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Carolyn McCray Books in Order

Browse Carolyn McCray books in order, with short summaries, series guides, and where to start across her thrillers, mysteries, horror, and romance.

Last updated: July 3, 2026

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31 books

Indian Moon

by Carolyn McCray

2008

Set in the misty Pacific Northwest, this is one of McCray's more grounded love stories. Tragedy and heartbreak shape the romance, but the focus stays on emotional risk and hard-won connection.

HeartsBlood

by Carolyn McCray

2010

After her best friend is slaughtered, Dr. Salista Calon is pulled from hard science into blood magic and danger. The result is part paranormal thriller, part romance, with very personal stakes.

Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware

by Carolyn McCray

2010

A serial killer is terrorizing the city, and the FBI brings in a profiler balancing genius and instability. As the bodies pile up, the case becomes a test of trust, obsession, and survival.

Fated

by Carolyn McCray

2011

McCray revisits the assassination of Julius Caesar through Brutus's eyes and turns ancient history into an intimate political thriller. Betrayal, loyalty, and doomed love all press in at once.

30 Pieces of Silver

by Carolyn McCray

2012

After an attack on the Eiffel Tower reveals bones linked to John the Baptist, archaeologist Rebecca Monroe and Special Forces sergeant Vincent Brandt chase a scandalous biblical secret across continents.

Down & Dirty

by Carolyn McCray

2012

This collection gathers some of McCray's darker crime fiction into one place. It is a solid sampler if you want murder, suspense, and stories with very little gentleness.

Mayhem

by Carolyn McCray

2012

This short Betrayed story picks up after the events of Shiva and follows the fallout for Brandt and Rebecca. The danger is not finished, and neither is the larger conspiracy closing in around them.

Reader's Feast

by Carolyn McCray

2012

A mixed collection that gives readers a taste of McCray's range, from romance to suspense and the supernatural. It works best as a sampler for anyone curious about her different moods.

Shiva

by Carolyn McCray

2012

A mission to the Congo puts Vincent Brandt in contact with a girl rumored to heal the sick. As Brandt and Rebecca Monroe chase the truth across continents, religious myth and geopolitical danger collide.

A Christmas Tail

by Carolyn McCray

2013

This holiday story trades McCray's usual body count for something lighter and more family-friendly. It is a quick seasonal read built around companionship, warmth, and a little Christmas chaos.

Blood in the Water

by Carolyn McCray

2013

The sea is no safer in this Apex Predator entry, where survivors are still trapped with intelligent, hungry killers. The action stays close, wet, and nasty.

Blood letting

by Carolyn McCray

2013

This short Praxis story closes out the blood-magic arc with one more burst of danger and emotion. It is a final turn of the knife for characters caught between desire, power, and survival.

Cipher

by Carolyn McCray

2013

Ronnie and Zach are back in another cyber-thriller where secrets hidden in code have deadly real-world consequences. The push-pull between hunter and hacker is as important as the plot.

Don't Read After Dark

by Carolyn McCray

2013

This horror collection rounds up bloody, fast-moving stories, from serial-killer games to trapped-in-a-club chaos. It is aimed at readers who like their suspense graphic and their scares broad.

Encrypted

by Carolyn McCray

2013

The Robin Hood Hacker, Ronnie, joins forces with FBI agent Zachary Hunt when a secret society plans to unleash a weaponized Black Plague. It is a techno-thriller with codebreaking, pursuit, and pandemic stakes.

Love is in the Air

by Carolyn McCray

2013

This romance collection pulls together several of McCray's softer stories, including HeartsBlood, Fated, and Indian Moon. It is a big sampler for readers who want more love story than body count.

Mayflower Murders

by Carolyn McCray

2013

This historical thriller asks a dark question, did America's first serial killer arrive with the Mayflower? The story blends colonial setting, murder, and a sharp what-if premise.

Ones

by Carolyn McCray

2013

Ronnie and her allies face another tech-driven threat where information can kill as surely as any weapon. The book keeps the Robin Hood Hacker series' mix of pursuit, secrets, and rising stakes.

Pallor

by Carolyn McCray

2013

In this Harbinger entry, the case is every bit as unsettling as the people chasing it. The hunt for a killer drags damaged investigators deeper into psychological danger and mistrust.

Salechii

by Carolyn McCray

2013

A shark research park becomes a death trap when the predators get loose. Survival means outthinking the storm, the sea, and creatures built to kill.

Sinister

by Carolyn McCray

2013

A grotesque murder launches Darc into another case with ritual overtones and very little mercy. The deeper the clues go, the darker the investigation becomes.

Antigua Attack

by Carolyn McCray

2014

A new international flashpoint sends McCray's crisis-response team into another fast-moving mission. Travel, pressure, and very little room for mistakes keep the pages turning.

Collateral

by Carolyn McCray

2014

Rebecca Monroe and Vincent Brandt are pulled back into another globe-spanning clash over buried truths and dangerous believers. This later Betrayed entry keeps the series' mix of action, conspiracy, and hard personal choices.

Defeated

by Carolyn McCray

2014

Another brutal case pushes Darc back into the dark center of a fresh investigation. Graphic crime scenes, twisted clues, and the strain of the hunt give this mystery its bite.

Devious

by Carolyn McCray

2014

A fresh murder case opens with a killer bold enough to stage the crime like a message. Darc has to read the psychology behind it before the body count climbs again.

Dirty Bomb

by Carolyn McCray

2014

A terror plot centered on a dirty bomb turns this into a straight countdown thriller. McCray leans into fast action, mounting panic, and the fear of catastrophe in a crowded modern world.

Insurgency

by Carolyn McCray

2014

Set against a volatile international conflict, this thriller drops its team into a mission that can go wrong in a dozen directions. McCray keeps the pace high and the stakes military.

Kill Zone

by Carolyn McCray

2014

Davidson, Bunny, and Lopez head into the final showdown of the Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles. It is a tactical thriller built on sniper pressure, tight teamwork, and almost no margin for error.

New Avalon

by Carolyn McCray

2014

In a future wrecked by climate collapse, Syns, and roaming dinosaurs, the search for New Avalon becomes a desperate push for safety. Survival means staying ahead of both machines and monsters.

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

by Carolyn McCray

2014

A killer turns a familiar nursery rhyme into the outline for another violent case. The investigators have to read the pattern quickly, before the next body makes the game even uglier.

Resistant

by Carolyn McCray

2014

A new biological threat turns this later thriller into a race between infection and information. McCray keeps the tension on containment, countermeasures, and who can stay one step ahead.

Where should I start?

If you want revisionist religious thrillers: 30 Pieces of SilverShivaCollateral
If you want cyber and conspiracy action: EncryptedCipherOnes
If you want dark serial-killer mysteries: Plain Jane: Brunettes BewarePallorSinister
If you want paranormal romance with higher stakes: HeartsBloodBlood letting
If you want creature-feature survival stories: SalechiiBlood in the WaterNew Avalon

Author bio

Carolyn McCray is the pen name Carolyn used for a big, fast-moving stretch of indie fiction that also connects back to her work as Cristyn West. Her catalog is wide on purpose. She wrote thrillers, mysteries, horror, paranormal romance, historical adventure, and a few books that happily blur all of those lines.

She grew up in a family of readers. Her grandmother was a librarian, her aunt taught school, and her mother was a devoted book lover. Writing started early, but she has said it took years before she really saw herself as an author.

Another career came first.

McCray trained as a veterinarian, and in her early author interviews she talked about balancing animal care, a social media business, and fiction. That mix helps explain a lot about her books. They tend to move quickly, chase big ideas, and lean into high-pressure situations, but they also have a hands-on, practical streak underneath the drama.

She has said that horror and paranormal romance were longtime favorites, with mystery and historical thrillers close behind. Readers can feel that range all over her work. One series might center on a serial killer and a damaged profiler. Another might send an archaeologist and a Special Forces soldier into a religious conspiracy. Another might throw a hacker and an FBI agent into a race to stop a modern plague.

That breadth is part of the appeal.

Many readers first found her through Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware, a dark, twisty thriller that set the tone for her love of disturbed minds, uneasy alliances, and danger that feels personal. 30 Pieces of Silver pushed her into bigger, globe-spanning territory, pairing archaeologist Rebecca Monroe with Special Forces sergeant Vincent Brandt for a conspiracy thriller built around contested religious history. Encrypted showed her techno-thriller side, while HeartsBlood opened the door to blood magic, romance, and the push and pull between science and the supernatural.

She also built a lot of series in a short time. The Betrayed books, the Robin Hood Hacker novels, the Praxis: Blood Magic stories, and her collaborations with Ben Hopkin all show the same instinct to keep moving and keep trying new hooks. Across those books, a few patterns come up again and again: secret histories, serial predators, high-concept threats, stubborn investigators, and villains big enough to make the chase matter.

McCray was not only writing books, she was part of the early self-publishing boom that helped many indie authors reach readers directly. She helped found the Indie Book Collective, worked as a social media consultant, and spoke openly about the business side of publishing. That practical side never flattened the fiction. If anything, it gave her room to be even more adventurous.

You can see that adventurous streak everywhere. Fated revisits ancient Rome through Brutus. Salechii turns a shark park into a survival nightmare. Indian Moon slows things down for a more grounded romantic story. Even within one series, she often shifts from historical puzzle to action set piece to emotional fallout without worrying too much about neat category lines.

Taken together, her bibliography feels like the work of a writer who valued freedom over tidiness. She wrote quickly, crossed genres easily, and aimed for stories with momentum, danger, and a strong hook right from the start.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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