Billionaire Books in Order

The Billionaire series is Murray McDonald's young adult action-thriller line, built around Tom and Lela Kennedy. On paper, the setup sounds almost too large for two teenagers, money, international enemies, family businesses, assassins, and constant movement. In practice, that is the point. These books take the scale of an adult thriller and hand the problem to young characters who have to grow up fast.

It moves.

Kidnap sets the tone. Tom's father, Donald, is a billionaire businessman. Lela's father, Saki, is a lethal fighter who saves Tom's parents during an assassination attempt. That act ties the two families together so closely that Tom and Lela become more like siblings than friends. From there, the danger is not abstract. Their wealth paints a target on them, their parents are never fully safe, and the teenagers keep getting dragged to the center of problems adults cannot control.

That family angle matters more than the title might suggest. The glamour of private wealth is really just the trigger. What carries the story is loyalty. Tom and Lela are not thrill-seeking kids looking for adventure. They are trying to protect the people they love, make sense of enemies with real power, and survive situations that would overwhelm most adults. McDonald writes them as resourceful, brave, and often forced to improvise long before they are ready.

By the time Assassin begins, the stakes are even higher. Tom and Lela's parents are imprisoned in Africa for mass murder, and the young pair have to fight on two fronts at once, saving their family and protecting the business that holds their world together. That sequel keeps the same core appeal as Kidnap while widening the danger. The enemies are deadlier, the pressure is greater, and almost nobody is willing to believe the Kennedy family's side of the story.

What you should expect from this series is speed. Chapters push forward, the threats are immediate, and the books like to move from one crisis to the next without spending too long standing still. There is action, but there is also a clear YA feel to the storytelling. Even when the plot goes international, the emotional line stays easy to follow because McDonald never loses sight of Tom and Lela.

If you want young adult thrillers with big stakes, close family bonds, and a lot of forward motion, this is a strong place to start. Begin with Kidnap, then go straight to Assassin. The whole appeal is watching two young leads learn just how dangerous the world is, and refuse to back down anyway.