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The Specialist Books in Order

Part ofJohn Shirley Books in Order

See the Specialist novels by John Shirley, writing as John Cutter, in order, with short summaries and background on Jack Sullivan's missions.

Last updated: July 8, 2026

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The Specialist books in publication order

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11 books

1

A Talent for Revenge

by John Shirley

1984

Jack Sullivan is hired to kill an exiled African dictator living in France, and the job quickly turns savage. This is the series opener, all anger, weapons, and ruthless momentum.

2

Maltese Vengeance

by John Shirley

1984

Mediterranean intrigue, hired killers, and a revenge job with international reach push Sullivan into another hard sprint. The book keeps the series' mix of travel and carnage.

3

Manhattan Revenge

by John Shirley

1984

Sullivan brings his methods to New York, where revenge means cutting through urban power, organized violence, and crowded danger. The city gives the series a tighter, meaner arena.

4

Sullivan's Revenge

by John Shirley

1984

A job turns personal as Sullivan is pushed toward enemies tied to his own past. That shift gives the third book a more intimate and nastier kind of fury.

5

The Big One

by John Shirley

1984

A threat large enough to justify the title drops Sullivan into another all-or-nothing mission. The pace is fast, the body count rises, and subtlety does not get much of a say.

6

The Psycho Soldiers

by John Shirley

1984

Sullivan faces opponents who are not just well armed but disturbingly unstable. The result is one of the series' more brutal mixes of military hardware and human wreckage.

7

American Vengeance

by John Shirley

1985

The action comes home as Sullivan faces enemies on American ground. It is another revenge mission, but one that feels closer, dirtier, and more personal.

8

Beirut Retaliation

by John Shirley

1985

Sullivan is pulled into Middle Eastern violence where terror, politics, and revenge overlap. The series' usual one-man-war formula gets a harder international edge here.

9

One-Man Army

by John Shirley

1985

Sullivan ends up defending a threatened stronghold against wave after wave of armed attackers. The setup is simple, brutal, and perfectly matched to the series' hard-pulp energy.

10

The Vendetta

by John Shirley

1985

Jack Sullivan takes on another revenge job and finds that the target is tangled up with his own darker impulses. The mission is global, violent, and built for one-man retaliation.

11

Vengeance Mountain

by John Shirley

1985

A remote and dangerous setting gives Sullivan one more stage for payback. He heads into rough country where ambushes, hired killers, and old debts are waiting higher up the slope.

The Specialist books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "A Talent for Revenge"

    A Talent for Revenge

    by John Shirley

    1984The Specialist, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Manhattan Revenge"

    Manhattan Revenge

    by John Shirley

    1984The Specialist, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Sullivan's Revenge"

    Sullivan's Revenge

    by John Shirley

    1984The Specialist, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "The Psycho Soldiers"

    The Psycho Soldiers

    by John Shirley

    1984The Specialist, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Maltese Vengeance"

    Maltese Vengeance

    by John Shirley

    1984The Specialist, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "The Big One"

    The Big One

    by John Shirley

    1984The Specialist, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "The Vendetta"

    The Vendetta

    by John Shirley

    1985The Specialist, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "One-Man Army"

    One-Man Army

    by John Shirley

    1985The Specialist, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Vengeance Mountain"

    Vengeance Mountain

    by John Shirley

    1985The Specialist, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Beirut Retaliation"

    Beirut Retaliation

    by John Shirley

    1985The Specialist, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "American Vengeance"

    American Vengeance

    by John Shirley

    1985The Specialist, Book 11

Series background & context

The Specialist books are Shirley's straight 1980s action-adventure run under the name John Cutter. If you know the men's adventure field, you already have a sense of the territory: global hot spots, revenge jobs, private armies, mercenaries, and one very dangerous man sent in when normal justice is not going to happen.

That man is Jack Sullivan.

Sullivan works as a kind of freelance avenger, taking missions for clients who have been crushed, betrayed, or brutalized by someone powerful enough to think they are untouchable. He is not subtle in the usual sense. The books are built around planning, infiltration, punishment, and the moment when Sullivan stops absorbing damage and starts returning it.

The series begins with A Talent for Revenge, and the title could stand for the whole line. From there you get books like Manhattan Revenge, Sullivan's Revenge, The Psycho Soldiers, Maltese Vengeance, and Beirut Retaliation. The naming pattern is honest. These are revenge and counterstrike novels, and they are not pretending to be delicate.

What keeps the run interesting is that Shirley writes this material with more bite than it sometimes got from house-brand action fiction. The world is ugly, the violence has consequences, and Sullivan feels less like a slogan in a trench coat and more like a man who has made himself into a weapon.

So this page is best for readers who want old-school action pulp done with real energy. If you are here for Jack Sullivan, globe-hopping payback, and a lot of doors getting kicked in, you are in the right place.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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