Scott Mariani Books in Order – Complete List
Bestselling British author Scott Mariani is best known for his action-adventure thriller series featuring ex-SAS Major and former theology student, Ben Hope. In addition, he also wrote the DI Tom McAllister series, the Vampire Federation series, and several short stories, novellas, and non-fiction works. He also contributed to Mark Dawson’s Group Fifteen Files series with one novella.
Here are the Scott Mariani books in order of publication. If the chronological order differs for the books in the series, they are listed accordingly.
Latest Scott Mariani Books
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Ben Hope Books in Publication Order
- The Alchemist’s Secret, 2007 (aka The Fulcanelli Manuscript)
- The Mozart Conspiracy, 2008
- The Doomsday Prophecy, 2009 (aka The Hope Vendetta)
- The Heretic’s Treasure, 2009
- The Shadow Project, 2010
- The Lost Relic, 2011
- The Sacred Sword, 2012
- The Armada Legacy, 2013
- The Nemesis Program, 2014
- The Forgotten Holocaust, 2015
- The Martyr’s Curse, 2015
- The Cassandra Sanction, 2016
- Star of Africa, 2016
- The Devil’s Kingdom, 2016
- The Babylon Idol, 2017
- The Bach Manuscript, 2017
- The Moscow Cipher, 2018
- The Rebel’s Revenge, 2018
- Valley of Death, 2019
- House of War, 2019
- The Pretender’s Gold, 2020
- The Demon Club, 2020
- The Pandemic Plot, 2021
- The Crusader’s Cross, 2021
- The Silver Serpent, 2022
- Graveyard of Empires, 2022
- The White Knight, 2023
- The Tudor Deception, 2023
- The Golden Library, 2024
- The Templar Secret, 2024
Ben Hope Short Stories/Novellas in Publication Order
- Passenger 13, 2011 (novella)
- Bring Him Back, 2013 (novella)
- The Tunnel, 2015 (short story)
Vampire Federation Books in Publication Order
DI Tom McAllister Books in Publication Order
- The Cage, 2021
Will Bowman Books in Publication Order
- The Pilgrim’s Revenge, 2025
Short Stories and Novellas in Publication Order
- House of Malice, 2013
- Decoy, 2014
- Witness X, 2017 (with Mark Dawson in the Group Fifteen Files series)
Non-Fiction Books
- How to Write a Thriller, 2007
Scott Mariani Biography
Scott Mariani was born in St Andrews, Scotland on January 1, 1968. He grew up on the east coast of Scotland, surrounded by the rich history and legends of the region, all of which eventually seeped into and influenced his later writing style.
He attended Christ Church University in Oxford, with a major in Modern Languages and Film Studies. Looking back, those years totally changed his life, as after this he got even more interested in storytelling, and enjoyed learning about different cultures and their histories.
After graduating, he remained for a while in the Oxford area, and then he moved out of the city to West Oxfordshire. Later, he moved all the way to rural west Wales, where he currently lives.
Before becoming a full-time author, Scott Mariani had several jobs that shaped his skill sets and gave him experiences that would later enter his stories. He worked as a translator and taught English and music. These jobs exposed him to various languages and cultures and helped him learn more about dialogue and nuances in languages. He also played in a band and ran a burger bar.
An interesting choice of work was pistol shooting instructor, which helped him later incorporate his hobby of weaponry into Ben Hope’s traits in the action-packed novels.
As a freelance journalist, he developed his unique engaging writing style that gave him the research tools and skills to find all the details he would need to include in his stories.
Eventually, in 2007, his debut novel, The Alchemist’s Secret, launched his career as a successful author. It became the first book in the Ben Hope series, which currently includes 30 novels. The debut novel sat for six consecutive weeks at No.1 in the UK’s Amazon Kindle chart.
An interesting fact is that the character of Ben Hunt was first created in the author’s mind in West Wales while taking a walk near his home.
Besides writing books, Scott Mariani also loves shooting, photography, archery, and astronomy. He loves nature, and he is a nature conservation activist, supporting charities like The Woodland Trust and The World Life Fund.
The Scott Mariani books have been translated into over 25 languages, and the novels have been constantly on various bestseller lists, including the UK Sunday Times bestseller list.
In September 2024, the author moved from HarperCollins to Hodder & Stoughton through a four-book deal. This includes the start of a new historical adventure series set in 1190, featuring William Bowman who seeks revenge on the soldiers who destroyed his home and harmed his family. The series will debut with The Pilgrim’s Revenge in June 2025.
Who Is Ben Hope?
Benedict “Ben” Hope, a former elite SAS (Special Air Service) soldier turned freelance operative, is the main character in Scott Mariani’s book series with the same title. Ben has been described as “James Bond meets Jason Bourne,” which gives us a pretty good initial impression – even without reading the books – of his character, or at least the style of novels he features in.
Initially, he is the typical action hero who has all the usual skills required from such a person: he has strong combat skills, survival expertise, speaks multiple languages, and has strong detective reasoning skills. However, he is not a cookie-cutter action-hero character. His complex personal history shaped him into what he is, with his own vulnerabilities and depth of character.
As a child, Ben first learned to shoot at a shooting range, where she showed great skills with guns.
Initially, he pursued theological studies at Oxford University, where he was interested in the philosophical and historical aspects of religion, but then he dropped out and joined the British Army after a tragedy struck home and his family life fell completely apart.
In the army, he quickly rose in the ranks, reaching the elite rank of the SAS (Special Air Service). While in SAS, he honed his physical and tactical skills and capabilities, and his time there helped him become mentally strong enough to learn to operate in harsh conditions.
After leaving SAS, Ben left the military completely, and instead, he chose to become a freelance operative. His first missions involved rescuing hostages and people in dangerous situations. He often risked his life to save others during those missions. His earlier tragedy gave him a strong sense of justice and a personal vendetta against those who oppressed and hurt others. This was a theme that was recurring throughout his life, in later novels as well.
His college years and love for theology were also featured in various missions he took, some of which included finding ancient artifacts and solving cases of religious conspiracies. For example, The Alchemist’s Secret is about seeking an ancient manuscript, The Sacred Sword has the theme of exploring the mysteries of the Knights Templars, while in The Golden Library, he tries to unravel the secrets of China’s Terracotta Army.
Ben’s military training left him with a strong set of survival skills. He is highly skilled and resourceful. Proficient with firearms, martial arts, and strategy, he can go head-to-head with the worst of scum. He is intelligent and thoughtful, which also comes from his intellectual background. This allows him to solve the mysteries of ancient texts, historical riddles, and philosophical dilemmas that might be easily overlooked by others.
His big tragedy in life leaves him with a deep sense of guilt, sorrow, and a need for redemption, but also the motivation to protect others while also taking revenge on the evil of humanity.
As soon as he commits to a mission, he sticks to it no matter how dangerous that mission might be. He is loyal to his friends and allies, but also cynical, which comes from his exposure to violence throughout his life.
In fact, Ben Hope is an interesting mix of a scholar and soldier, which is what makes him way more than a simple action hero that we are usually used to when reading adventure thriller novels.
The Ben Hope novels are part of a thriller genre that comes from Dan Brown‘s start with Da Vinci Code. If you’re looking for more novels of those types, Ben Hope is a sure bet for additional adventure and excitement.