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Joe DeMarco Books in Order

Part ofMike Lawson Books in Order

See the Joe DeMarco books in order by Mike Lawson, with quick summaries, series background, reading order help, and tips on the best place to start.

Last updated: June 30, 2026

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Publication Order

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20 books

1

The Inside Ring

by Mike Lawson

2005

After an attempt on the president's life, congressional fixer Joe DeMarco is sent to find out whether the Secret Service was compromised. What starts as a security breach turns into a tense Washington conspiracy with political fallout at every step.

2

The Second Perimeter

by Mike Lawson

2006

Joe DeMarco looks into a possible fraud case at a naval base and stumbles into a spy ring. With ex-intelligence operative Emma at his side, he is pulled into a Cold War grudge that is still killing people.

3

House Rules

by Mike Lawson

2008

After a foiled bombing and a plane shot down near the White House, fear sweeps Washington. Joe DeMarco digs into the attacks while trying to stop a panic-fueled anti-Muslim bill that could change the country.

4

House Secrets

by Mike Lawson

2009

Joe DeMarco is asked to look into a reporter's suspicious death, and the trail leads to a rising senator with a spotless public image. The closer Joe gets, the more dangerous the secrets around him become.

5

House Justice

by Mike Lawson

2010

A leak in Washington exposes a CIA asset in Iran and sets off a brutal hunt for the source. Joe DeMarco has to protect his boss, manage a jailed journalist, and stay ahead of a killer tracking his every move.

6

House Divided

by Mike Lawson

2011

With Mahoney sidelined, Joe DeMarco is left alone when an illegal surveillance program captures evidence of murder. Soon he is trapped between the NSA, the Pentagon, and operatives who see him as expendable.

7

House Blood

by Mike Lawson

2012

Joe DeMarco reopens the case of a lobbyist convicted of murder and finds a pharmaceutical scheme with deadly human costs. The deeper he digs, the closer he gets to killers who will do anything to protect a miracle drug.

8

House Odds

by Mike Lawson

2013

When John Mahoney's daughter is charged with insider trading, Joe DeMarco is sent to clear her name. The case leads him into dirty money, family secrets, and a scandal that could wreck Mahoney for good.

9

House Reckoning

by Mike Lawson

2014

A dying mobster finally tells Joe DeMarco who killed his father years ago. To learn the truth, Joe has to revisit his Queens upbringing and go after a powerful man who is almost beyond reach.

10

House Rivals

by Mike Lawson

2015

Sent to North Dakota to watch over a young blogger, Joe DeMarco finds an oil boom world full of intimidation and backroom deals. Protecting her means taking on fixers every bit as ruthless as he is.

11

House Revenge

by Mike Lawson

2016

Joe DeMarco heads to Boston to help an elderly woman battling a predatory developer, and an apparent accident makes the case personal. What follows is a sharp revenge story driven by dirty financing, politics, and muscle.

12

House Witness

by Mike Lawson

2018

When Mahoney's secret son is murdered in Manhattan, Joe DeMarco expects an easy prosecution with five eyewitnesses. Instead he uncovers a slick operation dedicated to tampering with witnesses and making solid cases fall apart.

13

House Arrest

by Mike Lawson

2019

After a congressman is shot inside the Capitol, Joe DeMarco is arrested and framed for the crime. From a jail cell he relies on Emma to expose the corporate grudge and careful planning behind the setup.

14

House Privilege

by Mike Lawson

2020

A teenage heiress survives the plane crash that kills her parents, and Joe DeMarco is sent to look after her. He soon uncovers embezzlement, murder, and a chase that carries him far beyond Boston.

15

House Standoff

by Mike Lawson

2021

When a woman from Joe DeMarco's past is found murdered in rural Wyoming, he drops everything to find out why. The search pulls him into a local power struggle involving a wealthy rancher, old grudges, and buried secrets.

16

Alligator Alley

by Mike Lawson

2023

After a young Justice Department employee is murdered in the Florida Everglades, Joe DeMarco and Emma head south to investigate. Corrupt FBI agents are only the beginning of a case that keeps widening beneath them.

17

Kingpin

by Mike Lawson

2024

A dead intern, an unfinished report, and a staged overdose send Joe DeMarco after a web of political bribery. His search leads toward a powerful crime figure whose influence reaches well beyond Boston.

18

Ella

by Mike Lawson

2025

Early parole puts Ella Fields back on the street with no money, no future, and one clear target. This tight Joe DeMarco novella flips the spotlight onto a clever witness-tamperer who wants revenge.

19

Untouchable

by Mike Lawson

2025

When a billionaire socialite is executed in his own home, evidence begins pointing somewhere impossible. Joe DeMarco is sent into the shadows to investigate a president who may be beyond the reach of ordinary justice.

20
New

The Asset

by Mike Lawson

2026

A hit-and-run that barely makes the news turns out to be the loose thread Joe DeMarco cannot ignore. As he looks into a possible Chinese asset and a rival's wife, every answer opens a darker question.

Series background & context

Joe DeMarco is not a senator, spy, or cop. He is the guy powerful people send when they need a problem handled quietly.

At the start of the series, Joe works for Speaker of the House John Mahoney, a big, shameless, hard-drinking operator with a talent for mixing public duty and private convenience. Joe has a law degree, but his real job is being Mahoney's fixer. He checks out suspicious deaths, leans on reluctant sources, carries messages nobody wants on paper, and pokes into scandals powerful people would rather bury. That setup gives the books their angle right away. These are political thrillers, but they are seen from the hallway, not the podium.

Washington is the series' real pressure cooker.

The books move through Capitol Hill offices, bars, hotel rooms, intelligence agencies, law firms, and back channels where favors matter more than official titles. A case that starts small almost never stays small. In The Inside Ring, a question about presidential security opens into a bigger conspiracy. In House Divided, Joe gets caught between the NSA and the Pentagon. In House Blood, corporate greed turns into something far darker. The pleasure of the series is watching Joe trace those connections while trying to stay one step ahead of people with more money, more power, and fewer scruples.

Joe also has help, though never the comfortable kind. Emma, a retired intelligence operative with deep contacts and a very long memory, becomes one of the series' most important recurring figures. She brings tradecraft, patience, and a colder view of the world than Joe usually wants to hear. Other allies come and go, but Emma is the one who most often reminds you that these books sit at the border between political thriller, spy story, and crime novel.

What makes the series work, though, is Joe himself. He is competent, but not invincible. He worries about money, gets tired, makes mistakes, and knows he is often doing bad work for reasons that are only halfway noble. Books like House Reckoning and House Witness also let more of his personal life show through, especially his family history and the grudges that shaped him. That extra bit of wear and history keeps him from feeling like a stock series hero.

Loyalty is the real currency here.

If you like thrillers that are fast without being flashy, and cynical without becoming joyless, Joe DeMarco is a good bet. The books can usually be read on their own, but in order you get a better feel for Joe's shifting relationship with Mahoney, his long friendship with Emma, and the way Washington keeps changing while somehow staying exactly the same.

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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