Relic Runner Books in Order
Part ofErnest Dempsey Books in OrderSee all the Relic Runner vigilante thrillers by Ernest Dempsey in order, with summaries of each Dak Harper novel, series background, and help choosing the right starting point.
Last updated: December 22, 2025
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Publication Order
7 books
Strings of Deception
by Ernest Dempsey
2024
Dak Harper is hired to recover a small but significant relic that has somehow slipped through every official net. The deeper he digs into the theft, the more he realises the object is bait in a much larger scheme built on lies and betrayal.
Thief's Honor
by Ernest Dempsey
2023
An operation in Europe forces Dak Harper to work alongside another professional thief whose moral code does not match his own. As a dangerous job spirals, he has to choose between keeping a promise and doing what he believes is right.
Moscow Sky
by Ernest Dempsey
2022
A lead on stolen antiquities pulls Dak Harper into the cold heart of modern Russia. Navigating oligarchs, hired muscle, and a city where nothing is quite what it seems, he chases a priceless relic that could disappear forever into the black market.
Heavy Lies the Crown
by Ernest Dempsey
2022
A job that should be a straightforward artifact retrieval drops Dak Harper into the middle of a fight over a relic tied to a fallen monarchy. Between rival claimants and violent thieves, he has to decide who, if anyone, deserves to walk away with the crown.
Two Nights In Mumbai
by Ernest Dempsey
2021
A new assignment sends Dak Harper to the chaos and colour of Mumbai, where a stolen relic has become the centre of a dangerous criminal deal. Over two long nights, he battles gangsters, corrupt officials, and his own ghosts to get it back.
The Courier
by Ernest Dempsey
2021
After his own unit betrays him, ex Special Forces commando Dak Harper takes a job tracking stolen artifacts for a young billionaire. His first mission sends him to Peru to steal back a legendary sword from a brutal cartel, and maybe save a forgotten community with it.
Country Roads
by Ernest Dempsey
2021
Back in the United States, Dak Harper is sent to rural North Carolina to recover a pair of Civil War pistols stolen from a museum. The hunt uncovers a ruthless local boss who controls an entire county, forcing Dak to liberate a town before he can claim the guns.
Series background & context
The Relic Runner books follow Dak Harper, a former Delta Force operator who thought he was finished with war. After a betrayal in the mountains of Iraq leaves him presumed dead, Dak drifts from place to place trying to stay ahead of the people who want him erased for good.
Fate throws him a lifeline in the form of an eccentric young millionaire with a passion for rare antiquities. The offer is simple on paper: hunt down stolen artifacts, return them to legitimate owners, and get paid very well for the trouble. In practice, that means tracing black-market pipelines through cartel territory, war zones, and glittering cities where money hides a lot of crime.
Each Relic Runner novel drops Dak into a new tangle of history and danger. One job might send him into the slums of Lima after a sword carried by a long dead conquistador. The next drags him through the back alleys of Mumbai or into the Appalachian mountains to track down heirlooms a local tyrant refuses to give back. The artifacts are always valuable, but the real stakes are the people being exploited around them.
Dak is not a suave art thief or a clean-cut secret agent. He is a bruised soldier with a strong moral compass, a talent for improvising under fire, and a growing sense that someone has to stand up for the small communities trampled by global greed. As the series unfolds, his missions start to look less like simple retrieval jobs and more like one-man crusades against cartels, corrupt officials, and mercenaries.
Compared with Sean Wyatt, the Relic Runner stories are grittier and more street-level. You still get historical hooks and buried legends, but you also get bar fights, backroom deals, and the constant sense that Dak is one bad break away from losing everything. At the same time, there is a quiet thread of redemption, as he tries to make peace with his past and become something more than the weapon he was trained to be.
If you enjoy modern vigilante tales, tense urban combat, and treasure hunts that expose the darker side of the art world, the Relic Runner series gives you Ernest Dempsey working in a lean, hard-edged mode with plenty of heart.
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