Necromancer Books in Order

The Necromancer series begins with Sam LaCroix, a college dropout working a forgettable fast-food job in Seattle. Sam is mostly trying to get through his shifts, hang out with his friends, and avoid making his life more complicated. Then a food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a powerful necromancer who recognizes something in Sam that Sam does not understand yet.

Sam can raise the dead.

That discovery pulls him into a hidden version of Seattle populated by ghosts, werewolves, fey hounds, vampires, witches, and magical power brokers. Douglas wants Sam on his side, and he is not taking no for an answer. In Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, Sam has very little time to learn what he can do, work out whom he can trust, and keep the people he loves from becoming leverage in someone else's fight.

The books use a first-person voice that lets Sam's jokes sit right next to genuine danger. He is not a polished hero. He is overwhelmed, stubborn, and often quite sure that everyone around him knows more than he does. That makes the series feel grounded even when the plot involves reanimated bodies, ancient magic, or a supernatural council.

Seattle matters here. It is a modern city where late-night diners, coffee shops, sketchy alleys, and ordinary jobs sit beside a busy paranormal underworld. Sam keeps finding out that the strange things he thought were isolated incidents are part of a much bigger and more dangerous system.

Necromancing the Stone picks up with Sam facing the responsibilities that come with his growing power. His friends and family remain central, and the story keeps asking what it means to protect people without trying to control them. The tension gets darker, but the series does not lose its sense of humor or its affection for its scrappy cast.

The shorter companion works add extra time in this world. Necromancer contains the short story "Death and Waffles," while Heads Will Roll follows a different offbeat magical situation. Freaks & Other Family: Two Stories returns to Sam and his best friend Ramon. Read the two novels first for the main arc, then treat the shorter pieces as welcome side trips with familiar characters.