John Sandford Books In Order

Publication Order of Prey/Lucas Davenport Books

Publication Order of Lucas Davenport vs. Lincoln Rhyme Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Kidd & LuEllen Books

Publication Order of Virgil Flowers Books

Publication Order of Singular Menace Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

More About John Sandford:

When you think of the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and bestselling novelist John Roswell Camp, you may end up drawing a blank. But that is the real name of an author I am sure you all have heard of, John Sandford. He created the pseudonym at the request of his publisher in 1989. He had two books coming out that year and they decided to release one, The Fools Rush In, under his real name and a second under a pseudonym, Rules of Prey. The later took off, becoming increasingly more popular than the first. So from then on John Roswell Camp became John Sandford.

Before his first two releases in 1989, John Sandford wrote for the Miami Herald, for seven years during the 1970’s. 1971 – 1978 to be precise. He used his Bachelor’s in American history and Masters in Journalism from the University of Iowa to hone his skills, becoming a top writer at the Miami Herald.

In 1978 John Sandford was looking for a new challenge. He packed up and moved to Minneapolis. There he joined the staff of The Saint Paul Pioneer Press as a features reporter. As usual his work excelled there and John Sandford became a full-time daily columnist by 1980. That year was also his first brush with a Pulitzer as he made it as a finalist thanks to a series of stories he had written on Native American culture.

John Sandford’s break out year would come in 1986. That year his writing efforts would be validated even further as he won a Pulitzer for Non-Deadline Feature Writing. His series “Life on the Land: An American Farm Family” were the stories he had written to result in such a prize. They followed your average Minnesota farm family during the Midwest farm crisis, taking place over the course of a year. These stories seemed to resonate deeply with Minnesota residents and the Pulitzer board as well, resulting in John Sandford’s first big win.

It was not until 1989 that John Sandford stopped writing daily for the Pioneer Press and with the success of his novels he quit writing for them completely the very next year. From that point forward John Sandford became a full time novelist, writing to date, over 30 novels.

John Sandford also served in the Army from 1966-68, he has a passion for archaeology, even becoming the principal financial backer for a dig in the Jordan valley of Israel. He also has a passion for art and photography and a love for hunting and fishing.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native, born February 23, 1944, shows no signs of slowing down, as he continues to release books in his Prey Series, Virgil Flowers Series, Kidd Series and the odd one off book. John Sandford has become a bestselling author many times over and for good reason, his books are a joy to his readers and bring the same high quality writing one would expect from a John Sandford book every time.

John Sandford – Books and Characters

John Sandford’s first major hit, Rules of Prey, released in 1989, has since spawned over 20 sequels. The very first book sucked readers into a murder/mystery in a thrilling way and set the bar for the books to come.

In Rules of Prey we are introduced to a killer named Louis Vullion. He is your average bottom of the barrel young attorney, who uses his day job to scout out his next female victim. He uses tactics that would be admired by an chess master and creates one heck of a fear storm for the residents of Minnesota. Finally, the hero of all the books, Lucas Davenport is called in to end this young attorney’s reign of terror. Davenport is not like your regular lieutenant, he invents computer games, drives a Porsche to work and attracts plenty of beautiful women along the way. He works on his own and prefers it. Davenport seems to have an instant understanding of the killer and so begins a thrilling cat and mouse game between the two from start to finish of Rules of Prey.

In another of John Sandford’s series, Virgil Flowers, he once again creates a world around murder and intrigue. In Dark of the Moon, first in the series which has since spawned 6 sequels, we are introduced to the main hero on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Virgil Flowers. Like most good heroes he comes with plenty of back story and baggage, making him complex and leaving the reader wanting to delve further into his world. Flowers tackles his toughest case to date in Dark of the Moon. A small town is rocked by a series of murders and when he goes to investigate he finds the motives seem to be deeply personal. Before long he also suspects himself of being a target, leading to a race against time to discover the killer before he himself becomes another murder victim.

Each and every John Sandford book follows the same formula of the above two, creating wonderful characters, rich worlds and exciting suspense from start to finish. Even his nonfiction books, such as his book on Plastic Surgery remain an engrossing read. You cannot seem to go wrong curling up with any of John Sandford’s books and inviting his wonderful characters into your living room.

John Sandford – in The Movies

With John Sandford’s works on top of the New York’s bestseller list time and time again, it was only a matter of time before his works were brought to life on your television screen. Over time, a few of his works have done just that.

One of his works to recently be turned into a TV movie was Certain Prey, having none other than star of the hit CBS show, NCIS, Mark Harmon portray Lucas Davenport on USA network. It premiered to a massive viewing of over 5 million viewers, topping all in ratings that day besides The Walking Dead and Football. It was also the 2nd highest ranked cable movie of the year in ratings.

Another of his works, once again in the Prey series, Mind Prey, was made into a television movie back in 1998, finding little success compared to his most recent television outing. It starred Eriq LaSalle, or ER fame, as Lucas Davenport and was met with low ratings and generally distaste from fans of the series.

John Sandford – The Future

The future looks bright for John Sanford fans, as he continues to release novels of their favorite characters and I am sure it will only be a matter of time before more of his works show up on a television screen near you.

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7 Responses to “John Sandford”

1. Rich Eastman: 1 month ago

   Just wondering if your writing style in your Lucas Davenport series going forward will reflect the ever evolving changes in police conduct…Lord knows Lucas pushes the limits of police policies…

   Reply
2. Bob McAllister (1959): 1 month ago

   Just finished reading OCEAN PREY….couldn’t put it down for too long before picking it up again….Was little worried about Virgil flowers not getting caught….Great book…hardly wait until next Lucas Davenport or Virgil Flowers book comes out…

   Reply
3. Teresina Wheaton: 2 months ago

   I have read all the books and just finished Ocean Prey can’t wait to see the next book. I have enjoyed all of them. Thank you for writing them. Have a great day.

   Reply
4. James H. Lavin: 2 months ago

   John, I’ve read all your books and I thought this latest one was a home run! I bought it the day it came out and try as I might, couldn’t get it to last more than 4 nights. It was one of your very best. Not one mistake either. So you won’t have to come over here. Keep up the great work. Thanks.
   Jim Lavin / Knoxville,Tennessee.
   Re: Ocean Prey

   Reply
5. James H. Lavin: 2 months ago

   John, I’ve read all your books and I thought this latest one was a home run! I bought it the day it came out and try as I might, couldn’t get it to last more than 4 nights. It was one of your very best. Not one mistake either. So you won’t have to come over here. Keep up the great work. Thanks.
   Jim Lavin / Knoxville,Tennessee.

   Reply
6. Max Alba: 3 months ago

   I have all the Prey series books also all of Virgil Flowers books. Love. John Sandford style of writing once you start to read a book you can not put it down.

   Reply
7. AbbyandSadiesMom: 2 years ago

   Have been an ardent fan of the Prey series from the beginning and collect every title. Just started the f’n Virgil Flowers series; have also read The Night Crew and The Empress File. My favorite is still the Prey series. Looking forward to new ones.

   Reply