Max Austin Books in Order

The Max Austin series is a connected international thriller saga about a man who cannot quite escape the life he once led. Max Austin is a former KGB assassin who has tried to build a quieter existence in Paris, far from the people and institutions that shaped him. That hope does not last long.

The main story begins with The Russian Assassin, when Max is drawn back into danger by a family crisis and a terrorist attack. His search for answers soon becomes personal. Long-buried secrets about his father place Max's sister and nephew in the path of people who have been playing a much larger game for years.

Max is not a clean-cut hero, and that is part of the point. He is skilled, cautious, and used to violence, but his past leaves him with old loyalties, regrets, and enemies. The series keeps asking whether he can protect his family without becoming the person he was trying to leave behind.

The stakes widen as the books go on. In The Pursuit, Max searches for his parents' killers and uncovers a conspiracy with roots in Soviet history. The Attack puts him on the run after a London bombing, while The Hunt forces him to weigh the safety of his family against the fate of a missing friend. By The Abyss and Endgame, the fight reaches intelligence agencies, a cache of secret documents, and the larger network that has pursued Max and his loved ones from the beginning.

This is a globe-trotting series. Paris, Minsk, Zurich, Prague, London, Chechnya, Turkey, Cyprus, Chamonix, Siberia, Moscow, and the United States all become parts of Max's long fight. The changing locations give each installment a new immediate problem, but the continuing family story is what ties the books together.

Kate Shaw, a CIA officer, becomes an important part of the ongoing cast, alongside Max's sister Arina and nephew Alex. Their safety gives Max a reason to keep moving even when the odds are bad.

Readers should start with The Russian Assassin and continue through the six main novels in publication order: The Pursuit, The Attack, The Hunt, The Abyss, and Endgame. Each book has its own mission and confrontation, but the larger conflict builds from one installment to the next. Cat & Mouse is a prequel novella that shows Max in Paris before the main series, and it works well as extra backstory after the opening novel.

Expect fast action, political conspiracies, international travel, and a hero whose toughest battles are never only physical.