Brian Freeman has written several series and standalones since his debut publication in the mid-2000s. Almost all of his books fall within the psychological thriller genre. For that reason, the Brian Freeman books in order are exciting psychological thrillers that have compelling characters and plot twists.
About Brian Freeman
Before Brian Freeman became a bestselling and award-winning author, he worked a variety of jobs. Those include college stewardships, donor communications, and mortgage banking.
When he found a literary agent who was interested in the manuscript of his debut publication, Freeman was a marketing and public relations director for a corporate law firm. The manuscript in question was Immoral, the first book in the Jonathan Stride series, and the rights for its publication sold the next year.
Even still, during this time with many different jobs, Freeman was writing.
He says that he remembers writing his first mystery novel when he was in the sixth grade. Freeman credits growing up in a family of readers. He notes that his grandmother in particular was a big fan of thrillers and would talk about the books she was reading, which influenced Freeman’s inevitable path down the thriller genre.
Freeman grew up in Chicago before his family moved to California when he was 10. However, when it was time for college, Freeman returned to the Midwest because he missed it and met his wife while attending Carleton College in Northfield.
He now lives in Minnesota and has pursued writing full-time for several years now. The result is several bestselling novels and awards. Immoral won the Macavity Award for Best First Novel and was also nominated for the Edgar, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards. He has also become a writer for the Jason Bourne franchise.
Furthermore, the adaptation rights for his 2021 thriller, Infinite, were sold to Universal Pictures. Freeman says he wrote the book with the vision of a screenplay, so he wasn’t surprised that it is the first of his books to have its rights acquired. Chris Morgan, of the Fast & Furious franchise, will be involved with the adaptation.
Brian Freeman Books in Order
Jonathan Stride Books
Our list of the Brian Freeman books in order begins with his debut, which was the beginning of his Jonathan Stride series. This is Freeman’s longest series and is a great encapsulation of his growth and development as an author.
The books follow Jonathan Stride and his partner Maggie Bei, who are homicide detectives in Duluth, Minnesota along the coast of Lake Superior. Each book contains its own investigation, but reading these books in order of publication will provide the best experience. This is because there are recurring characters throughout the series and reading the books out of order will contain spoilers.
- Immoral (2005)
- Stripped (2006)
- Stalked (2007)
- In the Dark (2008)
- The Burying Place (2009)
- Spitting Devil (2012) (Short Story)
- The Cold Nowhere (2013)
- Turn to Stone (2014) (Novella)
- Goodbye to the Dead (2015)
- Marathon (2017)
- Alter Ego (2018)
- Funeral for a Friend (2020)
- The Zero Night (2022)
Tess Drake Book
The next novel in the Brian Freeman books in order is an outlier from the rest. That is because it is published under a pseudonym, Ally O’Brien, and falls within the genre of women’s fiction. While the book is the first in the series, it is also the only book so far.
Tess Drake has worked hard to achieve her success in the entertainment industry at a talent agency. She’s worked for Bardwell International for longer than she cares to remember, but now she is in trouble. The agency’s senior partner has died a mysterious death and Tess’s sworn enemy has taken his place, intent on sending her career up in flames.
- The Agency (2009)
Cab Bolton Books
Following his debut, the next series Freeman wrote was about Cab Bolton, a quirky detective. In the first book, Cab is helping a woman who is positive her husband is not the killer in a murder on an island off the shores of Lake Michigan. In the next book Cab is trying to prevent the repeat of a political public execution in central Florida.
- The Bone House (2010)
- Season of Fear (2014)
Frost Easton Books
Freeman’s next series follows a homicide detective, Frost Easton, in San Francisco over the course of several years. It is very important to read these books in order of publication because there are recurring characters. Reading the books in a different order will also contain spoilers for the previous books.
- The Night Bird (2017)
- The Voice Inside (2018)
- The Crooked Street (2019)
Standalone Books
There are also a handful of psychological thriller standalones in the Brian Freeman books in order to enjoy. These titles differ from his previous books because rather than following a law enforcement officer as the protagonist, these books feature men and women from different walks of life in the leading role. However, there is just as much suspense and murder as the previous Freeman books.
- Spilled Blood (2012)
- Thief River Falls (2020)
- Infinite (2021)
- I Remember You (2022)
Women’s Fiction Standalone
Brian Freeman has written one other women’s fiction novel in addition to The Agency, which is West 57. However, this novel was published under the name B.N. Freeman.
Julie Chavan is trying to rescue the New York publishing house WEST 57 with a big bestseller. But everything is spinning wildly out of control for Julie and she needs to decide what she really wants.
- West 57 (2015)
Shelby Lake Books
Next in the list of the Brian Freeman books in order is the Shelby Lake duology. While the second book is a prequel and follows a new main character, there will be spoilers for the first book in the series if you read it first. For that reason, you should read these books in order of publication in order to maintain as much of the suspense and mystery as possible.
- The Deep, Deep Snow (2020)
- The Ursulina (2022) (Prequel)
Jason Bourne Books
In addition to writing many books containing his own intellectual property, Brian Freeman also attracted the attention of Robert Ludlum’s estate and began writing for the Jason Bourne franchise. The below list is not representative of how you should read the Jason Bourne books in order, but is rather just to give you insight into what Freeman has written in the series.
- The Bourne Evolution (2020)
- The Bourne Treachery (2021)
- The Bourne Sacrifice (2022)
- The Bourne Defiance (2023)
- The Bourne Shadow (Expected: July 16, 2024)
Anthologies
Finally, Brian Freeman has contributed to a handful of anthologies throughout the course of his career. While most have since gone out of print, links to second-hand copies have been included.
- Corpse Blossoms (2005) (Out of Print)
- The Crane House (2012) (Out of Print)
- Writes of Spring (2012) (Out of Print)
- Reading of Stephen King (2023)
A Summary of Brian Freeman Books in Order
If you’re still not sure where you should begin reading, below you will find a collection of summaries for the Brian Freeman books in order. The summaries below include his standalones, his duology Shelby Cove, and his Frost Easton trilogy.
Standalone Books
1. Spilled Blood
Chris Hawk is experiencing every parent’s worst nightmare. His daughter has been accused of murder and she looks incredibly guilty. He rushes to the small town in Minnesota where Olivia lives with his ex-wife in order to defend his daughter.
But he discovers two towns at war. A chemical works in Barron has brought money and employment, but down the river in St. Croix — where Olivia lives with her mother — the chemical works is believed to have brought death with a cancer cluster of mysterious origins.
Olivia is at the center of it all, as is the girl she’s suspected of murdering. Chris will need to learn everything about his daughter if he wants to know what really happened, but he is realizing that he doesn’t know her at all. He believes in her innocence, but now he has to prove it.
2. Thief River Falls
Lisa Power is the author of a bestselling thriller called Thief River Falls, but has become a tortured ghost of her former self. The book is named after her rural Minnesota hometown. Lisa has now secluded herself in her remote house as she struggles with the loss of her entire family.
Then a runaway boy turns up at her door with a terrifying story. He just witnessed a brutal murder that the police want to cover up and escaped death himself. Lisa becomes obsessed with his safety and exposing the crime, but powerful men in town want the boy back, and by extension, they now want Lisa too.
Lisa and the boy have nowhere to go as a trap closes in around them, but Lisa must find a way to save them both. Or else they’ll become the victims of another shocking tragedy she can’t foresee.
3. Infinite
It was a rainy night when Dylan Moran’s car plunged off the road into the raging river and his wife drowned as Dylan struggled to shore. In the aftermath, Dylan is experiencing strange visions of himself.
At first, he thinks it’s trauma and grief, but then he runs into a psychiatrist who claims that he is her patient. She tells him that he’s been undergoing a custom hypnotherapy treatment built on the idea that he creates an infinite number of parallel universes with every choice he makes.
But now those parallel universes are unlocked and his doppelganger has staked a claim to his world. Can Dylan use these alternate realities for a second chance at the life that was stolen from him? Or will he lose himself?
4. I Remember You
Hallie Evers dies at a rooftop party in Las Vegas on the Fourth of July. Then a few hours later, she wakes up in the hospital, disoriented but alive, except she can’t find the doctor who revived her. Her head also feels crowded and loud while her memories are both foreign and familiar.
Mental illness runs in her family, which Hallie knows — her mother had delusions which led to her early death. Hallie is now having vivid dreams of a city she remembers but has never visited in her life. She embarks on a cross-country search for answers and Hallie catches glimpses of what she thinks are another person’s memories…of their murder.
Shelby Lake Books
1. The Deep, Deep Snow
Deputy Shelby Lake was saved by a stranger when she was abandoned as a baby in the freezing cold. Now Shelby is the one who must rescue a child when a young boy is missing.
The only evidence of ten-year-old Jeremiah Sloan’s disappearance is a bicycle left behind. As the initial search turns up nothing, the town begins to crack under the weight of accusations and suspicion. Everyone has something to hide.
But discovering these secrets doesn’t get the police and FBI any closer to finding Jeremiah. The case begins to grow cold and Shelby worries that the mystery will stay forever buried under the deep, deep snow. But even the deepest snow melts in the spring.
2. The Ursulina
While this is a prequel to The Deep, Deep Snow, it is best to read this book second so that there are no spoilers for the previous book.
The Ursulina goes by many different names depending on where you’re from: Bigfoot, sasquatch, yeti. But in Black Wolf County, he is known as the Ursulina. The beast is no myth to Deputy Rebecca Colder, however, because with each body left behind, there is a chilling message written in blood: I am the Ursulina.
Frost Easton Books
1. The Night Bird
Homicide detective Frost Easton doesn’t like coincidences. So, when a series of bizarre deaths take place across San Francisco, Frost looks for a connection. He finds psychiatrist Francesca Stein.
Frankie’s controversial therapy helps people erase their most terrifying memories…and all of the victims were her patients. Frost and Frankie are carrying out investigations, but the case is becoming increasingly personal and dangerous.
Someone called the Night Bird is taunting them with cryptic messages about the murders. Soon Frankie must confront strange gaps in her own memory, while Frost faces off with a killer who knows his worst fears.
2. The Voice Inside
The sequel to The Night Bird contains big spoilers for the first book in the series, but it returns to follow San Francisco homicide inspector Frost Easton. He finds a new ally in Eden Shay, and they must use everything they have to stay ahead of a murderer who is intent on killing again.
3. The Crooked Street
Frost hadn’t seen his estranged friend Denny in years. Not until he dies in Frost’s arms and utters a final inexplicable word: Lombard. Is Denny’s death the work of a serial killer, or something more twisted and personal?
To find the answer, Frost must reach into a nest of vipers — San Francisco’s shady elite — to find out more. It draws him into a cat-and-mouse game with an enemy who knows his every move, and Frost finds that there is no one he can trust.
Final thoughts
The Brian Freeman books in order are exciting psychological thrillers that have compelling characters and plot twists. In addition to the well-established Jonathan Stride series, he has written several smaller series and a handful of standalone books. This makes his bibliography easily accessible for any new fan looking to get into his work for the first time.