Roy Johansen Books in Order
This page shows Roy Johansen books in order, with quick summaries, series background, and straightforward help on reading order and where to start.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Roy Johansen books in publication order
19 books
The Answer Man
by Roy Johansen
1999
A struggling Atlanta polygraph operator accepts a big payday to teach a defendant how to beat the test. Instead he lands in a deadly tangle of lies, money, and people who need him silent.
Beyond Belief
by Roy Johansen
2001
Atlanta detective Joe Bailey, once a stage magician, is assigned a murder that seems tied to a telekinetic child. Chasing the truth means sorting fraud from real danger before the case turns on him.
Deadly Visions
by Roy Johansen
2003
Joe Bailey, former magician and professional skeptic, teams with psychic Monica Gaines to stop murders that seem supernatural. As the attacks edge closer to his daughter, doubt becomes a luxury he can't afford.
Silent Thunder
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2008
Marine architect Hannah Bryson is assigned to make a decommissioned Russian nuclear submarine safe for museum visitors. When she and her brother uncover a cryptic message aboard the vessel, a deadly attack draws Hannah into the submarine’s hidden history and a dangerous international conspiracy.
Storm Cycle
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2009
Computer genius Rachel Kirby is desperate to find a cure for the rare illness threatening her sister, Allie. A message from an archaeologist trapped in an Egyptian tomb offers a possible lead, sending Rachel into a deadly hunt involving ancient medical knowledge, corporate interests, and murder.
Shadow Zone
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2010
While mapping the lost underwater city of Marinth, submersible designer Hannah Bryson uncovers evidence that may explain its ancient destruction. After a crucial artifact is stolen, she and the dangerous Kirov race to expose the city’s secret before it can unleash a modern catastrophe.
Close Your Eyes
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2012
Once blind, music therapist Kendra Michaels uses extraordinary sensory observation to aid investigators. When former FBI agent Adam Lynch says her ex, Jeff Stedler, has vanished while pursuing a serial killer, Kendra is drawn into a murder case that exposes a dangerous conspiracy.
With Open Eyes
by Roy Johansen
2012
In this short Kendra Michaels story, a mentor asks for help after her fiancé disappears. Kendra follows the trail into a secret that powerful people want buried.
Sight Unseen
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2014
Kendra Michaels, once blind and now unusually perceptive, recognizes that an apparent traffic accident on San Diego’s Cabrillo Bridge is murder. As killings echo cases she previously helped solve, Kendra becomes the focus of a killer determined to turn her own expertise against her.
The Naked Eye
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2015
FBI and CIA consultant Kendra Michaels suspects that serial killer Eric Colby survived his reported execution. When a reporter’s murder yields evidence against her, Kendra must prove the killer lives, clear her name, and stop a foe who is turning the investigation against her.
Night Watch
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2016
Kendra Michaels, whose restored sight and sharpened senses made her a sought-after investigator, is drawn back to the Night Watch Project when Dr. Charles Waldridge vanishes. Working with Adam Lynch, she uncovers murdered researchers and a threat tied to the operation that changed her life.
Look Behind You
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2017
Kendra Michaels assists the FBI after a San Diego serial killer leaves apparently random objects at murder scenes. The evidence points to older unsolved crimes and a killer determined to challenge Kendra, placing the investigators themselves in the line of fire.
Double Blind
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2018
Kendra Michaels becomes involved when a murdered woman near her home leaves an envelope addressed to Kendra containing a wedding video. After the bride disappears, Kendra, Adam Lynch, and private investigator Jessie Mercado pursue a killer whose scheme reaches into corporate and legal power.
Hindsight
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2020
Formerly blind investigator Kendra Michaels returns to the school where she grew up after two staff members are murdered. As she applies her unusually sharp senses to the case, she uncovers a dangerous secret that puts both the school and herself at risk.
Blink of an Eye
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2021
Investigator Kendra Michaels leads the search when superstar Delilah Winter is kidnapped during a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Drawing on her exceptional powers of observation, Kendra and former bodyguard Jessie Mercado race to locate the singer as the case grows deadlier.
Killer View
by Roy Johansen
2022
Private investigator Jessie Mercado takes a missing-person case tied to a company that helps wealthy clients prepare for prison. As witnesses die and secrets pile up, Jessie and Kendra Michaels uncover a lethal conspiracy.
More Than Meets the Eye
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2023
A serial killer dies in an explosion while leading police to a burial site, then murders in his style keep happening. Kendra Michaels teams with the only survivor of his attacks to find the partner still at work.
Flashback
by Roy Johansen
2024
Two sisters disappear while hunting the truth about the long-ago serial killer who murdered their mother. Kendra Michaels follows their cold-case clues and may end up drawing the killer back into the open.
Wait and See
by Roy Johansen
2026
A cryptic message tells Kendra Michaels that Adam Lynch is in serious trouble and can trust almost no one. Following the clues to London, Kendra and Jessie Mercado uncover a secret worth killing for.
Where to start with Roy Johansen
If you want his first solo thrillers: The Answer Man → Beyond Belief → Deadly Visions
If you want the Kendra Michaels series from the start: Close Your Eyes → With Open Eyes → Sight Unseen → The Naked Eye
If you like underwater adventure and buried secrets: Silent Thunder → Shadow Zone → Storm Cycle
If you want the newer Kendra books: Killer View → More Than Meets the Eye → Flashback → Wait and See
Roy Johansen sub-series and character series
Hannah Bryson books in order
Explore this seriesJoe Bailey, Spirit Basher books in order
Explore this seriesKendra Michaels (Roy Johansen) books in order
Explore this series
Close Your Eyes
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2012Kendra Michaels, Book 1
With Open Eyes
by Roy Johansen
2012Kendra Michaels, Book 2
Sight Unseen
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2014Kendra Michaels, Book 2
The Naked Eye
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2015Kendra Michaels, Book 3
Night Watch
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2016Kendra Michaels, Book 4
Look Behind You
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2017Kendra Michaels, Book 5
Double Blind
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2018Kendra Michaels, Book 6
Hindsight
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2020Kendra Michaels, Book 7
Blink of an Eye
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2021Kendra Michaels, Book 8
Killer View
by Roy Johansen
2022Kendra Michaels, Book 10
More Than Meets the Eye
by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
2023Kendra Michaels, Book 11
Flashback
by Roy Johansen
2024Kendra Michaels, Book 12
Wait and See
by Roy Johansen
2026Kendra Michaels, Book 13
Kendra Michaels (Roy Johansen) books in chronological order
Author bio
Roy Johansen did not come to fiction by a straight line. He started in screenwriting, and that training still shows in his books. The scenes move fast, the stakes arrive early, and even the quieter moments feel built to turn on one sharp detail.
While attending Georgia State University in 1987, he wrote the screenplay Murder 101. It won the national FOCUS award, and the script later became a cable movie starring Pierce Brosnan. In 1992, Johansen and cowriter Bill Condon won an Edgar Award for the project in the television movie or miniseries category.
That was a serious beginning.
From there he worked across film and television, writing projects for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Disney, and MGM. He also teamed up with Stan Lee to create The Accuser, a superhero character used in an animated series. Long before he became known for thriller novels, he was learning how to build tension in tight, visual scenes.
He has said that screenwriting trained him to think hard about concept and story. Touring with his mother, Iris Johansen, later taught him something else: readers care deeply about character. You can feel that shift in his fiction. The plots move quickly, but the people inside them matter just as much as the twist.
His first novel, The Answer Man, follows a struggling polygraph operator who makes one bad decision and falls into a deadly web of lies. After that came Beyond Belief and Deadly Visions, two thrillers featuring Joe Bailey, a former magician turned Atlanta detective who spends his time exposing fake psychics and then keeps finding himself in cases that seem almost impossible to explain.
Then came his long partnership with Iris Johansen. Together they wrote the Kendra Michaels books, beginning with Close Your Eyes. Kendra is a music therapist who was blind for the first twenty years of her life, and Johansen uses that backstory in a very practical way. Her ear for patterns, her attention to scent and texture, and her habit of noticing what other people miss become the engine of the plot. Books like Sight Unseen, The Naked Eye, Flashback, and Wait and See mix serial killers, conspiracies, and fast clue work with a heroine who is sharp, stubborn, and never easy to fool.
He also collaborated with Iris on the Hannah Bryson novels, including Silent Thunder and Shadow Zone. Those books lean more toward adventure, with submarines, underwater ruins, and secrets that have been buried for a very long time. Even when the setup gets large, his stories usually stay grounded in people under pressure, trying to think one move ahead.
He writes lean.
That may be the simplest way to describe what readers like about his work. Johansen tends to build stories around investigators, skeptics, and problem-solvers. He likes characters who can read a room, spot a lie, or see the one clue everyone else missed. Whether the lead is a polygraph expert, a former magician, or Kendra Michaels reading danger before anyone else does, the pleasure is in watching intelligence collide with risk. These days he lives in southern California with his wife, Lisa. In recent years he has balanced solo work and collaboration, including Killer View, which shifts the spotlight to Jessie Mercado from the Kendra Michaels world, and newer Kendra novels such as More Than Meets the Eye. Across all of it, the appeal is pretty consistent: smart premises, clean plotting, and characters who have to earn every answer.
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