Presidential Agent Books in Order: How to read W.E.B. Griffin’s series?

By Order of the President…

What is the Presidential Agent series about?

Coming from prolific military author W. E. B. Griffin (RIP), the Presidential Agent series is about Carlos Castillo is tasked by the President to serve as sort of a check on the investigations of the various agencies involved…

Major Carlos Guillermo Castillo, known as Charley, is the son of a German mother and a Tex-Mex father, a Medal of Honor winner who died in Vietnam. A pilot, West Point graduate, and veteran of Desert Storm and the Special Forces, Castillo has a sharp eye for the facts and the reality behind the facts.

How to read the Presidential Agent Books in Order?

Every book in the Presidential Agent series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

1. By Order of the President – At an airfield in Angola, two men board a leased Boeing 727; then, once it is in the air, slit the pilot’s throat and fly to parts unknown. The consternation is immediate, as the CIA, FBI, FAA, and other agencies race to find out what has happened, in the process elbowing each other in the sides a little too vigorously. Fed up, the President of the United States turns to an outside investigator, Major Carlos Guillermo Castillo, an Army intelligence officer serving as special assistant to the Director of Homeland Security, to determine the truth.
2. The Hostage – Major Charley Castillo is tasked with a discreet mission by the President himself: to investigate the death of an American diplomat in Argentina and the kidnapping of that diplomat’s wife. With the woman’s children and family now at risk, Castillo’s running out of time to uncover the connections and truth behind it all.
3. The Hunters – Two brutal murders and millions of missing dollars in the growing UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal have led Charley Castillo and his team to Uruguay, where the man they seek is murdered right before their eyes. Those responsible have left just enough of a trail for Castillo to pick up the scent and follow it wherever it takes him-even if it’s not exactly where he expected.

4. The Shooters – A key DEA agent has been kidnapped by drugrunners. As much as the news angers Presidential Agent Castillo, he thinks there’s no way he could get permission to rescue the man. But Castillo’s wrong-the President himself orders Castillo to do anything it takes to bring back the agent…anything except get caught.
5. Black Ops – In the wake of a series of murders involving covert intelligence informers, Delta Force Lieutenant Colonel Charley Castillo wonders about vague similarities between the killings and a recent case involving a pair of CIA traitors, a situation that is further complicated by an arms dealer’s prediction that the deaths are linked to Kremlin activities.
6. The Outlaws – Charlie Castillo’s secret unit has been disbanded-but that doesn’t mean he’s out of business. A FedEx package arrives, bearing photos of barrels containing some of the most dangerous biohazard materials on earth, all of which were supposed to have been destroyed during a raid on a secret Russian factory in the Congo. Who has them, and what do they want? Castillo has a feeling he’s not going to like the answers.

7. Covert Warriors – There’s an uneasy and unholy alliance building across the Caribbean. Few in the U.S. government want to believe that a Third World country and its chest-thumping leader could pose a credible threat-but then why are the Chinese helping to train its special forces? Why are the Russians helping to build a nuclear power plant? Charley Castillo and his men go in to investigate.
8. Hazardous Duty – Mexican drug cartels are shooting up the streets of Laredo and El Paso. Somali pirates are holding three U.S. tankers for ransom. The President is fed up and has what he thinks is a pretty bright idea-to get hold of Colonel Charley Castillo and his merry band and put them on the case. Unfortunately, that will be difficult. Everybody knows that the President hates Castillo’s guts, has just had him forcibly retired from the military, and now Castillo’s men are scattered far and wide, many of them in hiding. There are also whispers that the President himself is unstable…
9. Rogue Asset (written by Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson) – Secretary of State Frank Malone has been kidnapped from his Cairo hotel – his security detail wiped out. President Natalie Cohen is left with several unacceptable options. It’s time to think outside the box, and that can only mean one thing: the revival of the Presidential Agent program. Cohen calls for Charley Castillo to come out of retirement to direct a new Presidential Agent, one Captain P. K. “Pick” McCoy, USMC. Charley may be too old to kick down doors and take names, but Killer McCoy is just the man to get the job done.

If you like the Presidential Agent series, you may also want to see our Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan reading order, or The Mitch Rapp reading order. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.