Geoffrey Archer Books In Order

Publication Order of Sam Packer Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Geoffrey Archer is a critically acclaimed British author of thriller, mystery, and fiction novels. He is particularly famous for writing the Sam Packer series. Geoffrey specializes in spy thrillers and military adventures and for creating the chief protagonist Sam Packer. In addition to the Sam Packer books, Geoffrey has written several mind-blowing standalone books and a couple of short story collections. His book, Fire Hawk, was nominated for the Dagger Award in the category of Best Book in 1998. Before beginning his career in the field of writing, he used to work as a Defense Correspondent for ITN. Geoffrey was born and raised in north London. He developed an interest in drama and fiction at an early age.

After growing up, Geoffrey experienced a few false starts in selecting a career path. Eventually, he ventured into journalism and started his career by working for a local TV station located in Southampton. Initially, working in the post of a trainee researcher, he rose higher in rank and moved on to work for Anglia TV. A few years later, Geoffrey joined Tyne-Tees TV as an on-screen reporter in Newcastle. In 1969, he joined ITN to work as a reporter. During his journalism career, Geoffrey was involved in covering the Beirut civil war in 1976 and the troubles faced by Northern Ireland during the 1970s. While working for ITN, Geoffrey was permitted to travel in the nuclear submarine called Polaris. Later, he rose to the rank of ITN’s Diplomatic and Defense Correspondent. His experiences as a journalist enabled him to start writing stories based on the themes of spy and military thriller.

In 1995, Geoffrey resigned from his post in ITN to focus on his writing on a full-time basis. Geoffrey tasted success during the initial phase of his career when his first book, Fire Hawk, earned worldwide fame and was shortlisted for the Gold Dagger Award. It was in the 80s that Geoffrey thought of taking up writing novels on a serious level. He requested the Royal Navy to allow to shoot on-board Polaris submarine when he was a Defense Correspondent. After spending only 2 days at sea, Geoffrey was so much hooked by the secret world of the submariners that he made up his mind to use it as the background of his first attempt at writing fiction. When he finished writing a spy story revolving around nuclear missiles, his literary agent persuaded the Century Hutchinson publication to buy the publishing rights of the book. Subsequently, Sky Dancer was published in 1987.

In the next 6 years, Geoffrey wrote two more novels based on navel themes. Later, he used the war that happened in Bosnia to develop the story of his book, Scorpion Trail. After the successful release of this book in 1995, Geoffrey decided to quit his career in TV news and settled down as a full-time writer. In writing his later novels, Geoffrey used the theme of the MI6 Secret Intelligence Service. The most recent novel penned by Geoffrey is a murder mystery that takes place in the past. Geoffrey received a great deal of inspiration from the works of Nevil Schute during his younger days and always dreamed of developing an adventure story like him someday.

A popular book written by author Geoffrey Archer in his career is entitled ‘Dark Angel’. It was released by the Arrow publication in 2005. The lead characters mentioned in this book include Tom Sedley and Marcus Warwick. Geoffrey has set the story in London and Korea. Initially, it is depicted that Tom Sedley hoped to spend an idyllic summer holiday in a north London suburb following the end of WWII. But, his hopes got shattered and his vacation came to a shocking and abrupt end when on September 14, 1948, when he heard the terrible news of the brutal murder of his sister in the woods close to his house. After an initial investigation, the police arrested a tramp and sent him to jail. But, for young Tom Sedley, his childhood had come to an end and his search for finding out what had really happened on that fateful day had begun. Marcus Warwick was the best friend and neighbor of Tom Sedley. But, the shocking murder caused their relationship to change forever. As Tom’s mind was always clouded by suspicion, Marcus didn’t like the way he behaved and they continued to drift apart.

After a couple of years, both Marcus and Tom relocate to Korea. But, none of them are aware that the other is also staying in Korea. Marcus becomes an officer in Korea, while Tom begins his new job there as a radioman. After some time, war breaks out in Korea and Tom and Marcus come across each other with the same distrust that they had in London. They also get separated on the basis of their respective classes. Once again, their relationship faces a test during combat’s savagery that swept entire Korea. When they meet in the foreign country for the second time, they realize that they cannot trust each other with their lives. They appear to have been scarred for life by the bitterness in their relationship. Many years later, Tom Sedley finds the secret diary of his sister, which makes it clear what had happened on the night she was murdered. In the end, he sets out to seek the justice that he had been waiting for all these years.

Another exciting book penned by Geoffrey is called ‘Java Spider’. It was published in 1997 by the Arrow publishing company. The main character depicted in this novel is Nick Randall. The book opens by showing that a British minister gets kidnapped in Indonesia. It turns out that he was just a pawn in a dangerous game that was being played in the most explosive country in the world- Indonesia. After his kidnapping, the Jakarta authorities claim that the minister has been captured by a guerrilla uprising. When it becomes clear that nothing is being done to free the minister, the British government decides to send a spy to rescue him. Nick Randall takes charge of the mission handed over to him. He suspects that greater forces are involved and that no one can be trusted on the foreign land. He takes the help of a local female TV reporter and moves ahead to find the location where the kidnappers have kept the minister.