Elliott Kay Books in Order
Explore Elliott Kay books in order, with reading guides to Good Intentions, Poor Man's Fight, and more, plus short summaries and where to start.
Last updated: July 9, 2026
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Elliott Kay books in publication order
21 books
Good Intentions
by Elliott Kay
2011
A foolish cemetery dare leaves Alex Carlisle bound to two supernatural women, Rachel and Lorelei, an angel and a succubus. Their arrival turns his stalled life in Seattle into a crash course in magic, danger, and very messy adulthood.
Natural Consequences
by Elliott Kay
2013
Alex is already juggling college, work, an angel, and a succubus when Seattle's supernatural mess gets worse. Vampires, federal agents, and relentless new enemies push his strange household from chaotic to dangerous.
Poor Man's Fight
by Elliott Kay
2013
After school collapses and debt leaves him with no future, Tanner Malone joins Archangel's tiny navy. Brutal training, pirates, and a looming civil war quickly teach him that survival in space is always personal.
Days of High Adventure
by Elliott Kay
2014
Amanda and Eric think fantasy gaming is just a break from ordinary college life, until a dark wizard makes their adventures real. Suddenly the heroics, monsters, and chaos are not happening around a table anymore.
Rich Man's War
by Elliott Kay
2014
Tanner hopes to finish his enlistment quietly, but Archangel's break from corporate control makes that impossible. As cold war turns hot, he is thrown back into the fight and forced to question who is really protecting whom.
Life in Shadows
by Elliott Kay
2015
This collection gathers four stories from the Good Intentions world, where one brush with magic can change a life forever. It widens the series beyond Alex's main storyline and shows how dangerous Seattle's shadows can be.
Dead Man's Debt
by Elliott Kay
2016
The war for Archangel drags on, and Tanner Malone is pushed from the battlefield into diplomacy, espionage, and the public eye. The closer he gets to the hidden forces behind the conflict, the uglier the truth becomes.
Personal Demons
by Elliott Kay
2016
Alex thinks he finally understands life with Rachel and Lorelei, at least on the good days. Then a feud among Seattle sorcerers, pressure from Hell, and Lorelei's deadly ex turn his already complicated love life into open war.
No Medals for Secrets
by Elliott Kay
2017
While Archangel fights for survival, Corporal Alicia Wong uncovers signs of illegal alien contact and a much larger conspiracy. What starts as front-line soldiering turns into espionage, covert missions, and choices that could reshape the war.
Last Man Out
by Elliott Kay
2018
After surviving war and scandal, Tanner Malone is finally at university. An archaeological expedition should be a break, but ancient alien secrets, corporate enemies, and fresh danger make Tanner the one person his classmates cannot do without.
Nowhere to Run
by Elliott Kay
2019
Scars and his found family survive the dungeon, only to face a kingdom that still wants monsters gone. When they find an exiled camp under threat from raiders and something worse beneath the ground, walking away is no longer an option.
Run Like Hell
by Elliott Kay
2019
Half-orc Scars of No-Clan is trapped in an evil wizard's dungeon when adventurers tear the place apart. He and a ragged crew of fellow outcasts have to escape the dark below before the heroes kill them first.
Past Due
by Elliott Kay
2020
Alex Carlisle owes the jinn Zafirah a favor, and she has finally come to collect. Her hunt for a powerful family of sorcerers pulls Alex, Rachel, and Lorelei into a dangerous job with a very personal cost.
Small Victories
by Elliott Kay
2020
This collection gathers seventeen stories from Good Intentions, Wandering Monsters, and Poor Man's Fight. It fills in the smaller battles, awkward moments, and personal aftershocks that happen between the big novels.
Hot Restart
by Elliott Kay
2022
Riley Morgan is scraping by on pit fights and illegal salvage jobs when a stasis pod turns up a kidnapped stranger. Helping her drags him into corporate trouble, dangerous aliens, and a forbidden AI that wants a life of her own.
Low-Key Calamities
by Elliott Kay
2023
This collection gathers fourteen short pieces from Poor Man's Fight, Good Intentions, and Wandering Monsters. The stories zoom in on smaller crises, side missions, and personal fallout that the main novels only hint at.
No Man's Land
by Elliott Kay
2023
College life finally gives Tanner a little breathing room, until Alicia Wong pulls him toward a mystery surrounding a massive alien craft in human space. The mission forces him back into the kind of danger he never wanted to survive again.
Grand Theft Sorcery
by Elliott Kay
2024
When a risky job lands repo man Evan Murphy in a Hollywood Hills necromancer's dungeon, a forgotten god gives him the power to escape. That rescue makes him a target in a Los Angeles supernatural war already spinning out of control.
Great Power and No Responsibilities
by Elliott Kay
2024
Kyle Daveran meets Xinn, a psychic alien with vacation plans, a talent for trouble, and good reasons to hide from federal agents. Her power could change lives, but Kyle's urge to help may wreck the escape they are chasing.
Devil In the Details
by Elliott Kay
2025
Alex's attempt at something like normal life is wrecked by a sister he never knew, a missing father, and trouble in Las Vegas. Family wounds, scheming demons, and pressure from Heaven make this one hit close to home.
Life After Hell
by Elliott Kay
2026
Tanner is trying to enjoy campus life as a freshman dorm advisor when alien refugees ask for help. He cannot bring in the navy this time, so he has to face an old menace with a very different kind of team.
Where to start with Elliott Kay
If you want military science fiction first: Poor Man's Fight → Rich Man's War → Dead Man's Debt → No Medals for Secrets
If you want sexy urban fantasy first: Good Intentions → Natural Consequences → Personal Demons → Past Due
If you want a fantasy road adventure: Run Like Hell → Nowhere to Run
If you want a standalone space romance: Hot Restart
If you want a Los Angeles spinoff from the Good Intentions world: Grand Theft Sorcery
Elliott Kay sub-series and character series
Good Intentions books in order
Explore this series
Good Intentions
by Elliott Kay
2011Good Intentions, Book 1
Natural Consequences
by Elliott Kay
2013Good Intentions, Book 2
Personal Demons
by Elliott Kay
2016Good Intentions, Book 3
Past Due
by Elliott Kay
2020Good Intentions, Book 4
Low-Key Calamities
by Elliott Kay
2023Good Intentions, Book 5
Devil In the Details
by Elliott Kay
2025Good Intentions, Book 6
Good Intentions books in chronological order

Good Intentions
by Elliott Kay
2011Good Intentions, Book 1
Natural Consequences
by Elliott Kay
2013Good Intentions, Book 2
Personal Demons
by Elliott Kay
2016Good Intentions, Book 3
Past Due
by Elliott Kay
2020Good Intentions, Book 4
Low-Key Calamities
by Elliott Kay
2023Good Intentions, Book 5
Devil In the Details
by Elliott Kay
2025Good Intentions, Book 6
Poor Man's Fight books in order
Explore this series
Poor Man's Fight
by Elliott Kay
2013Poor Man's Fight, Book 1
Rich Man's War
by Elliott Kay
2014Poor Man's Fight, Book 2
Dead Man's Debt
by Elliott Kay
2016Poor Man's Fight, Book 3
No Medals for Secrets
by Elliott Kay
2017Poor Man's Fight, Book 4
Last Man Out
by Elliott Kay
2018Poor Man's Fight, Book 5
No Man's Land
by Elliott Kay
2023Poor Man's Fight, Book 6
Poor Man's Fight books in chronological order

Poor Man's Fight
by Elliott Kay
2013Poor Man's Fight, Book 1
Rich Man's War
by Elliott Kay
2014Poor Man's Fight, Book 2
Dead Man's Debt
by Elliott Kay
2016Poor Man's Fight, Book 3
No Medals for Secrets
by Elliott Kay
2017Poor Man's Fight, Book 4
Last Man Out
by Elliott Kay
2018Poor Man's Fight, Book 5
No Man's Land
by Elliott Kay
2023Poor Man's Fight, Book 6
Wandering Monsters books in order
Explore this seriesStandalone Elliott Kay books
Author bio
Elliott Kay grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in Seattle, Washington. He has a bachelor's degree in history, served in the US Coast Guard, and later spent years teaching high school. Those pieces show up in his fiction, which tends to care about ordinary people, institutions, and the cost of getting trapped inside systems bigger than you are.
Writing was not some neatly mapped career plan. Kay has said he started writing for fun, not because he expected it to become a living. As readers found his work, that changed. He has written that Good Intentions helped him through a stretch of seasonal unemployment, and that Poor Man's Fight changed his life enough that he could step back from his day job and spend more time on books.
He also has a habit of presenting the biography version of himself with a shrug and a joke, mentioning severe seasickness, a motorcycle crash, summers in Phoenix, and winters in Seattle.
That working-person perspective is a big part of why Poor Man's Fight lands. The series follows Tanner Malone, a bright kid shoved toward military service by debt, bad luck, and a very unequal future. The books deliver shipboard action, training, politics, and war, but they stay close to the people doing the hard jobs. Readers who love military science fiction often stick with the series because it mixes combat and space opera with class pressure, dark humor, and friendships that feel earned.
His other major world is Good Intentions, which starts with Alex Carlisle, a cemetery dare, and a disaster that leaves him tied to an angel and a succubus. From there the books grow into a mix of Seattle magic, divine and infernal politics, explicit romance, comedy, and real danger. Natural Consequences, Personal Demons, Past Due, and Devil In the Details keep widening that world while holding on to the banter and emotional messiness that readers come for in the first place.
He likes side roads, too.
Run Like Hell flips fantasy expectations by making the so-called monsters the people worth rooting for, while Nowhere to Run turns that setup into a harsher road story about exile and survival. Hot Restart moves back into space with a down-on-his-luck salvager, a forbidden AI, and a lot of corporate trouble. Grand Theft Sorcery and Days of High Adventure show the same restless interest in mixing action, humor, sex, and sympathetic outsiders.
Collections matter in his bibliography as well. Books like Life in Shadows, Small Victories, and Low-Key Calamities let him explore the fallout between the headline events and give side characters room to breathe. He has also written about working with refugees during his Coast Guard years and while teaching in public schools, and that background helps explain why even his wildest premises usually keep one foot on the ground.
He still writes from Seattle.
What ties his work together is not a single genre so much as a certain point of view. Kay likes people who are outmatched, underpaid, or in over their heads, and he likes seeing what happens when they refuse to stay small. That makes his books funny, scrappy, sexy, and more humane than their high-concept pitches might suggest.
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