Catherine Ling Books in Order

Catherine Ling's series follows a CIA operative whose personal loyalties are as strong as her survival skills. Raised on the streets of Hong Kong after being abandoned as a child, Catherine learned to survive by gathering and trading information. Her later work takes her into dangerous missions, but her past remains close. Iris Johansen links espionage, family threats, and recurring friendships, making these thrillers about the people Catherine protects as much as the enemies she confronts.

Her son is at the center of those loyalties.

Chasing the Night introduces Catherine through the search for her kidnapped child. She turns to forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, hoping that Eve's skills can help her find answers. Their shared experience of a missing child gives the alliance an emotional foundation. Catherine can act decisively in a crisis, but the uncertainty surrounding her son exposes a vulnerability that professional training can't remove. The book also connects her stories to Johansen's larger Eve Duncan series.

Her friendship with Hu Chang provides another continuing thread. He is a skilled assassin and poison maker who became a mentor to her when she was young. In What Doesn't Kill You, something he has created attracts dangerous people who want to use it for themselves. Catherine's effort to protect him draws her into a hunt involving rogue operative John Gallo. The journey between intelligence operations and Hong Kong keeps her professional world tied to the place where she first learned its harsher lessons.

Later books test how far she can go to defend her circle. Live to See Tomorrow sends her on a rescue mission involving a journalist imprisoned in Tibet, bringing duty into conflict with her desire to spend time with her son. Your Next Breath turns the threat directly toward people connected to Catherine, as deaths among those who have helped her suggest that someone is deliberately targeting her relationships. Her allies matter because they offer knowledge, protection, and support that official instructions alone can't provide.

The series changes locations as missions require, rather than keeping Catherine within one neighborhood or police department. That movement gives the stories the feel of international thrillers, with secretive organizations and dangerous individuals creating pressure from several directions. The emotional stakes stay personal even when the action becomes large. Catherine's ability to fight or find information doesn't guarantee that everyone she loves will remain beyond an enemy's reach.

These are suspense stories with action, intense relationships, and links to a recurring cast. Starting with Chasing the Night introduces the family concern and the connection to Eve before later missions expand Catherine's world. Readers can then follow how trust in a small number of people becomes both her strength and a route through which enemies try to hurt her.