James P Sumner Books in Order
Explore James P Sumner books in order, with series guides, short summaries, crossover notes, and clear advice on where to start with each series.
Last updated: July 10, 2026
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Publication Order
20 books
Hunter's Games
by James P Sumner
2014
A year after Nevada, Adrian takes what should be a simple job in San Francisco. Instead he lands in a city under siege, where a terrorist makes one chilling demand of the FBI: bring me Adrian Hell.
One Last Bullet
by James P Sumner
2014
Adrian goes after Wilson Trent, the crime lord tied to his wife and daughter's deaths. What begins as revenge turns darker as his closest ally wonders whether Adrian wants justice, or simply no future at all.
True Conviction
by James P Sumner
2014
A routine contract on a corrupt businessman turns disastrous when Adrian Hell uncovers a secret powerful enough to make him the target. Caught between rival enemies, he has to kill, think, and improvise faster than ever.
A Hero of War
by James P Sumner
2015
In 1990, eighteen-year-old Adrian Hughes joins the army and discovers he is very good at combat and very bad at following orders. A deadly ambush forces him to unlock the darkness that will shape the man he becomes.
D.E.A.D. Till I Die
by James P Sumner
2015
Betrayed by his country and left for dead, Jericho Stone crosses paths with GlobaTech, a private military giant building a special unit for dangerous threats. Joining them could offer redemption, but it might also derail his need for revenge.
Deadly Intent
by James P Sumner
2015
After two quiet years in retirement, Adrian's hard-won peace shatters when three strangers arrive and reopen old wounds. Pulled back into violence, he faces enemies from his past and a conspiracy bigger than he expected.
A Necessary Kill
by James P Sumner
2016
Branded as the man behind a devastating terrorist attack, Adrian is cut off from his allies and hunted by the U.S. government. He knows the truth, but staying alive long enough to prove it is another matter.
Good Intentions
by James P Sumner
2016
Trying to repay the people who saved him, Adrian is living and killing under a new set of rules. When he starts doubting their motives, loyalty gives way to suspicion and puts everything around him at risk.
Thicker Than Blood
by James P Sumner
2017
Adrian reunites with his allies while a shadowy organization hunts him with everything it has. To stop a plot bigger than any one hit, he must face the buried pieces of his past before time runs out.
Crossfire
by James P Sumner
2018
Jericho Stone and Julie Fisher head to Montreal to protect a high-value client, while Ray Collins tries to enjoy a rare break in Miami. Their separate troubles soon crash together in a violent mission with wider consequences.
Lost Souls
by James P Sumner
2018
Dominic Devane thinks he is an ordinary teenager until he learns his mother is a witch and he can wield mana. Tragedy, prophecy, and dangerous enemies quickly pull him into a hidden magical world he barely understands.
Blowback
by James P Sumner
2020
Semi-retired in Tokyo, Adrian Hell has finally found a fragile kind of peace. Then a figure from his past comes looking to tear it apart, forcing him back into a brutal fight for the life he built.
Critical Strike
by James P Sumner
2021
The attack everyone feared finally lands, starting with bloodshed in Washington, D.C. As separate threats collide, Adrian Hell, GlobaTech, and Roach are forced into uneasy alliance for a fight that changes everything.
Danger Close
by James P Sumner
2021
Jericho Stone leads a peacekeeping force into the unstable South American nation of Paluga. When a terrorist attack blows up the mission, GlobaTech must survive enemies on every side while a fragile region tips toward war.
Hard To Kill
by James P Sumner
2021
Left for dead and dragged into industrial espionage, the man called Roach fights back against the people who betrayed him. His hunt for answers turns deadly when revenge starts endangering the few people he still cares about.
The Devil You Know
by James P Sumner
2021
Adrian is trying to hold onto peace after Tokyo when an old friend calls him to Washington. What looks like one more favor drags him back into danger and points straight toward a much larger reckoning.
Become Death
by James P Sumner
2022
After the fallout of Critical Strike, Adrian comes face to face with a truth he never expected. Shaken to his core, he turns away from friends and comfort alike to pursue answers that could destroy what is left of him.
Cry Havoc
by James P Sumner
2022
After heavy losses and a crushing defeat, GlobaTech is the last barrier between a relentless enemy and millions of civilians. Their final mission carries enormous stakes, and stopping the next threat may cost them everything.
Five Rounds
by James P Sumner
2022
This collection gathers five short Adrian Hell stories set before True Conviction. Together they trace key moments from his early life as an assassin and show how his reputation, methods, and moral code were forged.
Time To Die
by James P Sumner
2023
Roach steps in to save a woman from assault and ends up trapped in a town full of secrets. The deeper he digs, the more betrayal and violence he finds waiting just beneath the surface.
Where should I start?
If you want the main Adrian Hell series: True Conviction → Hunter's Games → One Last Bullet → Deadly Intent
If you want the Adrian Hell crossover path: The Devil You Know → Critical Strike → Become Death
If you prefer military techno-thrillers: D.E.A.D. Till I Die → Crossfire → Danger Close → Cry Havoc
If you want a darker, more personal thriller: Hard To Kill → Time To Die
If you want fantasy instead: Lost Souls
Author bio
James P Sumner is an English thriller writer who turned a long-held goal into a working career in 2013. Before books became his full-time life, he worked a run of office jobs, the kind of everyday workplaces that leave plenty of room for daydreaming about something else. That summer he finally sat down to write the story he had been carrying around for years. It became True Conviction.
He self-published the book in February 2014. Readers found it quickly, and they found Adrian Hell too, the assassin at the center of the novel. Sumner kept building from there, adding book after book instead of waiting for permission from anyone.
That steady, self-starting streak runs through his whole career.
A major turning point came with A Necessary Kill. The novel won the 2015 Kindle Scout program and became his biggest breakout, briefly reaching the top of the Kindle charts. In a 2017 interview, Sumner said the day he was fired from his full-time job in June 2016 was the day writing stopped being a hobby and became his life. It is a blunt origin story, but it fits the way he talks about work.
Most readers know him for the Adrian Hell books, beginning with True Conviction and continuing through titles like Hunter's Games, Thicker Than Blood, and Become Death. The appeal is easy to spot. The books move quickly, the action lands hard, and the first-person voice keeps readers very close to Adrian's head. Sumner likes morally complicated leads, messy loyalties, and plots that start personal before opening out into conspiracies, politics, and very bad days for dangerous people.
He has also pushed beyond that flagship series. The GlobaTech novels, including D.E.A.D. Till I Die and Danger Close, lean more into military and techno-thriller territory, with private contractors, geopolitics, and team-based missions. Then there is Hard To Kill, which introduces Roach, a rougher, more inward-looking lead shaped by memory loss and betrayal. Lost Souls shows another side again, moving into young adult urban fantasy.
He clearly likes building connected worlds.
That world-building pays off in Critical Strike, which pulls together Adrian Hell, GlobaTech, and Roach for a larger crossover story. Along the way, Sumner also picked up formal recognition. Thicker Than Blood won ATAI awards in 2017 for Best Thriller and Best General Fiction. He has said that character is the heart of story, and that belief shows up again and again in his books. Even when the body count is high, the focus stays on people, their damage, and the choices they make under pressure.
In more recent years, his life has shifted as well. He emigrated to the United States in 2024 and now lives in upstate New York with his wife, who is also his editor, his stepdaughter, and a cat named Finney. He has also spoken about helping other self-published writers as they learn the business side of publishing.
Sumner's books are usually fast, dark, and a little wry. Whether he is writing assassins, private military operatives, or a teenage warlock, he tends to circle the same questions: who deserves saving, what violence costs, and how much of a past a person can outrun.
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