Payne and Jones Books in Order

Jonathon Payne and David Jones first appear in The Plantation, already retired from an elite American Special Forces unit. Payne runs a high tech company in Pittsburgh, and Jones operates a small detective agency from the same building, which gives them resources and freedom that most heroes do not have.

The heart of the series is their partnership. Payne is the planner, steady and controlled, while Jones is the louder voice in the room, happy to push buttons and crack jokes even when bullets are flying. They grew up inside the same combat unit, and that shared past lets them trust each other in ways that keep them alive when plans fall apart.

Early on the books focus on very personal stakes. In The Plantation a wave of kidnappings across the United States hits home when Ariane Walker is taken and the trail leads to a modern day slave camp hidden on a Louisiana estate. From there the series widens its lens, steadily moving from regional crimes into international conspiracies.

Sign of the Cross drags the duo into a brutal string of crucifixion murders and an archaeological discovery under the Italian town of Orvieto that could shake church history. Sword of God shifts the action toward Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the holy city of Mecca, tying a blood soaked cave, a missing village, and a murdered interrogator to a planned holy war.

Later adventures lean even further into lost treasure and coded history. The Lost Throne revolves around murdered monks at the cliff top monasteries of Metéora and a secret that reaches back to ancient Greece. In The Prophecy a mysterious coded message linked to Nostradamus pulls Payne and Jones into a chase across Europe. The Secret Crown uses the life and death of Bavaria's King Ludwig II as the starting point for a search through castles and wartime bunkers, while The Death Relic connects vanished archaeologists in Mexico to legends born from the fall of the Aztec and Mayan empires.

In The Einstein Pursuit the destruction of a research lab in Stockholm and a scientist on the run point to dangerous work at the edge of medical science. The Malta Escape brings the pair to the islands of Malta, where an old friend is hunting a Knights Hospitaller hoard and a ruthless Russian crime boss is settling scores.

Throughout the series, Payne and Jones are never working alone. Interpol director Nick Dial, historian Petr Ulster, and various specialists step in when the situation calls for it, and their return appearances make the world feel connected from book to book. Each thriller tells a complete story, but the running jokes, callbacks, and scars they carry forward reward readers who follow the series in order.

The overall tone is modern, kinetic, and slightly irreverent. Big gunfights and ancient tunnels sit right alongside one liners and friendly insults. If you enjoy action thrillers that travel the world, fold in a dose of history, and rely on a loyal friendship at the center, the Payne and Jones novels are built for exactly that.