Brad Meltzer Books in Order (The Culper Ring trilogy, The Lightning Rod)
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks!
All of Brad Meltzer’s Books in Order!
Who is Brad Meltzer?
Born in 1970, Brad Meltzer is an American novelist, non-fiction writer, comic book writer, and TV show creator. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and then moved to South Florida. He graduated with a degree in history in 1992 from the University of Michigan. He moved to Beacon Hill, Boston, following a job offer in sales at Games magazine. There, he shared a room with comic book writer/artist Judd Winick and he began to work on his first short story.
His first novel, the legal thriller The Tenth Justice, is published in 1997 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. Since then, all his thrillers books have been in the New York Times bestseller list. He also earned credit from Columbia Law School for writing his first book.
He also co-created with Greg Berlanti the TV show Jack & Bobby, for which he wrote the first episode, and created and write the Children’s books series Ordinary People Change the World (with artist Chris Eliopoulos) to give children better heroes to look up to.
How to Read Brad Meltzer’s Books in Order?
The Culper Ring Trilogy
- The Inner Circle (2011) – Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people’s stories, never a part of the story himself . . .Until now. When Clementine Kaye, Beecher’s first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact-a two-hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington-hidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder.
- The Fifth Assassin (2013) – From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, there have been more than two dozen assassination attempts on the President of the United States. Four have been successful. But now, Beecher White discovers a killer in Washington, D.C., who’s meticulously re-creating the crimes of these four men. Historians have branded them as four lone wolves. But what if they were wrong?
- The President’s Shadow (2015) – Beecher White, a humble archivist at the U.S. National Archives by day, has a secret: he belongs to the Culper Ring, a network of spies founded by George Washington during the American Revolution. One day, White makes an alarming discovery on the White House grounds: a severed arm buried in the Rose Garden. As he investigates, he realizes it’s a message… one that may have dire repercussions for the President. But that’s not all – the message also turns Beecher’s personal life upside-down, pointing him towards the dark truth about his father’s death.
Zig and Nola series
- The Escape Artist (2018) – Nola is supposed to be dead. Her body was found on a plane that mysteriously fell from the sky as it left a secret military base in the Alaskan wilderness. Her commanding officer verifies she’s dead. The US government confirms it. But Jim “Zig” Zigarowski has just found out the truth: Nola is still alive. And on the run. Zig works at Dover Air Force Base, helping put to rest the bodies of those who die on top-secret missions. Nola was a childhood friend of Zig’s daughter and someone who once saved his daughter’s life. So when Zig realizes Nola is still alive, he’s determined to find her. Yet as Zig digs into Nola’s past, he learns that trouble follows Nola everywhere she goes.
- The Lightning Rod (2022) – When Archie Mint is killed while trying to stop a robbery in his own home, his family is shattered-and then shocked when the other shoe drops. Mint’s been hiding criminal secrets none of them could have imagined. While working on Mint’s body before his funeral, mortician “Zig” Zigarowski discovers something he was never meant to see. That telling detail leads him to Mint’s former top secret military unit and his connection to artist Nola Brown. Following Nola’s trail, he uncovers one of the U.S. government’s most intensely guarded secrets-an undisclosed military facility that dates back to the Cold War and holds the key to something far more sinister: a hidden group willing to compromise the very safety and security of America itself.
Other thrillers
- The Tenth Justice (1997) – Landing a prestigious position as a Supreme Court clerk fresh out of Yale Law, Ben Addison is on the ultrafast track to success-until he inadvertently shares a classified secret with the wrong listener. And now the anonymous blackmailer who made a killing with Ben’s information is demanding more. Guilty of a criminal act, his golden future suddenly in jeopardy, Ben turns for help to his roommates-three close friends from childhood, each strategically placed near the seats of Washington power-and to his beautiful, whip-smart fellow clerk, Lisa Schulman. But trust is a dangerous commodity in the nation’s capital. And when lives, careers, and power are at stake, loyalties can shatter like glass… and betrayals can be lethal.
- Dead Even (1998) – Sara Tate, a Manhattan assistant DA, is on the brink of losing her job. But then she takes a case that may be able to secure her future. Trouble is, it’s much more complicated-and deadly-than it initially appears. While forces within her own office plot against her, an outside threat takes things to another level: Win the case or her attorney husband, Jared, will die. But Jared has received threats, too. Forced to defend the opposition, he learns that, if he loses the case, Sara will be killed. With everything on the line for both of them, husband and wife battle it out-at court and at home-while maintaining the terrible secret behind their motives. Caught in a struggle of rollercoaster emotions and shocking betrayals, Jared and Sara must face the unthinkable: No matter who wins, one of them may die.
- The First Counsel (2001) – ‘Shadow’ is the Secret Service codename for the First Daughter, Nora Hartson. And when she starts dating young White House lawyer Michael Garrick, he starts feeling like First Counsel. That’s what happens to everyone who lives in her world. It’s a world all of us have heard about, but none of us truly know – a world where your dad’s the President, your close friends wear earpieces and carry guns and a world where everyone is watching. On a date, Nora and Michael see something they shouldn’t. To protect her, he admits to something he shouldn’t. And when the problem snowballs out of control, she may have to do something she shouldn’t.
- The Millionaires (2002) – Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers who work at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive you need two million dollars just to be a client. But when the door of success slams in their faces, they’re faced with an offer they can’t refuse: three million dollars in an abandoned account. No one knows it exists, and even better, it doesn’t belong to anyone. All they have to do is take the money.
But when they do, they quickly discover they’ve got a lot more on their hands than the prize. Before they can blink, a friend is dead – and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female private investigator are suddenly closing in. What invisible strings were attached to that account? How are the brothers going to prove they’re innocent? And why is the Secret Service trying to kill them? Trapped in a breakneck race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives. - The Zero Game (2004) – Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are best friends–and bored. After a decade in Washington, in the coveted roles of senior staffers to well-respected congressmen, idealism has given way to disillusionment. Until, that is, one of them discovers a secret game–the Zero Game. But what starts out as a fun wager between friends quickly become deadly when they find they’re about to become the game’s next victims.
- The Book of Fate (2006) –“Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming.” So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive’s oldest friend, into the president’s limousine. By the trip’s end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes and kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.
- The Book of Lies (2008) – Cain killed Abel: the original murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. It’s a mystery that’s never been solved. Until now. In Florida, Cal Harper comes face-to-face with his family’s greatest secret: his long-lost father, who’s been shot with a gun that traces back to an unsolved murder in 1932. What could that murder have to do with the biblical one? Father and son are suddenly thrown into a bloodthirsty quest for an ancient weapon, and the answer to a secret that people are dying to find.
- The House of Secrets (2016) – When Hazel Nash was six years old, her father taught her: mysteries need to be solved. Now, years later, Hazel wakes up in the hospital and remembers nothing, not even her own name. She’s told she’s been in a car accident that killed her father and injured her brother. But she can’t remember any of it, because of her own traumatic brain injury. Then a man from the FBI shows up, asking questions about her dad — and about his connection to the corpse of a man found with an object stuffed into his chest: a priceless book that belonged to Benedict Arnold. Trying to put together the puzzle pieces of her past and present, Hazel Nash needs to figure out who killed this man — and how the book wound up in his chest. The answer will tell her the truth about her father, what he was really doing for the government — and who Hazel really is.
Non-fiction
- Heroes for My Son (2010) – Meltzer shares, with parents everywhere, the stories of 52 heroes-from Dr. Seuss and Mr. Rogers to Mother Theresa and Mohandas Gandhi.
- Heroes for My Daughter (2012) – Brad Meltzer brings together the stories of fifty-five remarkable individuals, from intellectual explorers such as Marie Curie, Sally Ride, and Jane Goodall to cultural champions like Billie Jean King; and more.
- History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time (2013) – Co-written with Keith Ferrell. This richly illustrated book serves up those fascinating, unexplained questions that nag at history buffs and conspiracy lovers: Why was Hitler so intent on capturing the Roman “Spear of Destiny?” Where did all the Confederacy’s gold go? What is the government hiding in Area 51? And did Lee Harvey Oswald really act alone?
- The First Conspiracy (2019) – Co-written with Josh Mensch. Taking place during the most critical period of our nation’s birth, The First Conspiracy tells a remarkable and previously untold piece of American history that not only reveals George Washington’s character, but also illuminates the origins of America’s counterintelligence movement that led to the modern day CIA.
- The Lincoln Conspiracy (2020) – Co-written with Josh Mensch. Everyone knows the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, but few are aware of the original conspiracy to kill him four years earlier in 1861, literally on his way to Washington, D.C., for his first inauguration.
Comic Books Collection
- DC Universe: Last Will and Testament (2008) – one-shot with Adam Kubert collected in Final Crisis Omnibus.
- Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer (2006–2007) – with Ed Benes, Shane Davis (#8), Gene Ha (#11) and Eric Wight (#12).
- Identity Crisis (2004–2005) – with Rags Morales.
- Green Arrow: The Archer’s Quest (2002–2003) – with Phil Hester.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: Twilight (2010) – with Georges Jeanty.
Children’s books: Ordinary People Change the World series
The “Ordinary People Change the World” children’s book series centered on ordinary people who stood up for what is right and changed the world. Each book features the story of a hero when they were a child.
Starting from September 2022, a brand new line in the Ordinary People Change the World series is now dedicated to fictional characters and creators.
- I Am Abraham Lincoln (2014)
- I Am Amelia Earhart (2014)
- I Am Rosa Parks (2014)
- I Am Albert Einstein (2014)
- I Am Jackie Robinson (2015)
- I Am Lucille Ball (2015)
- I Am Helen Keller (2015)
- I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. (2016)
- I Am George Washington (2016)
- I Am Jane Goodall (2016)
- I Am Gandhi (2017)
- I Am Sacagawea (2017)
- I Am Harriet Tubman (2018)
- I Am Neil Armstrong (2018)
- I Am Sonia Sotomayor (2018)
- I Am Billie Jean King (2019)
- I Am Walt Disney (2019)
- I Am Marie Curie (2019)
- I Am Leonardo da Vinci (2020)
- I Am Benjamin Franklin (2020)
- I Am Anne Frank (2020)
- I Am Frida Kahlo (2021)
- I Am I.M. Pei (2021)
- I Am Oprah Winfrey (2021)
- I Am Malala Yousafzai (2022)
- I Am Muhammad Ali (2022)
- I Am Dolly Parton (2022)
- I Am Superman (2022)
- I Am Batman (2022)
If you like Brad Meltzer’s books, you may also want to take a look at our Dan Brown reading order, or the work of James Rollins. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.
