The Book of Riley Books in Order

The Book of Riley series asks a simple question: what does the zombie apocalypse look like to the family dog? The answer is surprisingly funny, occasionally heartbreaking, and full of chomped undead.

Riley is an American bulldog who takes her job of protecting her “pack” very seriously. When the dead start rising and the world collapses, she doesn’t understand viruses or politics – she just knows that her humans are in danger and it’s on her to fix it.

Across the books, Riley travels with her favorite person Jessie, Jessie’s younger brother Zachary, a frantic Yorkshire terrier named Ben‑Ben, and Patches the cat, who begins as Riley’s sworn enemy and slowly becomes something closer to an ally. They move through suburbs, ruined highways, Las Vegas, and the open road, always one bad decision or twisted human away from disaster.

The early volumes lean into the comedy of seeing human chaos filtered through a dog’s priorities. Riley worries about bacon, ball time, and keeping her pack together. She’s baffled that her humans don’t understand perfectly clear barks and growls. When she does resort to violence, it’s in vivid, teeth‑on‑throat detail – the books don’t shy away from gore just because the narrator has fur.

As the story continues, darker elements creep in. Human villains like Icely, who runs dog fights and brutal games in a city that should have been a refuge, show that people can be worse than any mindless corpse. The pack faces betrayals, captures, near starvation, and the constant threat of losing someone they love.

What keeps the series buoyant is Riley’s voice. She’s vain, stubborn, and absolutely convinced she’s the only competent being on four or two legs. That blend of canine logic, misplaced confidence, and fierce loyalty gives even the bleakest scenes a strange warmth.

You don’t need to have read Zombie Fallout to enjoy The Book of Riley, but fans of the larger universe will spot familiar events and locations from a very different angle. It’s a side series that manages to be both a love letter to dogs and a fresh way to experience the end of the world.