Reading Order
John Sandfordseries.seoTitleShort
Start with The Fool's Run and continue through all 44 books in the listed reading order.
About This Series
The John Sandford series is a captivating collection of thriller novels penned by the acclaimed author John Sandford. Known for his gripping storytelling and intricate plots, Sandford has crafted a series that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The series is marked by its thrilling narratives, complex characters, and a tone that blends suspense with a touch of dark humor.
What makes the John Sandford series particularly worth reading is its masterful exploration of crime and justice. Sandford delves into themes of morality, power, and the human psyche, making each book not just a thrilling read but also a thought-provoking one. Ideal for fans of crime fiction and psychological thrillers, this series offers a deep dive into the world of law enforcement and the criminals they pursue.
For those new to the series, it's recommended to start with Book 1, "The Fool's Run," to fully appreciate the development of characters and overarching storylines. While each book can stand alone, reading them in order enriches the experience as you witness the evolution of recurring characters and plot threads.
Although no thought leaders have specifically recommended this series on GurusReads yet, it is a treasure trove for readers who enjoy meticulously crafted crime stories and the thrill of unraveling a mystery. Whether you're a seasoned thriller aficionado or new to the genre, the John Sandford series promises a rewarding journey through the darker corners of human nature.
Start Here
Start with The Fool's Run
Book 1 by John Sandford • Published 1989
Artist, hacker, and professional criminal Kidd is hired to sabotage a rival defense contractor’s computer systems. Working with fearless burglar LuEllen, he dives into corporate espionage where one bad assumption coul...
Complete List
John Sandford reading order
Ends with Winter Prey
- 1
Book 1:The Fool's Run
John Sandford • 1989
Artist, hacker, and professional criminal Kidd is hired to sabotage a rival defense contractor’s computer systems. Working with fearless burglar LuEllen, he dives into corporate espionage where one bad assumption coul...
- 2
Book 2:Shadow Prey
John Sandford • 1990
A string of ritual throat-slashing murders, from a slumlord to a rising politician, leads Lucas Davenport into the world of Native activism and a terrifying enforcer known as Shadow Love, while his affair with visitin...
- 3
Book 3:The Empress File
John Sandford • 1991
When a Black activist in a corrupt Mississippi river town wants the entire city government taken down, she turns to Kidd. With LuEllen and a small crew, he uses hacking, fraud, and quiet theft to topple officials who’...
- 4
Book 4:Mind Prey
John Sandford • 1995
A respected psychiatrist and her two young daughters are kidnapped in broad daylight. As the abductor taunts Lucas Davenport with phone calls and puzzles, Lucas races to decode his moves before the captive family’s ni...
- 5
Book 5:Secret Prey
John Sandford • 1998
A powerful executive is shot during a hunting trip, and every man in his party has a motive. Lucas Davenport’s search for the shooter uncovers decades of buried crimes, a twisted domestic history, and a killer hiding...
- 6
Book 6:Easy Prey
John Sandford • 2000
A glamorous model is found strangled after a wild party, and one of Lucas Davenport’s own officers becomes a suspect. As more bodies turn up around the Twin Cities celebrity scene, Lucas has to untangle fashion-world...
- 7
Book 7:Chosen Prey
John Sandford • 2001
An art professor with a secret stash of voyeuristic drawings starts turning his fantasies into murder. Lucas Davenport takes the case, only to realize the killer is learning fast, refining his methods with each victim...
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Book 8:The Hanged Man's Song
John Sandford • 2003
When a fellow hacker is found murdered and his laptop full of explosive secrets goes missing, Kidd knows the wrong buyer could topple governments or ruin lives. With LuEllen, he launches a high-stakes search through o...
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Book 9:Hidden Prey
John Sandford • 2004
When a Russian visitor is shot with decades-old bullets on the Duluth docks, Lucas Davenport teams up with a mysterious officer sent from Moscow. Their search for answers uncovers a long-buried family spy ring and Col...
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Book 10:Broken Prey
John Sandford • 2005
A young woman is found tortured and displayed along a Minneapolis riverbank, followed by a similarly posed male victim. Lucas Davenport suspects a recently released inmate, but as the killings escalate, he fears the m...
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Book 11:Invisible Prey
John Sandford • 2007
Two elderly women are beaten to death in an upscale Minneapolis home, apparently victims of a botched robbery. Lucas Davenport isn’t convinced. Following faint financial and antique-trade clues, he uncovers careful pr...
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Book 12:Phantom Prey
John Sandford • 2008
Asked as a favor to look into the disappearance of a wealthy woman’s Goth daughter, Lucas Davenport stumbles into a subculture of games, drugs, and secrets. When Goths begin turning up dead, he realizes a patient, uns...
- 13
Book 13:Wicked Prey
John Sandford • 2009
During a major political convention in St. Paul, Lucas Davenport juggles two threats: a crew planning to rob big-money delegates and a vengeful paraplegic criminal who blames Lucas for ruining his life. With the city...
- 14
Book 14:Storm Prey
John Sandford • 2010
A crew of thieves botches a robbery at a hospital pharmacy and crosses paths with surgeon Weather Karkinnen—Lucas Davenport’s wife. When the criminals decide the only safe move is to eliminate the witness, Lucas must...
- 15
Book 15:Buried Prey
John Sandford • 2011
Demolition at a Minneapolis construction site uncovers the long-hidden bodies of two girls abducted in 1985—a case a young Lucas Davenport once worked and never solved. Given a second chance, he reopens the investigat...
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Book 16:Stolen Prey
John Sandford • 2012
In a wealthy Minnesota suburb, an entire family—parents, children, even their dogs—is brutally slaughtered, a bloody message left on the wall. Lucas Davenport suspects cartel retribution, drawing DEA agents, Mexican i...
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Book 17:Silken Prey
John Sandford • 2013
A smear campaign involving child pornography detonates in a heated Senate race, and a political fixer vanishes soon after. Lucas Davenport follows the trail to a relentlessly ambitious candidate and her ruthless inner...
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Book 18:Field of Prey
John Sandford • 2014
A teenager smells something wrong in a Minnesota cornfield and discovers a cistern packed with bodies—victims killed over many summers and left to rot underground. Lucas Davenport digs into the cold trail of a patient...
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Book 19:Uncaged
John Sandford • 2014
Sixteen-year-old Shay Remby arrives in Hollywood with a handmade knife and almost no cash, hunting for her hacker brother after a botched raid on a Singular Corp lab. As corporate security closes in, Shay teams up wit...
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Book 20:Gathering Prey
John Sandford • 2015
Lucas Davenport’s adopted daughter Letty calls him after a young traveler friend vanishes while following a dangerous drifter known only as Pilate. The search drags Lucas into a roving community of street kids, cultis...
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Book 21:Outrage
John Sandford • 2015
After rescuing Shay’s brother and a girl used in a memory-transfer experiment, the crew goes on offense against the Singular Corporation. Odin’s hacking skills and Fenfang’s stolen knowledge could expose everything—if...
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Book 22:Extreme Prey
John Sandford • 2016
No longer with the BCA, Lucas Davenport joins the staff of Minnesota’s governor during a presidential campaign. On the trail he discovers a pair of extremists convinced the governor must die to save the country, and h...
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Book 23:Rampage
John Sandford • 2016
Shay Remby’s band of activists has badly damaged the Singular Corporation, but powerful backers are quietly sweeping up the mess. As whistleblowers vanish and evidence disappears, the group plans one final, all-out at...
- 24
Book 24:Golden Prey
John Sandford • 2017
Now a U.S. marshal who can pick his own cases, Lucas Davenport goes after a legendary stickup man who robbed a cartel counting house and left a child dead. As cartel enforcers close in, Lucas races brutal professional...
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Book 25:Twisted Prey
John Sandford • 2018
A suspicious crash in Washington, D.C., points Lucas Davenport back to Taryn Grant, a billionaire psychopath he once failed to nail who is now a U.S. senator. Working as a marshal, he probes a circle of hired killers...
- 26
Book 26:Neon Prey
John Sandford • 2019
Chasing a low-level enforcer who skipped bail, U.S. marshal Lucas Davenport discovers the man has been burying victims in a Louisiana swamp and may have turned cannibal. The pursuit drags Lucas across the country as t...
- 27
Book 27:Masked Prey
John Sandford • 2020
When the teenage children of prominent politicians discover their photos on a hate-filled extremist website, Washington turns to Lucas Davenport. With no obvious crime yet committed, Lucas has to trace anonymous agita...
- 28
Book 28:Ocean Prey
John Sandford • 2021
After three Coast Guardsmen are murdered investigating a suspicious dive boat off Florida, the stalled case lands on Lucas Davenport’s desk. He teams up with Virgil Flowers, going undercover around a dangerous offshor...
- 29
Book 29:Righteous Prey
John Sandford • 2022
A secretive group calling itself The Five announces online that it will murder people who “need to be murdered” and then donates cryptocurrency to charity after each kill. Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers team up to...
- 30
Book 30:The Investigator
John Sandford • 2022
Restless with her desk job for a U.S. senator, Letty Davenport jumps at an assignment to investigate stolen crude oil in Texas. Partnered with a Homeland Security agent, she uncovers a militia movement funding somethi...
- 31
Book 31:Dark Angel
John Sandford • 2023
After her work in Texas, Letty Davenport is recruited to infiltrate a hacker collective called Ordinary People. Posing as a programmer on a cross-country road trip, she and an NSA partner must figure out whether the g...
- 32
Book 32:Judgment Prey
John Sandford • 2023
A federal judge and his two young sons are gunned down at home, a crime that shocks St. Paul. With local police and the FBI stymied, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are brought in to sort through political enemies,...
- 33
Book 33:Toxic Prey
John Sandford • 2024
Epidemiologist Lionel Scott believes humanity is killing the planet—and disappears after developing a terrifying new virus. Letty Davenport is tasked with tracking him down and pulls her father, Lucas, into a global m...
- 34
Book 34:Revenge Prey
John Sandford • 2026
A high-ranking Russian defector and his family are moved into witness protection near Minneapolis, with Lucas Davenport assigned to help receive them. When a professional hit team tracks the convoy, Lucas must uncover...
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Book 35:Certain Prey
John Sandford
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Book 36:Eyes of Prey
John Sandford
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- 37
Book 37:Mortal Prey
John Sandford
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Book 38:Naked Prey
John Sandford
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Book 39:Night Prey
John Sandford
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Book 40:Rules of Prey
John Sandford
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Book 41:Shock Wave
John Sandford
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Book 42:Silent Prey
John Sandford
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Book 43:Sudden Prey
John Sandford
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Book 44:Winter Prey
John Sandford
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Quick Answers
John Sandford FAQ
What is the best order to read the John Sandford series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with The Fool's Run.
How many books are in the John Sandford series?
There are 44 books currently listed in the John Sandford series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the John Sandford series?
New readers should start with The Fool's Run, the first book in the reading order.
Is the John Sandford series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears possibly ongoing and spans releases from 1989 to 2026.