Victor Methos is best known for legal thrillers and crime fiction, but his bibliography also includes mysteries, science fiction, horror, fantasy, and shorter works. This guide lists the Victor Methos books in order by series and publication date, including the Jon Stanton, Desert Plains, Shepard & Gray, and Vegas Shadows books.
Methos is a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, and that courtroom experience shapes many of his novels. Whether you’re starting with one of his legal thrillers or tracking down his earlier genre fiction, the lists below will help you find the right book and reading order.
Jump to:
- Victor Methos Books by Series
- Victor Methos Standalone Novels
- Other Victor Methos Books
- Who is Victor Methos?
Victor Methos Books by Series
Jon Stanton Mysteries / Thrillers
Jon Stanton begins the series as a homicide detective with the San Diego Police Department. The cases stand on their own, but Stanton’s history, relationships, and character development carry from book to book.
I recommend publication order for a first read. Shadows is a prequel set before The White Angel Murder, but it was written after the rest of the series and works best once you already know Stanton. Peak Road is a novella that also features FBI agent Mickey Parsons.
Jon Stanton Publication Order
- The White Angel Murder / Chains of Darkness (2011)
- Walk in Darkness (2011)
- Sin City Homicide (2012)
- Arsonist (2012)
- The Porn Star Murders (2013)
- Sociopath (2013)
- Black Widow (2013)
- Run Away (2014)
- Mania (2015)
- Peak Road (2015) (Novella)
- Purgatory (2017)
- Shadows (2019)
Jon Stanton Chronological Order
- Shadows
- The White Angel Murder / Chains of Darkness
- Walk in Darkness
- Sin City Homicide
- Arsonist
- The Porn Star Murders
- Sociopath
- Black Widow
- Run Away
- Mania
- Peak Road (Novella)
- Purgatory
My advice is to use the chronological list only for a reread or when you specifically want Stanton’s personal timeline. Publication order preserves the way Methos originally revealed his backstory.
Plague Trilogy
The Plague Trilogy blends medical suspense with dystopian science fiction. Dr. Samantha Bower is sent to Oahu to investigate a lethal pathogen, and the threat quickly expands far beyond the island.
- Plague (2012)
- Pestilence (2013)
- Scourge (2014)
Black Onyx Chronicles
The Black Onyx Chronicles follows explorer Dillon Mentzer after he discovers a powerful weapon hidden by an advanced Antarctic civilization. The story mixes superhero action, crime, and science fiction.
- Black Onyx (2013)
- Black Onyx Reloaded (2013)
Empire of War Trilogy
Empire of War was presented as the beginning of an epic fantasy trilogy, but only one installment was published. I’d treat it as a self-contained entry rather than waiting for another book.
- Empire of War (2013)
Mickey Parsons Mysteries
FBI Behavioral Science Unit agent Mickey Parsons leads this mystery series. He also appears in the Jon Stanton novella Peak Road, connecting the two series without changing either publication order.
- The Murder of Janessa Hennley (2013)
- The Bastille (2014)
Brigham Theodore / Neon Lawyer Books
Brigham Theodore is a struggling new attorney who receives a capital murder case after losing his first trial over a speeding ticket. The series is also marketed as the Neon Lawyer series.
- The Neon Lawyer (2013)
- Mercy (2016)
Sarah King Mysteries
Sarah King is an outcast from a Pennsylvania Amish community who says she can communicate with the dead. The FBI turns to her while hunting a copycat serial killer known as the Blood Dahlia.
- Blood Dahlia (2014)
- Murder 42 (2015)
Baudin & Dixon Trilogy
The Baudin & Dixon Trilogy follows Cheyenne detectives Kyle Dixon and Ethan Baudin through a politically charged murder investigation and its consequences.
- Vanished (2015)
- The Unseen (2015)
- The Veiled (2017)
Desert Plains Books
The Desert Plains series follows prosecutor Jessica Yardley, whose former husband was convicted as a serial killer. When another murderer appears to be copying his crimes, Jessica must confront the past she tried to leave behind.
- A Killer’s Wife (2020)
- Crimson Lake Road (2021)
- An Unreliable Truth (2021)
Shepard & Gray Books
Tooele County sheriff Elizabeth Gray and former prosecutor Solomon Shepard investigate violent crimes with disturbing links to older cases. Their personal histories and partnership develop across all three books, so I recommend reading them in publication order.
- The Secret Witness (2022)
- The Grave Singer (2023)
- The Deceiving Look (2024)
Vegas Shadows Books
The Vegas Shadows series pairs Detective Lazarus Holloway with guardian ad litem Piper Danes. Their cases center on vulnerable young people, violent predators, and crimes hidden beyond the bright side of Las Vegas.
- The Silent Watcher (2024)
- The Night Collector (2025)
- The Bone Stalker (2026)
Victor Methos Standalone Novels
These novels aren’t part of the established series above, so they can be read in any order. I prefer listing them by publication year because it makes Methos’s shift from early horror, science fiction, and fantasy into legal and crime thrillers much easier to follow.
- The Extinct (2011)
- Clone Hunter (2011)
- Sea Creature (2011)
- Savage (2011)
- Earl Lindquist: Accountant and Zombie Killer (2011)
- Murder Corporation (2012)
- Superhero (2012)
- Dracula: A Modern Telling (2013)
- Welcome to Hell, Earl (2013)
- Black Sky (2013)
- Diary of an Assassin (2013)
- Blood Rain: A Song of Death (2013)
- Serial Murder and Other Neat Tricks (2013)
- Titanoboa (2014)
- An Invisible Client (2016)
- A Gambler’s Jury (2018)
- The Shotgun Lawyer (2018)
- The Hallows (2019)
Welcome to Hell, Earl returns to Earl Lindquist from Earl Lindquist: Accountant and Zombie Killer, although the two books aren’t consistently cataloged under a formal series name.
Other Victor Methos Books
Methos’s remaining work includes short fiction, a collection, nonfiction, and licensed tie-in fiction. I think separating them by type is the simplest way to avoid mistaking a collection or nonfiction title for a standalone novel.
Short Fiction and Novellas
- Existentialism and Death on a Paris Afternoon (2013)
- Devil of Black Creek (2021) (Novella)
- Kill Night (2023) (Short Story)
Kill Night was released as the fifth story in the multi-author Amazon Original Stories collection We Could Be Heroes. Existentialism and Death on a Paris Afternoon is best treated broadly as short fiction because available catalogs disagree about its exact format.
Collections
- Tales of Imaginary Madness (2013)
Nonfiction
Licensed Tie-In Fiction
- The Vampire Diaries: The Beautiful (2013)
The Vampire Diaries: The Beautiful was published through Amazon’s former Kindle Worlds program. I couldn’t verify an active Amazon edition, so the title is left unlinked.
Who is Victor Methos?
Victor Methos immigrated to the United States from Kabul, Afghanistan, when he was nine and wrote his first short story in English at ten. He later attended law school at the University of Utah and worked as both a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.
Methos conducted more than 100 trials, including death penalty cases, civil rights litigation, and cases involving the religious rights of Native American tribes. In my view, that background is most useful to readers because it explains the practical courtroom detail in books such as The Neon Lawyer, A Gambler’s Jury, and The Hallows.
A Gambler’s Jury was nominated for the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Novel, and The Hallows won the 2020 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. Other Harper Lee Prize recipients include John Grisham and Michael Connelly.
The Hallows is a legal thriller about defense attorney Tatum Graham, who returns to his Utah hometown and joins the county attorney’s office after a crisis of conscience. It draws on Methos’s legal experience, but it isn’t a nonfiction guide to jury trials.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more thriller authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Thriller Books in Order index.