Jon Stanton Books In Order

Publication Order of Jon Stanton Thrillers Books

Jon Stanton is the lead character in the Jon Stanton series of novels by the Afghanistan born award-winning author Victor Methos, best known for writing science fiction, crime, thrillers, and mysteries. Even as Victor Methos has written more than forty novels over the years, his best-known series is the Jon Stanton series, the first novel of which was the 2011 published “The White Angel Murder”. Over four years between 2011 and 2015, the author published about two novels a year in the still ongoing series. The novels were just as popular as the first and made Jon Stanton one of the most popular police detective protagonists in recent times. As a criminal defense attorney with more than 100 criminal cases under his belt, Methos writes the Jon Stanton series as complex, violent, dark, and gritty novels that over a few years have become fan favorites. The lead character in the series is Jon Stanton, a police detective with strong moral and ethical values fighting against crime and a corrupt police force. The novels excellently portray the moral ethical dilemmas facing police officers in corrupt jurisdictions. It also looks into how police officers deal with personal problems, which sometimes encroach into their work.

The Jon Stanton series of novels feature Jon Stanton the lead character who makes his first appearance in the debut “The White Angel Murder”. When we are first introduced to Stanton, he has just lost his family after his wife left him, taking with her his two children. He has been asked to join a team of highly experienced and qualified persons investigating a cold case. Dedicated to attaining justice for crime victims, he particularly likes to work cases of young and vulnerable victims. However, even with his long years of experience tracking down and resolving murder cases, he often finds some of the murder cases sadistic and gruesome though he never backs down from a case. Stanton is an unrelenting man who pursues the ends of justice using whatever methods he can, though he will not violate his moral standards. As a Mormon, he comes across as a man driven by his religious convictions and overzealous character that often do not serve him well in a devious world. As a detective, he is a persistent and skilled operative, qualities that are severely lacking in his personal life making him a bland man that cannot sustain a relationship. Nonetheless, despite his methodical, considerate, and introspective personality, he is an interesting police detective by Mormon standards, even as he often lives a singular and lonely life.

The Jon Stanton series of novels are violent, raw novels with dark undertones showcasing the illegal and corrupt side of the police force. Reading the novels feels like watching a good thriller/suspense in the mold of the NCIS or CSI series. The author writes realistic novels full of character descriptions and portrayals you would expect in real life situations. The novels provide excellent background of the characters explaining their histories and environment, which explains their motivations. One of the most important of themes in the novels is the dilemma faced by a moral police officer in a police department that is increasingly morally bankrupt and corrupt. Even though the efforts to eliminate evil in the society often seem hopeless, the novels assert that there are still people like Stanton who will not give up in their pursuit of a better society. The novels also provide insights and humanize the police officers by following the life of detective Jon Stanton. Stanton’s life takes a turn for the worse when he loses his family and then finds out that his former partner was an undercover serial killer that makes an attempt on his life. The persons that would be expected to be a moral compass for society such as the Chief of Police and the junior police officers are irredeemably corrupt. Some of his colleagues and bosses are involved in crime and Jon feels it is up to him to make things right. Over the course of the novels, Stanton has to deal with serial killers of all shades who brutally kill their victims and turn around to taunt him to find them. Nonetheless, while Stanton is a good detective, the novels are all about an everyday cop who struggles with cases and makes mistakes that any other cop would.

“The White Angel Murder”, the first novel in the Jon Stanton series opens to a vicious murder in San Diego. A killer has been brutally killing vulnerable women on the fringes of society and no one can find out who he is and why. The police officers find the man’s latest victim, a young woman torn limb to limb, in a gruesome scene that elicits rage and disgust from some of the most hardened of the Homicide Unit of the San Diego Police Department. Jon Stanton of the SDPD is a young detective of the homicide unit who has more invested in the case than anyone else. The case had once been given to Eli Sherman, his former partner who has been found to be one of the city most ruthless serial killers. Stanton has always blamed himself for not seeing thought the veneer of respectability that his former partner had presented. He believes he is responsible for the murders his partner committed while serving in the force, and sees the case as a chance at redemption. With the vicious killer not letting up and eluding San Diego’s best, Stanton needs to up his game, even as the killer shifts his attention to another vulnerable group of targets.

“Walk in Darkness” is a riveting novel that is set in a San Diego terrified by a killer with a penchant for butchery. The deranged killer who goes by the name “The Sandman” loves to kill the most vulnerable and so far, no one has been able to stop him. The SDPD calls in Detective Jonathan Stanton from retirement to track down one of the most vicious of killers in the city’s history. Three years past, he had tracked down one of the most high profile of serial killers only to unearth one of the biggest corruption scandals in the police department, which had left him disillusioned and sent him into retirement. He is now facing off against a cautious, ruthless, and clever killer who is morbidly interested in those who investigate him, and leaves no evidence at the crime scene. He believes Stanton an equal, which may not be so good for the detective.