Alex Kava Books in Order (Maggie O’Dell, Ryder Creed)

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Born Sharon M. Kava in Silver Creek, Nebraska, American author Alex Kava always dreamt of becoming a writer and started as a teenager with short stories. After college, she worked in advertising and marketing before starting her own graphic design firm but returned to her alma mater as its director of public relations. A job she quits in 1996 to focus on her writing career.

She became “Alex Kava” and published her first book in 2000, launching the Maggie O’Dell series and becoming a best-selling author. Today, she’s also writing the Ryder Creed series.

How to read Alex Kava’s Books in Order:

The Maggie O’Dell series

FBI Special Agent Maggie O’Dell is an expert criminal profiler who provides insight into cases that involve suspected serial killers. She is sent all over America to assist with complicated investigations. For more details, take a look at the Maggie O’Dell reading order.

0. Before Evil (2017, prequel short story)
1. A Perfect Evil (2000)
2. Split Second (2001)
3. The Soul Catcher (2002)
4. At The Stroke Of Madness (2003)
5. A Necessary Evil (2006)
6. Exposed (2007)
7. Black Friday (2009)
8. Damaged (2010)
9. A Breath of Hot Air (2011, novella co-written with Patricia Bremmer)
10. Hotwire (2011)
11. Fireproof (2012)
12. Stranded (2013)

• Off The Grid (2016) – A collection of Alex Kava’s short stories. All but one, feature Kava’s critically acclaimed FBI profiler, Special Agent Maggie O’Dell.

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The Ryder Creed series

Set in Alabama, the series follows the work of Ryder Creed and his search-and-rescue dog Grace. The series also features FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell as a recurring character.

1. Breaking Creed (2015) – Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They’ve intercepted several major drug stashes smuggled through Atlanta’s airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention. When Creed and one of his dogs are called in to search a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Pensacola Beach, they discover a secret compartment. But the Colombian cartel’s latest shipment isn’t drugs. It’s human… Meanwhile, FBI agent Maggie O’Dell is investigating a series of murders she suspects to be the work of a brutal assassin. By the time she uncovers a hit list with Creed’s name on it, it might be too late to help him. For someone is already on the way…
2. Silent Creed (2016) – When Ryder Creed responds to a devastating mudslide in North Carolina, he knows that the difference between finding survivors and the dead is time. For this is no ordinary rescue mission. Among the buildings consumed by the landslide was a top-secret government research facility, and Creed has been hired to find what’s left of it. Then rescuers recover the body of a scientist from the facility who was obviously dead before the landslide-killed by a gunshot to the head. The FBI sends Agent Maggie O’Dell to investigate.
3. Reckless Creed (2016) – In Chicago, a young man jumps from his thirtieth-story hotel room; along the Missouri river, a hunter and his son stumble upon a lake whose surface is littered with snow geese, all of them dead; and in southern Alabama, Ryder Creed and his dog Grace find the body of a young woman who went missing in the Conecuh National Forest…and it appears she filled her pockets with rocks and walked into the river. Before long Ryder Creed and FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell will discover the ominous connection among these mysterious deaths. What they find may be the most prolific killer the United States has ever known.

4. Lost Creed (2018) – Sixteen years ago, Ryder Creed’s sister, Brodie vanished from an interstate rest stop. She was only eleven and Creed was fourteen. Her disappearance ripped apart his family and has haunted Creed. Now a former Marine with his own scars, Creed has dedicated his life to his K9 business. He takes discarded and abandoned dogs and trains them for scent detection. Together they search for the lost and the missing. And always, Creed has held onto the hope that one day he might find out what happened to his sister. A thousand miles away during a police raid, FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell stumbles upon a clue that may explain what happened to Brodie Creed all those years ago.
5. Desperate Creed (2019) – In Alabama: A deadly outbreak of tornadoes sends K-9 handlers Ryder Creed and Jason Seaver with their scent dogs, Grace and Scout, to search for survivors. As storms intensify and Ryder and Jason race against time to save victims, they end up racing to save themselves. In Chicago: Francine “Frankie” Russo is irritated when her young co-worker calls at 5:00 a.m. for a video-chat and catches her in only a towel. She’s so annoyed with Tyler Gates that she’s barely paying attention when two men confront him on the street. In a matter of seconds, Frankie witnesses Tyler’s murder. Frankie calls the only people she knows can help: her childhood friend, Hannah Washington, and Hannah’s business partner, Ryder Creed. Hannah tells her to “come on home,” and she arranges a meeting for Frankie to meet with FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell.
6. Hidden Creed (2020) – During a training exercise, Creed’s scent dog, Grace, is drawn off course and discovers a shallow grave. The body was never meant to be found, hidden deep in an isolated part of Florida’s Blackwater River State Forest. The remote area has no easy access in or out. The killer obviously hoped his secret would be scattered and swallowed up by the forces of nature. When Creed’s dogs continue to find more remains, investigators quickly realize they’re dealing with someone who knows the forest intimately and has been using it to hide his handiwork for years.

7. Fallen Creed (2022) – The snow blurs the landscape and grinds life to a halt. As Maggie O’Dell searches for answers about the victim, she uncovers a cold-blooded, ruthless killer who has murdered before. By the time Maggie realizes no one has heard from or seen Ryder since before the snow began to fall, she fears he and Grace may have walked into the killer’s path.
8. Midnight Creed (2023) – Ryder Creed’s priority is to keep his scent dogs safe. In the dark there are threats that are impossible to see or predict. Ever since his Marine K9 unit searched for IEDs in Afghanistan, he’s avoided nighttime searches. But when a boy goes missing in a remote area of the Florida Panhandle, Creed has to put aside his fears and navigate the risks his dogs will face after dark.

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Other Novels

• One False Move (2004) – Melanie Starks and her seventeen-year-old son, Charlie, have been running one con job or another for as long as she can remember. Worried that Charlie is starting to enjoy it, Melanie is ready to start over. Then her brother, Jared, reappears in her life. Released on a technicality, Jared Barnett is just out of prison and feeling invincible. He has the perfect plan to rob a local bank, but he needs Melanie and Charlie’s help. Feeling she owes her brother, Melanie agrees. Within seconds, shots are fired. Jared and Charlie race out of the bank with no money, leaving four people dead. When they refuse to tell Melanie what happened in those few desperate moments, she realizes her brother and her son have formed a silent bond. Now they’re on the run, and there’s nothing to lose.
• Whitewash (2007) – EchoEnergy has broken through the barriers to alternative fuel sources. The impact on world markets could be staggering. But amid the euphoria, Sabrina Galloway, one of EE’s top scientists, makes an alarming discovery. Sabotage of the process has unleashed an eco-disaster, and toxic waste is poisoning Florida waters and the Gulf of Mexico. Youthful congressional chief of staff Jason Brill prepares his boss for the upcoming International Energy Summit. But he’s beginning to realize the senator’s support of EchoEnergy and its CEO may involve more private than public interests. Sabrina and Jason have never met. But in a world that values corporate greed over human life, they have attracted the notice of silent but powerful enemies. And these relentless shadow players leave tracks all the way from the Middle East to Pennsylvania Avenue.

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If you like the Alex Kava reading order, you may also want to see our guide to the Kate Burkholder series or the Lucy Kincaid series. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.