Scott Stiletto Books in Order

Scott Stiletto is the central figure in Brian Drake’s long-running CIA action-thriller series. He is an experienced operative with a hard edge, a strong sense of duty, and a habit of treating an order to stand down as a problem to be solved. The books put him in volatile situations where political interests, criminal organizations, and intelligence work collide.

Start with The Termination Protocol. Stiletto is sent into a fight against the New World Revolutionary Front, a terrorist group with help close to the highest levels of American power. It establishes the series’ basic rhythm: a major threat, a mission with very little room for error, and a lead character who will press forward long after a safer person would quit.

The action moves across the United States and abroad. In The Fairmont Maneuver, a plea from former spy Ali Lewis brings Stiletto to San Francisco and into a case involving a murdered father, smuggled nuclear components, and an international conspiracy. The Glinkov Extraction takes him to Russia when his friend Vladimir Glinkov and Glinkov’s family are endangered during a brutal crackdown.

Nothing stays neatly inside the rules.

Several later books make the stakes personal. Stiletto hunts stolen radar plans in The Petrova Betrayal, delivers aid to rebels facing a dictator in The Minas Deception, and investigates a murder and cover-up in Idaho in The Giordana Connnection. The series can shift from a government mission to a crime story or rescue operation, but it keeps the same direct, high-pressure feel.

Cartels and corruption become especially important in The Blood Tide and The Cartel Queen. Stiletto faces drug networks with support from compromised officials, then travels to Colombia to help a cartel family defect before their enemies can stop them. The Rogue Agent narrows the focus around John Pike, the friend who once helped Stiletto through a difficult time, after Pike is accused of murder and disappears.

This is a series for readers who want international spy fiction with a blunt, action-first pace. Stiletto is not a detached chess player. He takes betrayal seriously, remembers promises, and gets involved when friends or civilians are placed in danger.

Each novel has its own main crisis, but beginning with The Termination Protocol is the best way to see Stiletto’s relationships and history build over time.