Dan “Spider” Shepherd Books In Order

Publication Order of Spider Shepherd Books

Publication Order of Spider Shepherd SAS Books

Publication Order of Spider Shepherd Short Stories/Novellas

Chronological Order of Spider Shepherd Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Spider Shepherd Short Stories/Novellas

Chronological Order of Spider Shepherd Short Stories/Novellas

About Spider Shepherd:

“Spider” Shepherd is the main character in the book “Hard Landing” by Stephen Leather. Hard Landing is the first in the series headed by ultra detective Dan Shepherd. Stephen Leather is a British author born in 1956 with a background in journalism and has written for the television shows The Knock, London’s Burning, and the miniseries Murder In Mind for the BBC. His first novel, Pay Off, was published by the Harper Collins publishing company in May of 1997.

Hard Landing

Hard Landing is the first book in the series featuring the character of Dan Shepherd who is no stranger to putting his life in terrible danger as a detective on a secret undercover squad that can only be described as elite. Shepherd is an ex-SAS trooper before becoming a cop. When a UK drug lord with money, influence and power begins snuffing off witnesses to the cases Shepherd is covering, he has to pony up to an incredibly dangerous assignment. Spider Shepherd is about to go undercover in a maximum security prison to take down baron Gerry Carpenter, who is potentially going away for a long time. Carpenter isn’t going down easy, though. This powerful and dangerous man is prepared to do what it takes and pull the strings he has to pull on the outside in order to get witnesses killed, officers taken out, evidence tampered with, and his case thrown out.

Dan Spider Shepherd is tasked with the mission to go undercover and sidle up to Carpenter in order to found out how Carpenter is masterminding the outside chaos from the inside. Not only that, Spider must maintain his cover at all times, never for a second dropping the act. Surrounded by smart criminals with cop intuition, he must blend in and keep his cover while attempting to get close to Carpenter and make the case. The more close Spider gets to Carpenter, the more he realizes the psychopathic quality he is dealing with. Increasingly, he becomes aware of just how much influence Carpenter has, and how he might be willing to use it on the people Shepherd cares about most; his family. Stephen Leather did real life research on the book, visiting prisons and speaking with inmates to gain real life insights and valuable hands on experience and says he enjoyed doing the research and talking with people currently serving time.

Soft Target

Soft Target is the second book in the Dan “Spider” Shepherd series. Dan Shepherd is back once again, this time investigating one of their own. When an elite unit suddenly goes off the rails, it’s up to Shepherd to infiltrate an SO19 unit, a group of police men armed with guns tasked with patrolling London. Spider is not exactly happy about the assignment. He’s been asked to check up on men who are on the same team, and whether they’re guilty or innocent, it’s not an ideal situation. The allegedly rogue cops are facing jail time for shooting some drug dealers, and Shepherd is the deciding factor on whether or not they will do some serious time.

While Shepherd is investigating the cops, his other case is threatening blowing his investigation on the corrupt cops wide open. He’s posing as a hit man for a gangster’s wife who wants him killed, and it’s risking the entire case. Meanwhile, while dealing with these two cases, a shadowy figure may be planning one of the biggest terror attacks in UK history that will obliterate and injure hundreds of British citizens. “Soft Target” is named for a military term that refers to targets that are undefended or unarmed that need or are intended to be destroyed. In this case, the soft target is innocent civilians, and the results could be catastrophic.

Stephen Leather Books Adapted Into Made For TV Movies

Unfortunately, none of the Spider Shepherd books have been made into movies yet. Stephen Leather has had other novels made into movies however.

The Bombmaker

Stephen Leather’s novel “The Bombmaker” was made into a movie for tv in 2001.The movie is about a professional bomb maker who used to work for the IRA and has since turned an informant for the police ever since one of the bombs she made exploded and killed several school children. Her daughter gets kidnapped ten years later and Andrea Hayes is forced once more to construct a bomb, this time destined to go off in the middle of central London.

As the past comes back to haunt Andrea, her husband Martin Hayes is working to find his daughter and diffuse the situation and bring her home. Stephen Leather both wrote the 1999 novel and the 2001 adaptation for television. The movie was directed by Graham Theakson and stars Dervla Kirwan as Andrea Hayes, Mark Womack as Martin Hayes, and Ciara Lyons as their kidnapped daughter, Katie Hayes. As the family works around the clock to unravel the case and bring their daughter home, the race is on to defeat the terrorists who are forcing Andrea’s hand and threatening the one thing in the world that she holds most dear. The tv movie aired in April and distributed by British Sky Broadcasting.

The Stretch

Stephen Leather’s 2000 book was published by Hodder & Stoughton and is his 12th published novel. The novel was based off the made for tv movie written and produced by Stephen Leather by the same name. “The Stretch” appeared on tv in November 13, 2000. It was directed by Frank W. Smith and stars Leslie Grantham as Terry Greene and Anita Dobson as Sam Greene, with Luke Goss as Warwick Locke. Terry Greene is a long time criminal who is sent to jail for the murder of a drug dealer, in which he claims to be innocent.

Now Terry wants his wife Sam, in addition to looking after their three children, to take over his illegal duties for him. These include money laundering as well as drug dealing. She is adequate and successful, and the police are looking to take her down. Terry is released from prison after another inmate confesses to the murder he was accused of. Despite her doubts, Sam lets him back in her life. Everything’s going well until Terry convinces Sam to do one big job, a heroin score. The plot is full of twists and turns, as Terry and Sam approach the big deal and anything could happen.

3 Responses to “Dan “Spider” Shepherd”

1. alan spence: 5 months ago

   Which Spider Shepherds book involved the raid to capture Bin Ladin?

   Reply
2. Nicole fenech: 3 years ago

   Is there a follow on book from the last of the spider shepherd series

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     The next book scheduled is Fast Track which currently has a July publication date for ebook, and October for physical.

     Reply