Last Updated on October 19, 2021 I got hooked on reading theDavid Baldacci books in order ever since I picked up his first novel, Absolute Power, which I got up soon after it was first published back in 1996. I love political thrillers, and this author makes this genre really proud. He hasn't stopped writing from the first book he ever wrote, so every year I'm confident that I have a few David Baldacci books to read once again not only in his ever-growing series but also standalone novels.

Here are the David Baldacci books in the reading order for his several series, standalone novels, and novellas as well. I will update the list any time new titles are published under his name.

New David Baldacci Books

Mercy

Mercy (Atlee Pine #4), 2021

Sean King And Michelle Maxwell Books In Order

  1. Split Second (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #1), 2003
  2. Hour Game (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #2), 2004
  3. Simple Genius (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #3), 2007
  4. First Family (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #4), 2009
  5. The Sixth Man (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #5), 2011
  6. King and Maxwell (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell #6), 2013

Camel Club Series In Order

  1. The Camel Club (Camel Club #1), 2005
  2. The Collectors (Camel Club #2), 2006
  3. Stone Cold (Camel Club #3), 2007
  4. Divine Justice (Camel Club #4), 2008
  5. Hell's Corner (Camel Club #5), 2010
  6. Bullseye (Camel Club #5.5), 2014

Shaw Series In Order

  1. The Whole Truth (Shaw #1), 2008
  2. Deliver Us From Evil (Shaw #2), 2010

John Puller Boks In Order

  1. Zero Day (John Puller #1), 2011
  2. The Forgotten (John Puller #2), 2012
  3. The Escape (John Puller #3), 2014
  4. No Man's Land (John Puller #4), 2016

Will Robie Series In Order

  1. The Innocent (Will Robie #1), 2012
  2. The Hit (Will Robie #2), 2013
  3. Bullseye (Will Robbie #2.5), 2014
  4. The Target (Will Robbie #3), 2014
  5. The Guilty (Will Robie #4), 2015
  6. End Game (Will Robie #5), 2017

Amos Decker Series In Order

  1. Memory Man (Amos Decker #1), 2015
  2. The Last Mile (Amos Decker #2), 2016
  3. The Fix (Amos Decker #3), 2017
  4. The Fallen (Amos Decker #4), 2018
  5. Redemption (Amos Decker #5), 2019
  6. Walk the Wire (Amos Decker #6), 2020

Atlee Pine Series in Order

  1. Long Road to Mercy (Atlee Pine #1), 2018
  2. A Minute to Midnight (Atlee Pine #2), 2019
  3. Daylight (Atlee Pine #3), 2020
  4. Mercy (Atlee Pine #4), 2021

Vega Jane Series In Order

A Young Adult dystopian series

  1. The Finisher (Vega Jane #1), 2014
  2. The Keeper (Vega Jane #2), 2015
  3. The Width of the World (Vega Jane #3), 2017
  4. The Stars Below (Vega Jane #4), 2019

Archer Series in Order

  1. One Good Deed, 2019
  2. A Gambling Man, 2021

Standalone David Baldacci Books

  • Absolute Power, 1996
  • Total Control, 1997
  • The Winner, 1998
  • The Simple Truth, 1999
  • Saving Faith, 2000
  • Wish You Well, 2001
  • Last Man Standing, 2001
  • The Christmas Train, 2001
  • True Blue, 2009
  • One Summer, 2011
  • No Time Left, 2012 (short story/novella)
  • FaceOff, 2014 (anthology edited by David Baldacci
  • The Final Play, 2021 (novella formerly published as The Mighty Johns)

Should we read the David Baldacci books in order?

I have read all the author's (save for Bullseye and The Target), and while I never got the feeling that I have to read them in order or else, I still recommend you doing so. Granted, that if you pick the books out of order and start to read them, you won't be utterly lost in what is going on, at least not in all series.

Having said that, however, my personal mantra is – if you can read the David Baldacci books in chronological order, it is better if you do so. There is still a continuity of the storylines in the various series which do make more sense if you pick them up as the author intended them to be read.

For example, Divine Justice in The Camel Club series picks up after Stone Cold, with Oliver Stone having to suffer the consequences of what he did in the previous books as payback for something (won't give out spoilers, no worry).

In addition, each series is already advanced enough that there is a strong character development throughout. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are two private investigators (former secret service agents) that work together, and their interaction within the books is interesting and engaging. It is what makes them work together so well in solving their sometimes quirky cases.

Of course, this really refers to reading the series in order. The standalone David Baldacci books can be read in any order that you choose since they don't have any relevance to each other.

David BaldacciDavid Baldacci Biography

Born in 1960 in Richmond, Virginia, David Baldacci was a keen reader even a young boy. In fact, he credits his maternal grandmother, a former school teacher, with instilling in him a love for storytelling.

Baldacci grew up in Richmond, where he spent countless hours at the local library, reading everything he could from authors like Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and other classic crime mystery writers.

He graduated from the Henrico High School, following which he attended the Virginia Commonwealth University where he got his BA.

Before going to college, however, he tried his hands at writing short stories for some fifteen years. He could not make a living writing at the time, so he went to college to get a higher education instead.

After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Virginia, graduating with a law degree. After his studies, he practiced law for 9 years in Washington DC.

It was during this time that he started writing in earnest (he had a knack for writing even as a child), releasing after 3 years his first novel, Absolute Power in 1996. The book became an instant bestseller, and it was also the book that got me hooked on the author's books as well.

Absolute Power was made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman.

Currently, with over 40 books published so far, the author has written so far 6 mystery series, a young-adult dystopian sci-fi series (Vega Jane), and several standalone novels.

I have read almost all his novels for adults and because there are several series that were written over the years, it would be a bit confusing to start reading them now without knowing which book goes in which series and in which order to best read them.

King and MaxwellI've caught up with most of his books, and as the author has several series going on – many at the same time – I really wanted to make sure I read all his books, or at least I'm aware of all of them, to add them to my TBR (to be read) pile. One of my favorite series, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, seemingly ended in 2013 with the book titled King and Maxwell.

So I figured it's worth listing all the David Baldacci books in order for anyone who has only now discovered this awesome political thriller author, or who has read a few novels here and there and would like to catch up with reading the rest, just like I did.

His latest book in the Will Robbie series is calledEnd Game. Will Robie, the hitman, is tasked with something very different from his normal job. He has to investigate his boss's disappearance, Blue Man. Roger Walton went on his usual yearly holidays back home fishing and one day he just didn't check in anymore. He disappeared without a trace.

Now, Will Robbie and Jessica Reel, a hitman as well, have to team up to go searching for their boss before it's too late.

The latest David Baldacci book in the series is just as adrenaline-rich as the author's previous novels. While this story is a bit different from the rest, it is still worth reading the author's books in order for the Will Robbie series because Will and Jessica have a history which develops in an interesting way in this book. Also, you get more information about Blue Man and why he is so important in this book.

A new book in the Amos Decker series is published in 2019 with the title Redemption, followed by a whole new series featuring Atlee Pine, an FBI special agent who is not only great at profiling criminals but is even better at going out and catching them herself. One, whose sole reason for even becoming an FBI agent is to catch the one who kidnapped and probably killed her sister.

The latest David Baldacci book, One Good Deed, is so far a standalone novel about a WWII veteran, Archer, who has been unfairly jailed. When he is paroled, he is sent to Poca City along with a very long list of things he has to follow if he wants to stay out of jail. When things get headed in the local town and someone gets murdered, the suspicion immediately falls on Archer. To avoid going back to prison, he teams up with detective Shaw to solve the crime before it's too late for him.