Bad Games Books in Order

The Bad Games series is where Jeff Menapace first made his name, and it starts with a simple, awful premise. The Lambert family, looking for a quiet weekend at a lakeside cabin in western Pennsylvania, crosses paths with the Fannelli brothers, a pair of sadists who like to make people “play” for their lives.

In Bad Games, the setup is intimate and claustrophobic. Patrick and Amy Lambert just want time with their kids, Caleb and Carrie. The Fannellis decide the family will be their next entertainment, building a cat and mouse “game” around the cabin and nearby Crescent Lake. The book becomes a contest of wills, with the Lamberts pushed further and further to keep each other alive.

The second novel, Vengeful Games, widens the lens. The Lamberts have survived, but the idea that the nightmare is over turns out to be wishful thinking. New enemies with ties to the Fannellis step in, furious that their own blood has been beaten. The stakes grow beyond a single cabin as the family is hunted in supposedly safe spaces, and help arrives in the form of Domino Taylor, a Marine and security specialist with his own demons.

Domino takes center stage in Hellbent. Wracked with guilt over what happened in western Pennsylvania, he dedicates himself to shadowing the Lamberts, trying to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. When someone from his past begs him to find her kidnapped son, Domino accepts, not realizing the job is really another carefully planned “game,” this time with him as the main attraction.

Years later, Malevolent and Psychopath look at the long shadow of trauma. Amy Lambert attends a support group hosted by widower Allan Brown, only to discover that evil has not forgotten her family. The support group is targeted by people who want the “games” to begin again, and by the final book the next generation of would-be killers has grown up idolizing the Fannelli brothers and fixating on Amy’s public story.

Across all five novels, the through-line is the collision between an ordinary family and people who treat suffering as sport. The tone is dark, violent, and relentless, but Menapace also gives his characters real grit and warmth. The series works best in order, starting with Bad Games and running through to Psychopath, so you can watch the Lamberts, Domino, and even side characters like Caleb evolve under terrifying pressure.