I think the best reading order for John Sandford Books is:
- The Prey Series (by published date)
- The Singular Menance trilogy
- Sandfords “Other Novels”
- and only then give the Virgil Flowers series a try (by published date)
- and The Kidd series last
John Sandfords Prey Series
The Prey Series is what John Sandford is most famous for.
The lead character is Lucas Davenport, a detective/investigator.
I propose reading this series first, and in publication order, because it’s interesting to see both the lead character and Sandfords writing style, evolve over time.
- Rules of Prey (1989) [Amazon]
- Shadow Prey (1990) [Amazon]
- Eyes of Prey (1991) [Amazon]
- Silent Prey (1992) [Amazon]
- Winter Prey (1993) [Amazon]
- Night Prey (1994) [Amazon]
- Mind Prey (1995) [Amazon]
- Sudden Prey (1996) [Amazon]
- Secret Prey (1998) [Amazon]
- Certain Prey (1999) [Amazon]
- Easy Prey (2000) [Amazon]
- Chosen Prey (2001) [Amazon]
- Mortal Prey (2002) [Amazon]
- Naked Prey (2003) [Amazon]
- Hidden Prey (2004) [Amazon]
- Broken Prey (2005) [Amazon]
- Invisible Prey (2007) [Amazon]
- Phantom Prey (2008) [Amazon]
- Wicked Prey (2009) [Amazon]
- Storm Prey (2010) [Amazon]
- Buried Prey (2011) [Amazon]
- Stolen Prey (2012) [Amazon]
- Silken Prey (2013) [Amazon]
- Field of Prey (2014) [Amazon]
- Gathering Prey (2015) [Amazon]
- Extreme Prey (2016) [Amazon]
- Golden Prey (2017) [Amazon]
- Twisted Prey (2018) [Amazon]
- Neon Prey (2019) [Amazon]
- Masked Prey (2020) [Amazon]
John Sandfords Virgil Flowers Series
The lead character is Virgil Flowers.
Interestingly, Virgil Flowers appears as a supporting character in some of the Prey Series novels.
- Dark of the Moon (2007) [Amazon]
- Heat Lightning (2008) [Amazon]
- Rough Country (2009) [Amazon]
- Bad Blood (2010) [Amazon]
- Shock Wave (2011) [Amazon]
- Mad River (2012) [Amazon]
- Storm Front (2013) [Amazon]
- Deadline (2014) [Amazon]
- Escape Clause (2016) [Amazon]
- Deep Freeze (2017) [Amazon]
- Holy Ghost (2018) [Amazon]
- Bloody Genius (2019) [Amazon]
John Sandfords The Kidd Series
The lead characters are Kidd, a computer genius and cat burglar, LuEllen.
Kidd appears in a few Prey books.
- The Fool’s Run (1989) [Amazon]
- The Empress File (1991) [Amazon]
- The Devil’s Code (2000) [Amazon]
- The Hanged Man’s Song (2003) [Amazon]
John Sandfords The Singular Menace trilogy
Co-authored with Michele Cook.
John Sandfords Other Novels
John Sandfords Short Stories
- “Lucy Had a List” (short story in “Murder in the Rough”, 2006)
- “Rhymes with Prey” (short story in “FaceOff”, 2014, with Jeffery Deaver)
- “Deserves to be Dead” (Short story in “MatchUp, 2017, with Lisa Jackson)
ALL John Sandfords Novels In Publishing Order
I’m providing this list just because I find it interesting to identify the years where John Sandford published more than 1 book (3 in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018) and to spot if he ever takes a year off (he doesn’t).
ld = Lucas Davenport, vf = Virgil Flowers, ki = Kidd, sm = Singular Menace, ra = random.
- Rules of Prey (1989) [Amazon] ld
- The Fool’s Run (1989) [Amazon] ki
- Shadow Prey (1990) [Amazon] ld
- Eyes of Prey (1991) [Amazon] ld
- The Empress File (1991) [Amazon] ki
- Silent Prey (1992) [Amazon] ld
- Winter Prey (1993) [Amazon] ld
- Night Prey (1994) [Amazon] ld
- Mind Prey (1995) [Amazon] ld
- Sudden Prey (1996) [Amazon] ld
- The Night Crew (1997) [Amazon] ra
- Secret Prey (1998) [Amazon] ld
- Certain Prey (1999) [Amazon] ld
- Easy Prey (2000) [Amazon] ld
- The Devil’s Code (2000) [Amazon] ki
- Chosen Prey (2001) [Amazon] ld
- Mortal Prey (2002) [Amazon] ld
- Naked Prey (2003) [Amazon] ld
- The Hanged Man’s Song (2003) [Amazon] ki
- Hidden Prey (2004) [Amazon] ld
- Broken Prey (2005) [Amazon] ld
- Dead Watch (2006) [Amazon] ra
- Invisible Prey (2007) [Amazon] ld
- Dark of the Moon (2007) [Amazon] vf
- Phantom Prey (2008) [Amazon] ld
- Heat Lightning (2008) [Amazon] vf
- Wicked Prey (2009) [Amazon] ld
- Rough Country (2009) [Amazon] vf
- Storm Prey (2010) [Amazon] ld
- Bad Blood (2010) [Amazon] vf
- Buried Prey (2011) [Amazon] ld
- Shock Wave (2011) [Amazon] vf
- Stolen Prey (2012) [Amazon] ld
- Mad River (2012) [Amazon] vf
- Silken Prey (2013) [Amazon] ld
- Storm Front (2013) [Amazon] vf
- Field of Prey (2014) [Amazon] ld
- Deadline (2014) [Amazon] vf
- Uncaged (2014) [Amazon] sm
- Gathering Prey (2015) [Amazon] ld
- Outrage (2015) [Amazon] sm
- Saturn Run (2015) [Amazon] ra
- Extreme Prey (2016) [Amazon] ld
- Escape Clause (2016) [Amazon] vf
- Rampage (2016) [Amazon] sm
- Golden Prey (2017) [Amazon] ld
- Deep Freeze (2017) [Amazon] vf
- Twisted Prey (2018) [Amazon] ld
- Holy Ghost (2018) [Amazon] vf
- Neon Prey (2019) [Amazon] ld
- Bloody Genius (2019) [Amazon] vf
- Masked Prey (2020) [Amazon] ld
Your Thoughts?
Are you a huge fan? Have you just begun reading the books?
Which order is best?
Have your say in the comments below.