Lincoln Child Books in Order

Lincoln Child is a New York Times bestselling author known for his collaboration with Douglas Preston in creating the Pendergast thriller series.

This page lists all Lincoln Child books in order, covering his collaborative work with Douglas Preston as well as his solo novels, along with short stories, novellas, and collections, organized by publication order unless otherwise noted.

Latest Lincoln Child Books

Pendergast: The Beginning
Pendergast: The Beginning (Pendergast #23), January 2026

FBI Agent Pendergast Series (Books in Order)

The Pendergast series follows FBI Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast through a mix of investigative thrillers with gothic and supernatural elements. The list below is in publication order, with a later-written origin-story prequel noted separately. For the full Pendergast reading order, see Pendergast Books in Order.

Co-authored with Douglas Preston.

Publication Order

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

Reading notes:

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

  • If you’re new to the series and enjoy origin stories, you can start with Pendergast: The Beginning and then move on to Relic.
  • If you prefer to read in publication order, start with Relic and save Pendergast: The Beginning as a “background” novel once you know the character.

Nora Kelly Series (Books in Order)

The Nora Kelly series follows museum archaeologist Nora Kelly as she investigates historical mysteries and unexplained deaths, mixing archaeological adventure with modern crime investigation.

Co-authored with Douglas Preston.

Publication Order

  1. Thunderhead (#0.5), 1999
  2. Old Bones (#1), 2019
  3. The Scorpion’s Tale (#2), 2021
  4. Diablo Mesa (#3), 2022
  5. Dead Mountain (#4), 2023
  6. Badlands (#5), 2025

Reading notes

  • While Thunderhead is considered a standalone novel, it is also a prequel to the Nora Kelly series. If you have already started the series, you can read the prequel at any time. It will not disrupt the events of the main series.

Gideon Crew Series (Books in Order)

The Gideon Crew series follows scientist and former thief Gideon Crew who takes on high-stakes missions involving scientific threats and global conspiracies.

Co-authored with Douglas Preston.

Publication 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 specialist in anomalous phenomena, through cases involving unexplained events that combine science, cutting-edge technology, and mystery.

Publication Order

  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

Tales of the Dark Anthology Series (Books in Order)

The Tales of the Dark series is a collection of short stories edited by Lincoln Child featuring suspense and dark themed tales.

Publication Order

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

Novellas, and Short Stories

Co-authored with Douglas Preston

Short Story Collections and Anthologies

Standalone Novels

Non-Fiction Books

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 author

Born in 1957 in Westport, Connecticut, he graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with a major in English. After college, he worked in publishing at St. Martin’s Press, starting from editorial assistant and advancing to full editor, during which time he edited hundreds of fiction titles.

In 1987, he left publishing to work as a systems analyst at MetLife. During this time, he-authored his first book, Relic, with Douglas Preston. The novel, published in 1995, launched the FBI Agent Pendergast series. Many of the authors’ collaborative novels have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.

In addition to his work with Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child has written several solo thrillers, including the Jeremy Logan series, which follows a specialist who investigates unexplained and anomalous events. He has also written standalone techno-thrillers, including Utopia and Death Match.

Lincoln Child is currently living in Morristown, New Jersey and continues to work on new fiction projects.

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)

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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4 Comments

  1. Please write another Logan book! The series needs another…

  2. I love your Jeremy Logan series.Do you plan to continue on with this series?

Comments are closed.