement Prey, 2023
16. Lethal Prey, 2025

Letty Davenport Series (Books in Order)

The spin-off Letty Davenport series follows Department of Homeland Security investigator Letty Davenport, the 24-year-old Stanford graduate adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, who is now working intelligence assignments. The series, which began in 2022, finds her often working dangerous cases undercover that more than once involve international threats.

Reading Order

1. The Investigator, 2022
2. Dark Angel, 2023
3. Toxic Prey, 2024

The Singular Menace Series (Books in Order)

The Singular Menace series is a young adult techno-thriller trilogy, which follows a group of teenagers led by 16-year-old Shay Remby, who uncover a corrupt biotech corporation, Singular Corp., conducting illegal experiments, and fight to expose it and take it down.

Co-authored with Michele Cook.

Reading Order

1. Uncaged, 2014
2. Outrage, 2015
3. Rampage, 2016

Standalone Novels

• The Night Crew, 1997
• Dead Watch, 2006
• Saturn Run, 2016

Anthologies

• Murder in the Rough, 2006
• FaceOff, 2014 (with David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver)
• MatchUp, 2017 (edited by Lee Child)
• Best American Mystery Stories, 2017

Written as John Camp

Kidd Series (Books in Order)

The Kidd series follows follows brilliant computer hacker and professional criminal/computer hacker Kidd who also works as a painter, and his partner LuEllen, who assist in corporate espionage and financially motivated schemes. The first two books were published under Sandford’s real name, John Camp, before being reissued under the Sandford name. While not strictly a spin-of series, Kidd also appears in the Prey series, especially in Silken Prey (Prey #23) and Extreme Prey (Prey #26).

Publication Order

1. The Fool’s Run, 1989
2. The Empress File, 1990
3. The Devil’s Code, 2000
4. The Hanged Man’s Song, 2003

Non-Fiction Books

• The Eye and the Heart, 1988
• Plastic Surgery, 1989

John Sandford Biography

John Sandford is the pen name of American author and journalist John Roswell Camp. He has published more than 60 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, with over 28 debuting at #1.
Official website: johnsandford.org

John Camp was born in 1944 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and studied at the University of Iowa, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in American history and literature and a master’s in journalism. He worked as a journalist from the early 1970s through 1990, first at The Miami Herald and then the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, where he became a daily columnist.

He won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1986 for a year-long series documenting a Minnesota farm family during the Midwest farm crisis, and was a Pulitzer finalist in 1980 for reporting on Native American culture. He chose the pseudonym Sandford after his paternal great-grandfather, who fought in the Civil War.

John Camp launched both his first two series in 1989. Rules of Prey, published under the John Sandford name at his publisher’s request, began the Prey series. The Fool’s Run, published under his real name, launched the Kidd series. Later, he added the Virgil Flowers series in 2007 and the Letty Davenport series in 2022, both which are in the Prey universe. He also co-authored the Singular Menace YA trilogy with his wife, journalist Michele Cook, and the science fiction thriller Saturn Run with photographer Ctein. John Camp and his wife, Michele Cook live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

John Sandford Book Adaptations

• Mind Prey – adapted into the television movie Mind Prey (1999)
• Certain Prey – adapted into the television movie Certain Prey (2011)

John Sandford Awards and Honors

Awards

• Distinguished Writing Award by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (1986)
• Pulitzer Prize (1986)
• Bad Blood – Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel (2011)
• ThrillerMaster Award (2019)
• Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America (2025)

Nominations and Shortlists

• Pulitzer Prize as John Camp (1980)
• Mortal Prey – Audie Award, Best Male Narrator (2003)
• FaceOff – Anthony Award Best Anthology / Collection (2015)

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