Charlie Donlea Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Rory Moore/Lane Phillips Books
| Some Choose Darkness | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Suicide House | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Summit Lake | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Girl Who Was Taken | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Don't Believe It | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Twenty Years Later | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Those Empty Eyes | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Long Time Gone | (2024) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Charlie Donlea is a published author of fiction. He is a best selling author internationally.
Charlie was born in Chicago, Illinois. He is married and has children along with his wife. Together they live in Chicago.
The first novel that this author wrote is titled Summit Lake. It was published in 2016 and was a best seller on Audible, hitting the number one spot. The second novel that Donlea released was The Girl Who Was Taken. It came out in 2017. Don’t Believe It followed that up in 2018.
The author likes a variety of things to do in his spare time. For part of the year, he’ll go fishing in Canada with his father. The locations are so out there that the roads eventually come to an end and you can only get to the lakes via a float plane. The area is beautiful and his trips there with his father led to the inspiration to place his book Summit Lake in the same setting.
Donlea also likes to go online and watch acoustic covers of songs on YouTube. He is also known to binge watch different television series with his headphones on and the lights off. He says that he’s lost more sleep over shows like Breaking Bad than his writing deadlines. He likes to spend Sundays watching football and spends every Friday with his family for their movie night.
The author has been very successful with his writing and his books have been translated into many different languages, well over a dozen, so that readers in different countries can enjoy his books too.
Charlie Donlea is the creator and the author of the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips series of fictional novels. The series started off in 2019 with the publication of the first book, Some Choose Darkness. It also goes by the title The Woman in Darkness. The second book in the series was published in 2020 and is titled The Suicide House. If you are looking for an interesting thriller series to read, check this one out!
Some Choose Darkness is the first novel in the Rory Moore and Lane Phillips series by Charlie Donlea. In this story, readers get to meet the main character of Rory Moore for the first time.
Rory is a forensic reconstructionist and is very good at what she does. Part of what her work involves is taking cold case homicides and attempting to find out more about them. She does this by putting together details from the scene of the crime, often ones that others missed at the time.
Her father has recently died as well, a sad moment for Rory. She’s at his law office after he has been buried, cleaning out some of his things. While there, she gets a phone call that marks the start of her getting into a case that has been cold for decades.
The year was 1979, and it was summer. During that one significant summer, five women from the area of Chicago went missing. It appears that there was foul play involved. A predator was at hand, and they were very careful not to leave any clues– or bodies– in their wake. The man or woman was nicknamed The Thief.
Nothing came up about this case until the police got a package. It came from someone named Angela Mitchell, a mysterious person they knew nothing about. Her investigations had the appearance of revealing a killer, but she disappeared without any clues before they could talk to her.
It’s been forty years. Now The Thief is facing parole for the murder of Angela. However, Rory has found a file in the law office that indicates that there’s more to this case than meets the eye. Rory keeps making new discoveries and is deep into this case. She wants to find out where Angela went.
Rory continues to look into things, but even she may not be ready for the truth. If it comes out, will she be able to roll with the punches? Read this exciting first book in the series to find out what happens!
The Suicide House is the second novel in the Rory Moore series by Charles Donlea.
A prep school is the site for a horrible murder. But can Rory Moore and Lane Phillips, a psychologist, find out what the truth is about the killings? They’re trying to find out what’s going on before another episode airs on a true crime podcast that’s been airing everything about this case.
The prep school in question is located in Indiana and is called Westmont Preparatory High School. This is a strict school with rules that students are expected to follow. Students are also held to very high expectations when it comes to performance and conduct.
However, there is a patch of woods behind the school where a boarding house sits abandoned. The place is known among the students there as a place where they can go to hang out late at night. But they’re also superstitious about the myth about the Man in the Mirror. The saying goes that you should never allow your candle to go out unless you want that man to find you.
It was just a year ago that the house was the site of a murder. Two students were killed, but whether by a myth or a real person remains to be seen. The case caught the attention of The Suicide House, a popular podcast. As it turns out, a teacher was later found to be responsible for the murders. Still, so many questions are left to answer. One of them is why students who made it out that night are coming back to the house in order to commit suicide.
Rory is collaborating on the podcast with Lane to try and find some answers while recreating the fateful night. The more that they find out, the more that they are starting to think that the bad deeds that went on still linger somehow. The prep school may not have seen the last of this horrible game. With silence and secrets all around, can they discover what’s happening in this school before it’s too late? Read this thriller to find out!
Book Series In Order » Authors »
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I have never read any of his books; however I am about to change this! I just can’t decide on which one to read first. With ALL of the many great reviews I am truly excited. I hope for him to be my new favorite author. Fingers crossed.
My first Charlie Donlea book I read was, Twenty Years Later about a month ago. I then read, The Girl Who was Taken, and right away I read, Don’t Believe It, which I finished yesterday. Don’t Believe It needs a sequel! I am now reading Some Choose Darkness. I am a hooked Charlie Donlea fan! Did I find any errors? Sure, but I was so engrossed in the story that they didn’t slow me down. I do hope he writes a sequel for Don’t Believe It really soon!
Please write another book featuring Livia Cutty! I just finished The Girl Who Was Taken which is the first of your works I have read. Livia’s work as a Medical Examiner and her investigative skills combine to make this a “can’t put down thriller!” The use of back and forth timeframes also enhanced this book. Thank you for this chilling story.
I just finished The Girl Who Was Taken and I have to say that I was SO distracted by the grammatical errors and the inconsistencies that it was hard to enjoy. Twice, the word BREAK was used where it should have been BRAKE, in the beginning of Chapter 62, Elizabeth Jennings is mistakenly referred to as Livia Jennings, and early on, it is stated that Sanj has a Brooklyn accent only later to be described as having a Jersey accent. Things like this should be caught in the editing or early reading process. Frustrating.
Just finished some choose darkness. Fantastic book. I love the characters and the plots twists. Gonna get the suicide house next. Let me know if there is another Moore/ Lane book written.
Just finish reading the book I Don’t Believe it. I loved it.
Books are so engaging I have just ordered the last one to read! Hope you are writing more soon. Your skills and creative mind is incredible.
Don’t Believe It is the best novel I have ever read!
Couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to end.
Reading my first Charlie Donlea book “Twenty Years Later” and am enjoying it so much I came to this site to find out more about him. Already have the rest of his books on hold at the library. Being from Chicago myself maybe I’ll get lucky and run into him at a Bears game!
I am in the same boat Don, although I live in Oklahoma. I am halfway through Twenty Years Later, and I am hooked!
I just love Charles Donlea’s writing. In fact I am addicted to it. I read a book a day, and can’t wait to finish.
‘Don’t Believe It’ was one of my all time favorite books…..until [spoiler]. Talk About disappointment. I was done after that. So let down. Please continue that story with a book 2!
I just went on looking to see if there was a sequel to “Don’t Believe It”. Very disappointing that there isn’t. So far anyway.
Loved “Don’t believe it”. Agree that it needs a sequel and a whole new series with a certain detective featured.
I have read all of Charlie Donlea’s books and I have to say that they are captivating and keep you riveted for hours. I couldn’t stop reading them. This is the first author in many years that I cannot wait until he publishes his next novel!
My wife an I just read the first book by you “Summit Lake”. KEEP WRITING !!! Loved. Just ordered 3 more of your books.
We live in Norridge by O’Hara airport. Understand you live in the area ?!
Thank you. Reading keeps us young (and yardwork( ! Guenter and wife Erna
I loved all these books. They are the kind you don’t want to put down unless you just have to. I recommend them to anyone who likes the mystery/thriller genre. He is one of the authors that I blindly buy his books.