Ward Larsen Books in Order
This page lists all Ward Larsen books in order, with reading order guides, short summaries, series background, and tips on where to start with his thrillers.
Last updated: December 24, 2025
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Publication Order
18 books
Cold Zero
by Ward Larsen
2026
When the most advanced airliner ever built crash lands on the ice near the North Pole, survivors and a revolutionary prototype device are stranded in the Arctic. CIA officer Kasey Sheridan and pilot Brett Sharpe must outmaneuver rival powers racing across the ice before the standoff ignites a wider war.
Dark Vector
by Ward Larsen
2025
A Russian test pilot attempts to defect with an advanced fighter jet and crash lands in the Siberian wilderness. As Russian forces search the wrong area, CIA clandestine chief David Slaton sends rookie operator Tru Miller and test pilot Kai Drake on a rescue mission that becomes a brutal fight for survival.
Deep Fake
by Ward Larsen
2023
Congressman Bryce Ridgeway becomes a national hero and sudden presidential contender after stopping a terror attack in Washington, but his wife Sarah notices unsettling changes in him. With a friend and powerful data tools, she uncovers a buried Cold War secret that could destroy their family and destabilize the country.
Assassin's Mark
by Ward Larsen
2023
After a wave of high tech attacks, Marine One is blasted from the sky over Washington and the president barely survives. Slaton is sent after the group known as Trident, but as he hunts them he realizes a gifted rival assassin and a traitor inside the government are hunting him.
Assassin's Edge
by Ward Larsen
2022
A U.S. spy plane goes down near Russia and a Mossad officer vanishes in Central Asia, events that seem unrelated until a U.S. destroyer sinks in the Black Sea. Slaton leads a covert mission into the Arctic and Balkans to confront the mastermind known as Lazarus.
Assassin's Dawn
by Ward Larsen
2021
This prequel novella shows Slaton at the beginning of his career, still in training and driven by the loss of his family in a terror attack. A mission in Central Europe goes sideways and gives him one fragile chance to hunt the elusive killer who changed his life.
Assassin's Strike
by Ward Larsen
2020
After a secret meeting between the leaders of Russia and Iran, a Russian interpreter flees with knowledge of a planned chemical attack. Slaton is sent into war torn Syria to rescue her and unravel a plot designed to ignite the entire Middle East.
Assassin's Revenge
by Ward Larsen
2019
Returning to his family sailboat in Gibraltar, Slaton finds his wife and young son gone and a chilling demand in their place. To save them he must eliminate a nuclear scientist, drawing him into a deadly game that stretches from Vienna to North Korea and the open Pacific.
Cutting Edge
by Ward Larsen
2018
Coast Guard rescue swimmer Trey DeBolt is declared dead after a helicopter crash, yet he wakes up in a remote Maine cottage with strange new abilities and assassins closing in. Joined by investigator Shannon Lund, he uncovers a secret program that has wired his brain into experimental technology.
Assassin's Run
by Ward Larsen
2018
When a Russian oligarch is shot dead on his yacht off Capri, intelligence services blame a legendary Israeli assassin they believe is still alive. To clear his name, Slaton follows clues from Europe to North Africa and uncovers a scheme that could reset global power.
Assassin's Code
by Ward Larsen
2017
Slaton receives a memory stick bearing the image of France's incoming counterterrorism chief, a man he is certain he killed years ago as an extremist. As ISIS plots a massive assault on France, he chases the truth from Tel Aviv to Paris to the Syrian desert.
Passenger 19
by Ward Larsen
2016
A small passenger jet vanishes over the Colombian jungle, and one of the names on the manifest is Jammer Davis's nineteen year old daughter. Official answers do not add up, so Davis pushes his way into the investigation and uncovers missing bodies, gunshots, and a conspiracy reaching into Washington.
Assassin's Silence
by Ward Larsen
2016
Hiding under a false identity in Malta, Slaton survives a surprise attack and leaves a trail of bodies across Europe, while a derelict airliner in the Amazon is rebuilt into a flying bomb, forcing him and the CIA to race against an airborne terror weapon.
Assassin's Game
by Ward Larsen
2014
Years after disappearing, David Slaton is living quietly in suburban Virginia with his wife, Christine, when Mossad forces him back into service to stop an Iranian nuclear breakthrough, pushing him across Europe on a mission that may cost him his new life.
Fly by Night
by Ward Larsen
2011
When a top secret American drone disappears over the Horn of Africa, the CIA uses a suspicious cargo crash in Sudan as cover to send in Jammer Davis. His routine inquiry turns into a dangerous hunt through war zones, mercenary airfields, and a plot that could remake the region.
Fly by Wire
by Ward Larsen
2010
A state of the art C 500 cargo jet drops out of the sky over rural France, and crash investigator Jammer Davis is called in to find out why. As he digs, coordinated suicide attacks on oil facilities reveal a conspiracy linking the wreck to a global economic strike.
Stealing Trinity
by Ward Larsen
2008
In the final months of World War II, Nazi sniper and American born agent Alexander Braun is sent to reconnect with a spy inside the Manhattan Project. British major Michael Thatcher and heiress Lydia Cole race from New England to Los Alamos to stop him from stealing atomic secrets.
The Perfect Assassin
by Ward Larsen
2004
While sailing solo across the Atlantic, American doctor Christine Palmer rescues a half frozen man from the water, only to learn he is David Slaton, a legendary Israeli assassin, and that both of them are targets in a plot built around missing nuclear weapons.
Where should I start?
If you want the full David Slaton story from the beginning: The Perfect Assassin → Assassin's Game → Assassin's Silence.
If you prefer to start with later Slaton missions: Assassin's Code → Assassin's Run → Assassin's Revenge → Assassin's Strike.
If you like aviation and crash investigations: Fly by Wire → Fly by Night → Passenger 19.
If you enjoy stand alone high tech and political thrillers: Cutting Edge → Deep Fake.
If you want historical World War II espionage: Stealing Trinity.
Author bio
Ward Larsen writes the kind of thrillers that feel as if they could be happening a few time zones away. His stories lean on real aviation, intelligence work, and geopolitics, but he tells them in a clear, unpretentious way.
Larsen was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, and grew up near the water and around airplanes. At the University of Central Florida he studied pre law, played soccer, and tried to imagine a sensible career path, even as he kept looking up whenever a jet crossed the sky.
Flying won out.
After college he joined the U.S. Air Force and went through pilot training in Mississippi, eventually flying T 33 trainers and then the A 10 Warthog. He spent seven years as a fighter pilot, logging thousands of hours and flying more than twenty combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
When he left active duty, Larsen moved into civilian aviation. Over the years he has flown as an airline captain on domestic and international routes, served as a federal law enforcement officer, and trained as an aircraft accident investigator, work that would later shape some of his most vivid scenes.
All of it eventually ended up on the page.
Writing began as something he squeezed in around long trips and layovers. The result was The Perfect Assassin, an espionage novel that introduced Israeli operative David Slaton. The book picked up several regional and national awards, launched a long running series, and was optioned for film.
From there Larsen dug deeper into Slaton's world. Books like Assassin's Game, Assassin's Silence, Assassin's Code, and Assassin's Mark follow a former Mossad assassin who keeps trying to build a family life while being pulled back into missions involving nuclear scientists, terror networks, and shifting alliances.
At the same time he has written the Jammer Davis novels, starting with Fly by Wire, which center on an accident investigator and former fighter pilot who unravels aircraft disasters with global stakes. Standalone thrillers such as Stealing Trinity, Cutting Edge, Deep Fake, and his Arctic adventure Cold Zero show the same mix of technical detail and human tension, whether the story is set in World War II, modern politics, or near future technology.
Across these books Larsen has collected multiple Florida Book Awards and nominations for crime and thriller honors, but he mostly measures success in readers who stay up too late turning pages. He lives in Florida with his family, still flies, and still finds ways to sneak new aircraft, odd corners of the world, and quiet moments of humor into his stories.
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