Brad Thor Books in Order
Explore Brad Thor books in order, including Scot Harvath thrillers, with quick summaries, reading guides, series notes, and easy ways to start.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
30 books
The Lions of Lucerne
by Brad Thor
2001
After the president is kidnapped and Secret Service agents are slaughtered in Utah, surviving agent Scot Harvath refuses to accept the official story. Hunted and framed, he follows the trail to Switzerland for a brutal rescue mission.
Path of the Assassin
by Brad Thor
2003
With the president rescued, Harvath hunts the men behind the attack and closes in on Hashim Nidal, a terrorist mastermind no one can identify. The chase sweeps across North Africa and Europe as Harvath races to stop a wider war.
State of the Union
by Brad Thor
2004
An unlikely enemy threatens the United States, and Harvath is pulled into a conspiracy aimed at crushing the country. Teaming with a Russian intelligence agent and a CIA unit, he races from Washington to Moscow for a final showdown.
Blowback
by Brad Thor
2005
Harvath's career is in ruins until an ancient weapon resurfaces beneath an Alpine glacier. Brought back in secret, he tears across Europe to stop a shadowy organization from turning an old terror into a modern catastrophe.
Takedown
by Brad Thor
2006
A catastrophic terrorist attack throws New York City into chaos over the Fourth of July weekend. As foreign soldiers hunt a hidden figure the government barely admits exists, Harvath fights through the city to stop an invisible mastermind.
The First Commandment
by Brad Thor
2007
After five dangerous detainees are secretly released from Guantanamo, a sadistic enemy begins striking at Harvath's inner circle. Ordered to stand down, he goes rogue to uncover the conspiracy and settle a deeply personal score.
The Last Patriot
by Brad Thor
2008
A bombing in Paris drags Harvath into a hunt for a secret tied to Mohammed's final revelation and Thomas Jefferson's dealings with the Barbary Coast. Powerful forces will kill to keep it buried, and the stakes are global.
The Apostle
by Brad Thor
2009
When doctor Julia Gallo is kidnapped in Afghanistan, Harvath is ordered to break an al-Qaeda mastermind out of Kabul's Policharki Prison as ransom. The deeper he goes, the clearer it becomes that the kidnapping hides a much darker game.
Foreign Influence
by Brad Thor
2010
A bombing in Rome kills American students and points toward a dangerous figure from Harvath's past. Working for a secret new spy unit, he follows the trail as a Chicago hit-and-run case reveals a terrifying plot against America.
The Athena Project
by Brad Thor
2010
After a terror attack in Rome, four women from a top-secret all-female Delta program are sent after the arms dealer behind it. Their hunt uncovers deeper secrets, strange discoveries, and a threat much bigger than one bombing.
Full Black
by Brad Thor
2011
A mission so secret it officially does not exist goes disastrously wrong, and the fallout unleashes coordinated terrorist attacks. Harvath must trace the betrayal before the people behind it can push the United States into total collapse.
Black List
by Brad Thor
2012
Harvath discovers his name has been added to a secret government kill list that ends only in death. To survive, he has to stay ahead of the teams sent after him and uncover who wants him silenced.
Epilogue II: A Bonus Chapter to Hidden Order
by Brad Thor
2013
This bonus chapter to Hidden Order picks up after the novel's events, when Harvath is pulled from a rare quiet day for one more mission. It offers a sharp coda and a personal glimpse of what comes next.
Free Fall: A Prelude to Hidden Order
by Brad Thor
2013
In this prelude to Hidden Order, Harvath leads a moonless insertion onto a pirate-held ship off the Somali coast. The rescue mission is fast, messy, and high-risk, giving readers a sharp taste of his off-the-books world.
Hidden Order
by Brad Thor
2013
When the candidates to run a mysterious government organization vanish, Harvath is unleashed on a manhunt across the United States. The deeper he digs, the more it points to an old American cabal and a conspiracy centuries in the making.
Act of War
by Brad Thor
2014
A dead CIA officer, missing students, swapped airline passengers, and a dubious top asset all point to something huge. With an attack looming, Harvath is drawn into covert operations so risky that exposure could mean war.
Code of Conduct
by Brad Thor
2015
Four seconds of video pull Harvath into his deadliest assignment yet, one tied to a protected secret committee with a devastating agenda. What starts as a favor turns into a globe-spanning operation with painfully personal stakes.
The Athens Solution
by Brad Thor
2015
When a game-changing weapon lands in the wrong hands, a deadly deception leaves the U.S. ambassador to Greece dead. Harvath races to stop a terror cell from selling the technology to Iran.
Foreign Agent
by Brad Thor
2016
With terrorism spiraling across Europe, the CIA needs someone it can disavow. Harvath, now working for a private intelligence outfit, is sent into the shadows to stop new attacks and find out who is really pulling the strings.
Use of Force
by Brad Thor
2017
A distress call in the Mediterranean leads to the body of a long-missing terror suspect, and the CIA fears a spectacular attack is coming. Harvath is sent in on a black contract to get answers before time runs out.
Recommended by:
Spymaster
by Brad Thor
2018
Diplomats across Europe are under attack, and the pattern points toward a larger campaign meant to prepare the battlefield for war. Harvath heads to Europe to stop it, while grappling with a bigger leadership role than he wants.
Backlash
by Brad Thor
2019
Crossed badly and stranded deep in hostile territory, Harvath has to fight his way out with no backup and no margin for error. Survival is only the start, because he wants revenge as much as escape.
Near Dark
by Brad Thor
2020
The world's largest bounty is placed on Harvath's head after a devastating attack tears through the people closest to him. With enemies closing in, he joins forces with Norwegian operative Sølvi Kolstad to survive and strike back.
Black Ice
by Brad Thor
2021
Enjoying a quiet summer in Norway, Harvath is jolted when a man he killed years earlier seems to step out of the dead. The mystery drives him above the Arctic Circle into a brutal race with Cold War stakes.
Rising Tiger
by Brad Thor
2022
A murderous clash in the Himalayas and the killing of an American diplomat in Jaipur shove Harvath into a volatile India-China crisis. In unfamiliar territory, he must sort friend from foe before a wider conflict explodes.
Dead Fall
by Brad Thor
2023
Harvath is sent after a rogue Russian mercenary unit spreading murder and terror through wartime Ukraine. What begins as a mission of vengeance opens onto war crimes, stolen treasures, and a larger Russian operation in the shadows.
Shadow of Doubt
by Brad Thor
2024
A mysterious cargo plane leaves a remote Russian airbase under heavy fighter escort, and nobody in Washington knows why. As a defector and a French agent uncover pieces of the truth, Harvath is forced to choose between conscience and country.
Edge of Honor
by Brad Thor
2025
Back in the United States after months abroad, Harvath finds a new administration and a brutal struggle for power already underway. Shadowy elites are maneuvering for control, and one wrong move could send the country over the edge.
Choke Point
by Brad Thor
2026
After bombings in Bangkok kill scores of Americans, Harvath is sent in as the quiet backup plan. The bomber is not a classic terrorist, and the trail leads to a Chinese plot built around chaos, a coup, and strategic geography.
Cold Zero
by Brad Thor
2026
When the most advanced airliner ever built crash lands on the ice near the North Pole, survivors and a revolutionary prototype device are stranded in the Arctic. CIA officer Kasey Sheridan and pilot Brett Sharpe must outmaneuver rival powers racing across the ice before the standoff ignites a wider war.
Where should I start?
If you want the full Scot Harvath arc: The Lions of Lucerne → Path of the Assassin → State of the Union
If you want a strong modern entry point: Spymaster → Backlash → Near Dark → Black Ice
If you like conspiracy-heavy espionage: Hidden Order → Act of War → Code of Conduct
If you want something outside the main run: The Athena Project → Cold Zero
Author bio
Brad Thor was born and raised in Chicago, and that fast, restless energy still fits his books. He grew up in a family that mixed discipline and travel, with a Marine veteran father and a mother who had worked as a flight attendant. Long before he was publishing thrillers, he was already drawn to stories that moved.
Writing kept pulling at him.
At the University of Southern California, Thor started out in business because it seemed like the sensible move. Then he reached the point a lot of future writers reach, he realized he could not fake interest forever. He switched to creative writing, studied with T.C. Boyle, and graduated cum laude after focusing on creative writing, film, and television production.
Before novels took over, he built a career in television. Thor created, produced, wrote, and hosted the public TV travel series Traveling Lite, which sent him around the world and gave him a close look at places, politics, and local texture. That experience mattered. His fiction rarely feels like it was built from research alone. It feels lived in.
The real turning point came on an around-the-world honeymoon with his wife, Trish. She asked what he would regret not doing if life ended too soon, and Thor admitted the answer was writing a novel. Not long after, a news story in Europe helped spark the plot for The Lions of Lucerne, his 2002 debut and the book that introduced Scot Harvath.
That was the lane.
From there, Thor built one of the major long-running names in modern political thrillers. Books like Path of the Assassin, The Last Patriot, Spymaster, and Black Ice keep pushing Harvath into bigger geopolitical crises, but the appeal is not just the action. Readers come for the speed, the global settings, the tradecraft, and the uneasy sense that some of Thor's what-if scenarios do not feel all that distant from the news.
He has also done the kind of research that fits his fiction. Thor served on the Department of Homeland Security's Analytic Red Cell Unit, where participants were asked to imagine possible threats before they happened. For The Apostle, he shadowed a Black Ops team in Afghanistan. He has also lectured to law enforcement groups about future threats, which helps explain why his novels often feel tuned to pressure points in the real world.
Not every Brad Thor book delivers exactly the same kind of ride. The Athena Project shifts attention to a top-secret team of female operatives, while Cold Zero, written with Ward Larsen, heads into Arctic survival and brinkmanship. Across the catalog, though, the same interests keep returning: loyalty under pressure, the gap between public policy and covert action, and capable people trying to do hard things in very gray territory.
Thor's novels have been published in more than 30 countries, and he still turns up regularly in the media to talk about national security and current events. He also keeps publishing at a steady clip, which is part of the appeal. Pick up a Brad Thor novel and you can expect a tight, fast thriller with big stakes, hard choices, and a hero who is usually one bad decision away from a very long night.
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