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.

Latest John Sandford Books

Revenge Prey
Revenge Prey (Prey #36), April 2026

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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

Anthologies

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

John Sandford Biography

John Sandford

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)

Edited by

Marika

Founder of Mystery Sequels, a reference site focused on listing mystery and thriller books in the correct reading order. I maintain and update the site’s bibliographies as new titles are released, ensuring accuracy and consistency across author and series pages.

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37 Comments

  1. In Buried Prey Marcy Sherril is killed as a single woman. A couple of books earlier Marcy is married with a child. What happened?

    1. Does anyone know where both Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers titles are merged in reading order?

  2. Clive Owen = Lucas Davenport
    Josh Holloway = Virgil Flowers

    Love all Sandford characters including Kidd…but the early versions when they were single and had a titillated sex life 🙂
    Added spice to their characters and to the stories. Getting bored with Davenport’s Finnish midget surgeon wife…and Flowers big busted mini girlfriend expecting twins after 5 kids…really? I am no pervert and as old as Mr. Camp…but we can still remember 🙂 Maybe we can give Davenports oldest college age daughter a book of her own…

  3. I’m sorry but I can’t help it John Sandford is one of my favorite authors and 1 book per year is not good enough 🙂 🙂 🙂 yes he is older now and doesn’t have to work but he chose the life and he has many many many fans who crave a fix of Davenport or Flowers and all of his other anti-hero’s come on John …. you can do it 🙂 🙂 🙂

  4. For pity’s sake, politics has been part of the series since the beginning of the BCA in the 1990s.

    I like how he brings lesser known characters back from obscurity. Kidd and LuEllen have been enjoyable in the Prey series. It was nice to see Sloan playing poker with the guys in Neon Prey, after disappearing for most of a decade.

  5. The problem as I see it for Sandford movies is who gets to play the main characters? No-one I presently see on the big screen can fit the bill. Using someone like Woody Harrelson (who’s way too old) would change Virgil forever and destroy his uniqueness. Virgil is not a drug addict or drunk. His character needs to be played by someone who understands what it’s like to actually live in rural MN/Iowa. Davenport? He’s cold, calculating, intelligent, obstinate, horny, fatherly, subtle, mean, lovable, easy to hate yet love. There are no arrogant boys in Hollywood who can play him, period. These are men folks, not left wing nuts who opine on things they think they understand. Virgil and Lucas would never live in Hollywood or even fit in. They’re too real! But maybe, just maybe the Coen Brothers could cast it correctly?

  6. When will the next Virgil Flowers novel be published? I love those books, and I can’t wait to read the next one.

  7. JUST LOVE LUCAS. WISH HE WERE BACK IN THE BCA TOO. WISH HE LOVED HIS WIFE MORE. DON’T WANT TO SEE OLDEST DAUGHTER ANYMORE. DONATING ALL MY USED BOOKS (HAVE ONE OF EACH, SOMETIMES TWO) TO TINY LIBRARY. THOSE CUSTOMERS ARE GONNA THINK SANTA CLAUSE IS REAL. SHE IS. BYE ALL, MARY, FROM IDAHO.

  8. Waiting for Hollywood to make movies from John sanford books.
    I see woody harrelson playing Virgil flowers.
    Thanks for your excellence Mr.camp.

  9. My first exposure to John Sanford’s books was “twisted prey”. Someone left this new paperback book I picked up at a generous food pantry in Wareham, Massachusetts
    I have many more I find at a used thrift shop in new Bedford,mass.
    Thank you John for keeping me entertained and learning new words too

  10. I just read my first John Sandford book storm pray. Loved it. I know all the places he’s talking about I grew up in West St. Paul Minnesota. Looking forward to reading more of his books.

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