The Bowers Files Books in Order: How to read Steven James’s series?

Discover a captivating collection of psychological thrillers known as The Bowers Files, written by prolific author Steven James, who also has written The Blur Trilogy. Immerse yourself in the world of Patrick Bowers, an expert FBI agent delving into environmental criminology. Join him on relentless pursuits of chilling and malevolent killers.

Explore further with “The Bowers Files: The New York Years Series,” a compelling prequel that adds depth to the gripping universe. Embark on an enthralling journey today.

How to read The Bowers Files Series in Order?

I. Reading The Bowers Files in Order

0. Opening Moves (short story) – Minneapolis, 1997. Authorities are drawn into a case, unlike anything they’ve ever seen when a sequence of horrifying kidnappings and mutilations take place in a city still suffering from Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes. Police believe a Dahmer impersonator is at large. However, homicide detective Patrick Bowers believes this is more than just a tribute to the notorious cannibal.
1. The Pawn – One person was the only one Special Agent Patrick Bowers had ever met who actually terrified him. Before now. He finds himself in a deadly game when he is called to North Carolina to consult on the case of a local serial murderer. The murderer is cunning and deadly, always one step ahead of the law, and he is going to carry out another attack.
2. The Rook – At a significant US Navy installation, an arsonist set fire to a top-secret research facility. But this terrorist strike is not just a random one. These folks had a clear objective in mind. When Special Agent Patrick Bowers is asked to look into the matter, he becomes entangled in a deadly web of scheming and deceit. Bowers is in a race against time to foil an international assassin before it’s too late, with his own criminology research working against him and one of the deadliest weapons missing.
3. The Knight – A cassette recording that foretells FBI criminologist Patrick Bowers’ future action is left as a special clue at the scene of ritual murder. Bowers discovers something else at the following murder: an old manuscript that is being used as a model for the crimes. And the more he cracks the text’s codes, the more he worries about the outcome. Bowers is not in any way getting closer to the murderer. The assailant is getting closer to him.

4. The Bishop -Modern geographic investigation methods and perfect logic used by FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers have enabled him to find some of the nation’s most heinous killers. But in this new episode of the critically renowned, award-winning The Bowers Files series, their abilities are tested to their absolute limits. This time, a congressman’s daughter is discovered murdered while her killers are committing a string of flawless killings throughout the Northeast.
5. The Queen – FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers discovers a high-tech conspiracy while looking into a double homicide in a remote village in northern Wisconsin. The conspiracy weaves across long-buried Cold War secrets and targets current Middle East tensions.
6. The King – Patrick and Lien-hua Jiang, who are engaged, have settled into a new position at the FBI school and are making plans for the future with Tessa, his stepdaughter. But just when everything is going according to plan, a demon from the past reappears and leads him down a terrible path he had assumed was permanently closed. Patrick is in a race against time to prevent an international conspiracy from turning into the largest act of terrorism in American history after being forced into a frantic search to save the two women he loves the most.
7. Checkmate – Special Agent Patrick Bowers is lured into the brutal, relentless narrative that a killer from his past is determined to tell the world when a covert FBI facility is attacked. Secrets buried deep beneath Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, are revealed by hints. In an effort to thwart one of the worst attacks ever planned on American soil, Bowers is now caught in the crossfire.

II. Reading The Bowers Files: The New York Years Series

In this prequel series, we explore events taking place prior to “The Pawn”. Nevertheless, those books were published after “Checkmate”.

1. Every Crooked Path – In order to find the clues from an eight-year-old cold case, Patrick Bowers must personally join the terrible world of the conspirators, which is the only way to stop the Piper’s current crime spree.
2. Every Deadly Kiss – When Patrick Bowers is asked to assist on a case by an ex-girlfriend, he comes across the work of a killer who exhibits a surprising level of ruthlessness. Bowers is stunned to learn that the killings are connected to both his own experience with a known terrorist and his ex-girlfriend, and that her hidden background may hold the key to putting an end to the murderous rampage.
3. Every Wicked Man – Agent Bowers is sucked into a complicated web of falsehoods that starts to damage the people he cares about the most when a senator’s son commits suicide and broadcasts the live video online. He discovers a murky path littered with turns and deadly secrets that touch a bit too close to home as he works to solve the mystery behind the suicide and a centuries-old code that might help shed light on the case.

Don’t forget to bookmark our article about The Bowers Files reading order if you liked it! And you may want to check out the Faye Longchamp series.