Max Allan Collins Books in Order
Part ofMickey Spillane Books in OrderExplore the Bones tie in novel by Max Allan Collins and Kathy Reichs in order, with a story overview, series background, and guidance on where this crossover fits alongside the Temperance Brennan books and TV show.
Last updated: January 14, 2026
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Publication Order
208 books
Baby, It's Murder
by Mickey Spillane
2025
Beginning at a twenty-first-century funeral then flashing back to the summer of 1973, Hammer accompanies Velda to Long Island to watch over her teenage sister, Mikki. When drugs enter the picture and Mikki is targeted, Hammer wages war on the dealers, knowing the final reckoning still lies ahead.
The Big Bundle
by Max Allan Collins
2023
Dig Two Graves
by Mickey Spillane
2023
In 1964 a hit and run nearly kills Velda’s mother and quietly reveals that Velda’s father is not who she believed. Hammer and Velda travel to Arizona’s Dreamland Park, a retirement haven for ex-lawmen guarding criminals in Witness Protection, and collide with missing robbery millions and graveyard violence.
Kill Me If You Can
by Mickey Spillane
2022
Set between *Kiss Me, Deadly* and *The Girl Hunters*, Hammer reels from Velda’s disappearance when an old bootlegger friend is murdered. To avenge him, Hammer hunts for a secret ledger packed with the names of corrupt officials, drawing fire from mobsters and power brokers who all want it.
To Live and Spy In Berlin
by Max Allan Collins
2021
Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek
by Mickey Spillane
2021
When Sheriff Caleb York guns down an abusive young brute in Trinidad, the dead man’s mother, a ruthless cattle baroness, demands revenge and Willa Cullen’s ranch. York is caught between two iron-willed women as hired guns converge on Sugar Creek, the only water that can save Willa’s herd.
Quarry's Blood
by Max Allan Collins
2021
Live Fast, Spy Hard
by Max Allan Collins
2021
Fancy Anders Goes To War: Who Killed Rosie The Riveter?
by Max Allan Collins
2021
Double Down
by Max Allan Collins
2021
Skim Deep
by Max Allan Collins
2020
Skeleton in the Closet
by Max Allan Collins
2020
Masquerade for Murder
by Mickey Spillane
2020
Witnessing a Wall Street hotshot mowed down by a speeding red sports car, Hammer is hired by the victim’s broker father to find the driver. What looks like a hit and run leads to a series of bizarre murders tied to a forbidden martial-arts technique and a killer hiding in plain sight.
Hot Lead, Cold Justice
by Mickey Spillane
2020
A killer blizzard slams into New Mexico just as York’s deputy is gunned down in a case of mistaken identity. The bullets were meant for York, fired on orders from an old guerrilla fighter planning a bank robbery, and the sheriff must hunt a gang that thinks the storm will cover their escape.
Girl Can't Help It
by Max Allan Collins
2020
Do No Harm
by Max Allan Collins
2020
Come Spy With Me
by Max Allan Collins
2020
One Mean Mother
by Max Allan Collins
2019
Murder, My Love
by Mickey Spillane
2019
Hammer is hired by a New York senator and the senator’s sharp, charismatic wife to stop a blackmailer who threatens a White House bid. As suspects die one by one, he finds himself neck-deep in political secrets, bedroom scandals, and a plot that goes far beyond a single kompromat tape.
Last Stage to Hell Junction
by Mickey Spillane
2019
Outlaws hijack the morning stage from Trinidad, not for cash but for a banker and two women York cares about, Willa Cullen and saloon owner Rita Filley. Held in a ghost town called Hell Junction, the hostages become bargaining chips, and York has to infiltrate the gang before the ransom turns into massacre.
Killing Quarry
by Max Allan Collins
2019
Girl Most Likely
by Max Allan Collins
2019
USS Powderkeg
by Max Allan Collins
2018
The Bloody Spur
by Mickey Spillane
2018
Rancher George Cullen is ready to fight the Santa Fe Railroad’s plan to push a spur through his land, even if everyone else in Trinidad welcomes it. York is sent to talk him down, but the return of an old partner and the arrival of a killer preacher turn a business dispute into a bloody showdown.
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #2
by Mickey Spillane
2018
Continuing the comic-book arc begun in issue one, Hammer digs deeper into the mob war that exploded after his run-in with a femme fatale. As the body count climbs, he closes in on the hidden mastermind and delivers his brand of justice with fists, wisecracks, and a .45.
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #1
by Mickey Spillane
2018
The first issue of a graphic Mike Hammer adventure, based on an unproduced Spillane script, finds the PI drawn into a case called “The Night I Died.” A chance meeting with a dangerous woman brings mob retaliation, leaving Hammer dodging bullets and wondering who set him up.
Mercy
by Max Allan Collins
2018
Killing Town
by Mickey Spillane
2018
In this “lost” first Mike Hammer case, the young PI hops a freight to the mill town of Killington and is promptly accused of rape and murder. A powerful senator’s beautiful daughter gives him an alibi at a price, and Hammer digs into the local corruption that made him a convenient suspect.
The Will to Kill
by Mickey Spillane
2017
A midnight walk by the Hudson brings Hammer face to face with a partial corpse drifting on an ice floe. The dead man was a former cop turned butler to a wealthy family now beset by suspicious deaths, and Hammer must sort through heirs who all have good reasons to kill.
Quarry's Climax
by Max Allan Collins
2017
The Big Showdown
by Mickey Spillane
2016
Hired as town marshal in a settlement teetering between law and lawlessness, Caleb York faces rustlers, crooked businessmen, and a fast-gun rival who wants the star for himself. The inevitable showdown forces York to choose between cleaning up the town and walking away from its problems.
Quarry in the Black
by Max Allan Collins
2016
Murder Never Knocks
by Mickey Spillane
2016
A hired gun bursts into Hammer’s office and nearly puts him in the ground, then a newsstand vendor takes a bullet meant for him. While hunting whoever signed the contract, Hammer is hired to guard a producer’s glamorous fiancée, only to stumble into another deadly kidnapping attempt.
Better Dead
by Max Allan Collins
2016
A Long Time Dead
by Mickey Spillane
2016
This collection gathers eight Mike Hammer stories completed from Spillane’s drafts, beginning with a string of “accidents” that nearly kill him. The cases range from subway platform brawls to mob vendettas, showing Hammer at different ages but always ready to finish what someone else started.
X-Files: Trust No One
by Charles Grant
2015
The Legend of Caleb York
by Mickey Spillane
2015
In Trinidad, New Mexico, Sheriff Harry Gauge rules with a fast gun and greedy eye on rancher George Cullen’s land and daughter, Willa. When a mysterious stranger rides in and refuses to be pushed, a struggle for the town’s soul erupts, and Caleb York’s name becomes a legend.
Quarry's Choice
by Max Allan Collins
2015
Kill Me, Darling
by Mickey Spillane
2015
Velda has vanished from Hammer’s life, and he is coming off a four-month bender when an ex-vice cop she once worked with turns up murdered. Learning that Velda is now on the arm of a Miami gangster, Hammer heads south to find out why she walked away and who wants her dead.
The Wrong Quarry
by Max Allan Collins
2014
King of the Weeds
by Mickey Spillane
2014
As Hammer and Velda finally plan their wedding, an assassin’s bullet nearly kills him outside his office. At the same time a serial killer of cops is about to walk free and everyone suspects Hammer knows where billions in hidden Mafia cash are stashed, painting a massive target on his back.
It's in the Book
by Mickey Spillane
2014
In this short Mike Hammer caper, a notorious mob boss dies, leaving behind rumors of a ledger listing every payoff he ever made. Hired to find the book before it ruins politicians and gangsters alike, Hammer rips through the don’s family and enemies, knowing everyone has a price in mind.
What Doesn't Kill Her
by Max Allan Collins
2013
So Long, Chief
by Max Allan Collins
2013
Seduction of the Innocent
by Max Allan Collins
2013
Complex 90
by Mickey Spillane
2013
Acting as security for a controversial anti-Communist politician, Hammer is snatched off the streets and hustled behind the Iron Curtain. Imprisoned, interrogated, and written off as a dead man, he has to fight his way out of Soviet captivity and untangle the political game that put him there.
Ask Not
by Max Allan Collins
2013
Triple Play
by Max Allan Collins
2012
Target Lancer
by Max Allan Collins
2012
Skin
by Mickey Spillane
2012
Driving upstate, Hammer spots a dog guarding something off the road and finds a mangled corpse with only a single hand intact. Teaming with an ambitious young reporter who soon vanishes, he uncovers grave robberies and a monstrous killing method that even he has never seen before.
Saving Private Ryan
by Max Allan Collins
2012
Lady, Go Die!
by Mickey Spillane
2012
On a supposed beach vacation with Velda, Hammer crosses paths with a crooked small-town cop and a missing party girl. When the woman turns up naked and dead on a statue in the town square, he digs into illegal gambling, mob money, and local officials with plenty to hide.
Flower for the Butcher
by Max Allan Collins
2012
The Consummata
by Mickey Spillane
2011
Notorious thief Morgan the Raider owes his life to a group of Cuban exiles in Miami, and when seventy-five thousand dollars of their money is stolen, he agrees to get it back. The favor leads him into Latin clubs, federal pressure, double crosses, and the dangerous mystery behind the name Consummata.
Stranger by Night
by Yvonne Navarro
2011
Quarry's Ex
by Max Allan Collins
2011
No One Will Hear You
by Max Allan Collins
2011
Chicago Lightning
by Max Allan Collins
2011
Bye Bye, Baby
by Max Allan Collins
2011
You Can't Stop Me
by Max Allan Collins
2010
The Big Bang
by Mickey Spillane
2010
Set in the swingin’ sixties, Hammer is just back from a near-fatal run-in with the mob when he stops a gang mugging a young hospital messenger. The kid was carrying lifesaving drugs, and the ambush leads Hammer and Velda into New York’s growing heroin trade and a looming mega shipment.
Quarry in the Middle
by Max Allan Collins
2009
Kiss Her Goodbye
by Mickey Spillane
2009
Recuperating in Florida from a mob shootout, Hammer learns that his old NYPD mentor apparently killed himself. He refuses to believe it and heads home, only to find a murdered woman, Nazi loot in the shadows, and enemies who thought the old cop took his secrets to the grave.
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
by Max Allan Collins
2008
The Goliath Bone
by Mickey Spillane
2008
On the eve of retirement and marriage to Velda, Hammer stumbles into an attack on two young archaeologists carrying a mysterious giant thigh bone. The relic is tied to biblical legend, Middle Eastern politics, and a terrorist plot that forces Hammer back into bloody action.
The First Quarry
by Max Allan Collins
2008
Strip for Murder
by Max Allan Collins
2008
Red Sky in Morning
by Max Allan Collins
2008
Killer Profile
by Max Allan Collins
2008
I Want to Believe
by Charles Grant
2008
Finishing School
by Max Allan Collins
2008
Jump Cut
by Max Allan Collins
2007
Deadly Beloved
by Max Allan Collins
2007
Dark Passions
by Yvonne Navarro
2007
Black Hats
by Max Allan Collins
2007
Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 2
by Max Allan Collins
2007
A Killing in Comics
by Max Allan Collins
2007
The Last Quarry
by Max Allan Collins
2006
Snake Eyes
by Max Allan Collins
2006
Buried Deep
by Kathy Reichs
2006
In this tie in to the television series Bones, Dr Temperance Brennan and FBI agent Seeley Booth investigate a plastic bag of mixed skeletal remains left on federal steps. As Booth pursues a Chicago mob case, Tempe uncovers a serial killer hidden in the chaos.
The War of the Worlds Murder
by Max Allan Collins
2005
The Pink Panther
by Max Allan Collins
2005
Killing Game
by Max Allan Collins
2005
Dick Tracy
by Max Allan Collins
2005
Binding Ties
by Max Allan Collins
2005
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5
by Max Allan Collins
2004
The London Blitz Murders
by Max Allan Collins
2004
Strange Bedfellows
by Yvonne Navarro
2004
Road to Purgatory
by Max Allan Collins
2004
Heat Wave
by Max Allan Collins
2004
Grave Matters
by Max Allan Collins
2004
Bombshell
by Max Allan Collins
2004
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4
by Max Allan Collins
2003
Skin Game
by Max Allan Collins
2003
Quarry's Greatest Hits
by Max Allan Collins
2003
Florida Getaway
by Max Allan Collins
2003
Fatal Attractions
by Yvonne Navarro
2003
Cold Burn
by Max Allan Collins
2003
Body of Evidence
by Max Allan Collins
2003
After the Dark
by Max Allan Collins
2003
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3
by Max Allan Collins
2002
The Scorpion King
by Max Allan Collins
2002
The Lusitania Murders
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Sin City
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Playful Pin-Ups
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Pin-Up Nudes II
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Patriotic Pin Ups
by Max Allan Collins
2002
I Spy
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Double Dealer
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Cowgirl Pin-Ups
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Chicago Confidential
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Before the Dawn
by Max Allan Collins
2002
Windtalkers
by Max Allan Collins
2001
The Pearl Harbor Murders
by Max Allan Collins
2001
The Mummy Returns
by Max Allan Collins
2001
The History of Mystery
by Max Allan Collins
2001
Seaside Sweethearts
by Max Allan Collins
2001
Pirate and Gypsy Girls
by Max Allan Collins
2001
Pin-Up Nudes
by Max Allan Collins
2001
Kisses of Death
by Max Allan Collins
2001
Indian Maidens
by Max Allan Collins
2001
Angel in Black
by Max Allan Collins
2001
U-571
by Max Allan Collins
2000
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2
by Max Allan Collins
2000
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1
by Max Allan Collins
2000
The Hindenburg Murders
by Max Allan Collins
2000
Varga Girls II
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Varga Girls I
by Max Allan Collins
1999
The Titanic Murders
by Max Allan Collins
1999
The Mummy
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Swimsuit Sweeties
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Regeneration
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Majic Man
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Exotic Ladies
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Elvgren Girls II
by Max Allan Collins
1999
Elvgren Girls I
by Max Allan Collins
1999
U.S. Marshals
by Max Allan Collins
1998
Road To Perdition
by Max Allan Collins
1998
Hot Blood X
by Yvonne Navarro
1998
Flying Blind
by Max Allan Collins
1998
Kiss and Kill
by Yvonne Navarro
1997
Crimes of Passion
by Yvonne Navarro
1997
American Gangster
by Max Allan Collins
1997
Air Force One
by Max Allan Collins
1997
Fear the Fever
by Yvonne Navarro
1996
Daylight
by Max Allan Collins
1996
Damned in Paradise
by Max Allan Collins
1996
Black Alley
by Mickey Spillane
1996
Still recovering from bullet wounds and presumed dead by many who knew him, Hammer returns to New York and to an old army buddy on his deathbed. The friend whispers one last secret, pointing Hammer toward a hidden cache of Mafia billions that every hood and fed in town wants.
Wolf
by Max Allan Collins
1995
Waterworld
by Max Allan Collins
1995
Seeds of Fear
by Yvonne Navarro
1995
Blood and Thunder
by Max Allan Collins
1995
Reincarnal
by Max Allan Collins
1994
Maverick
by Max Allan Collins
1994
Deadly After Dark
by Yvonne Navarro
1994
Carnal Hours
by Max Allan Collins
1994
Murder by the Numbers
by Max Allan Collins
1993
In the Line of Fire
by Max Allan Collins
1993
Hottest Blood
by Yvonne Navarro
1993
A Good Head on His Shoulders
by Max Allan Collins
1993
Dick Tracy Meets His Match
by Max Allan Collins
1992
Tough Tender
by Max Allan Collins
1991
Stolen Away
by Max Allan Collins
1991
Hotter Blood: More Tales of Erotic Horror
by Yvonne Navarro
1991
Dying in the Post-War World
by Max Allan Collins
1991
Dick Tracy Goes to War
by Max Allan Collins
1991
Dick Tracy and the Nightmare Machine
by Max Allan Collins
1991
The Killing Man
by Mickey Spillane
1989
Hammer walks into his office to find Velda unconscious on the floor, a mobster butchered in his chair, and a note from a killer signed “Penta.” With the DA, FBI, CIA, and the Mafia all crowding in, Hammer has to find out who really owns the corpse on his carpet.
Hot Blood Tales of Erotic Horror
by Yvonne Navarro
1989
Bullet Proof
by Max Allan Collins
1989
Quarry's Vote / Primary Target
by Max Allan Collins
1988
Neon Mirage
by Max Allan Collins
1988
Mourn the Living
by Max Allan Collins
1988
Butcher's Dozen
by Max Allan Collins
1988
The Dark City
by Max Allan Collins
1987
Spree
by Max Allan Collins
1987
Scrap
by Max Allan Collins
1987
The Million-Dollar Wound
by Max Allan Collins
1986
Nice Weekend for a Murder
by Max Allan Collins
1986
Midnight Haul
by Max Allan Collins
1986
A Shroud for Aquarius
by Max Allan Collins
1985
True Crime
by Max Allan Collins
1984
Kill Your Darlings
by Max Allan Collins
1984
True Detective
by Max Allan Collins
1983
The Baby Blue Rip-Off
by Max Allan Collins
1983
No Cure for Death
by Max Allan Collins
1983
Scratch Fever
by Max Allan Collins
1982
Hush Money
by Max Allan Collins
1981
Hard Cash
by Max Allan Collins
1981
Fly Paper
by Max Allan Collins
1981
Quarry's Cut / The Slasher
by Max Allan Collins
1977
Quarry's List / The Broker's Wife
by Max Allan Collins
1976
Quarry's Deal / The Dealer
by Max Allan Collins
1976
Quarry / The Broker
by Max Allan Collins
1976
Two for the Money
by Max Allan Collins
1973
Blood Money
by Max Allan Collins
1973
Bait Money
by Max Allan Collins
1973
Survival... Zero
by Mickey Spillane
1970
A dying friend’s phone call pulls Hammer into the shabby death of a small-time pickpocket. Under the cheap suit and alleyway violence he uncovers a deeper plot, where political players and faceless bureaucrats are ready to write off innocent lives as acceptable losses.
The Body Lovers
by Mickey Spillane
1967
Hammer hears a child’s scream in the night and finds a terrified boy beside the whipped, murdered body of a model. As similarly brutal killings mount, he dives into fashion houses, hidden clubs, and an underground circle where jaded elites pay to watch women die.
The Twisted Thing
by Mickey Spillane
1966
A routine bodyguard job turns into a nightmare when the teenage son of Hammer’s wealthy client disappears. The kidnapping ties back to a fourteen-year-old crime and a killer whose warped motives make him one of the most venomous foes Hammer has ever faced.
The Snake
by Mickey Spillane
1964
Picking up after *The Girl Hunters*, Hammer spirits Velda out of hiding and discovers she has been sheltering a runaway young woman. Protecting the girl from her murderous stepfather throws Hammer and Velda into a decades-old robbery mystery and a hunt for a faceless schemer called the Snake.
The Girl Hunters
by Mickey Spillane
1962
Seven years after Velda vanished on a case, Hammer is a drunken derelict pulled off the streets to hear a dying man’s confession: Velda is alive and in deadly danger. To save her, he has to sober up and face a Soviet assassin known only as the Dragon.
Kiss Me, Deadly
by Mickey Spillane
1952
Speeding home from Albany, Hammer almost runs down a terrified hitchhiker, then is run off the road by killers who torture and murder her. His investigation uncovers a tangle of mobsters, spies, and stolen atomic secrets that make this one of his most explosive cases.
The Big Kill
by Mickey Spillane
1951
In a seedy bar on a stormy night, a desperate man kisses his baby goodbye, walks into the street, and is gunned down. Hammer shoots back, then takes responsibility for the child and launches a relentless hunt for the men behind the killing.
One Lonely Night
by Mickey Spillane
1951
Shaken after a judge calls him a killer, Hammer wanders a rainy Manhattan bridge and stumbles into a woman’s death and a stranger’s murder. The trail leads to Communist cells, political fronts, and a conspiracy that turns his personal crisis into a Cold War battlefield.
Vengeance is Mine
by Mickey Spillane
1950
Hammer wakes up in a hotel room with a hangover, a dead war buddy on the floor, and his own gun as the supposed suicide weapon. Stripped of his licenses, he digs into a modeling agency and blackmail racket that powerful people will kill to protect.
My Gun Is Quick
by Mickey Spillane
1950
After Mike Hammer gives a down-on-her-luck redhead enough cash to escape the streets, she turns up dead in an apparent hit and run. Convinced it is murder, Hammer tears into a prostitution and blackmail ring that stretches from waterfront dives to high society.
I, the Jury
by Mickey Spillane
1947
Private eye Mike Hammer vows to avenge the slow, cruel murder of his war buddy Jack Williams by killing the culprit in exactly the same way. His hunt drags him through New York’s nightclubs, clinics, and mob hangouts, where every ally might be a liar.
Series background & context
This entry spotlights Bones: Buried Deep, the media tie in novel co written by Max Allan Collins and Kathy Reichs and set in the world of the television series Bones. Instead of the book version of Temperance Brennan, readers follow the TV incarnation working at the Jeffersonian in Washington, DC.
The story opens when a plastic bag full of skeletal fragments and a taunting note are left on the steps of a federal building. Special Agent Seeley Booth calls in Brennan to determine whether the bones belong to one victim or many, and her analysis points to a serial killer who has carefully mixed together pieces from different corpses.
At the same time, Booth is building a major case against a Chicago mob family. As bodies begin to surface and old crimes come to light, the investigation tangles organized crime, a long forgotten massacre, and a present day killer who is using the chaos as cover.
Collins brings his background in hard boiled thrillers and tie in fiction, while Reichs supplies the forensic logic and character DNA. The result reads like an extended episode, with banter between Booth and Brennan, tension with law enforcement bureaucracy, and detailed lab work that gradually peels back each victim’s story.
You do not need to know the print Temperance Brennan novels to enjoy this book, but fans will spot echoes of Reichs’s real science throughout. For readers who came to the character through television, it offers a familiar way to see Bones and Booth tackle a case that is too complex for a single hour on screen.
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