Michael Lilly Books In Order

Publication Order of Darkthorn Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Michael Lilly is an author of fiction novels. He is known for writing books that are suspenseful and fall into the thriller or murder mystery genres.

Michael Lilly is the author of the Darkthorn Series. The series kicked off in 2018 with the release of the first book in the fictional series. It was titled Pond Scum. In this debut story, we meet the character of Jeremy Thorn. The second novel in the series is titled Roadrunner. In this fast-paced thriller, the reader picks up with the detective/killer in yet another gripping set of circumstances.

Pond Scum is the exciting debut novel in author Michael Lilly’s Blackthorn series. In this book, the reader meets the character of Jeremy Thorn for the first time. Something that they might not know about Jeremy is sort of a fun fact if your idea of fun is a little bit different from that of the mainstream public. That is because Jeremy Thorn is a serial killer.

Jeremy is not your average killer in that he actually has a method to all of his madness. He has restraint and doesn’t attract any unnecessary attention. His painful past involved a fair amount of abuse and a mountain’s worth of trauma, and now it has shaped him into this– an efficient killer that needs to have balance in his life and the world as well.

He’s not a drifter or someone that you would think of as existing on the fringes of society. Instead, Jeremy Thorn fits right into society. He has a job like everyone else. He works as a detective and hails from a town in Oregon. Since he does his detective job well and doesn’t bother anyone, people leave him alone. More importantly, they never seem to suspect anything about what he does on the side.

Jeremy has a pattern and makes decisions long before he ever attempts to take anyone out. The method is simple but reliable. He starts by finding two targets. The first is always a person that has nothing to contribute to the world and is abominable in morality and existence. The second is always someone that could be called a burden on society. Maybe even someone that the first target knows.

From then on, the plan is simple. Jeremy takes out the first target and then sets up the second one to take the fall for the crime. Since all the evidence points to the second individual, no one ever takes the time to follow the trail to the murderous detective– and even if they thought to, they would find nothing. Nothing except for evidence that links this crime to the person Jeremy selected it to link to.

Jeremy has just finished up with his latest kill. It has also had the dubious pleasure of being his most personal one to date. Everything seems to be going as it usually does and he doesn’t think anyone’s onto him. He continues like he always does with his plan, carrying out every maneuver and doing it in a way that makes each part one perfectly executed segment of a seamless larger plan.

That’s when Jeremy finds out that the very person that he was attempting to frame is a detective. He’s a big man about town from a major city close by, and now he’s been assigned to work the case. Could this be the loose string that undoes all of his work at last? What are the odds that this detective can figure out that it was Jeremy– or will he recognize that this is the careful work of someone that knows what they are doing?

It’s a race against time to see if this detective will be able to figure out the truth. What will happen in the end? Pick up Pond Scum to find out what happens next in this engaging first work from the author!

Roadrunner is the second novel in the Darkthorn series by author Michael Lilly. Fresh off the latest fiasco, the reader meets up with main character Jeremy once more. He’s paired up with his friend Todd, and they’re just starting to settle down when their comfort is disrupted. A series of threats on their lives makes them consider fleeing town for a while. They go to New Mexico to get away in a quiet and nondescript little town that no one much pays attention to.

Even though Jeremy has his doubts about doing some detective work, he goes against his sense of judgment and decides to start it again. Right off the bat, he is met with a murder investigation. He’s no stranger to killing, and Jeremy quickly starts to figure out that these murders were most likely not a coincidence. One way or another, they might all be connected.

Adding to his gut feeling are the signs he’s seeing. These signs are telling him that he may not have been as done with the business in Riverdell as he previously thought. With no choice but to confront what’s happening, Jeremy has to figure out what’s going on– both with the investigation, and his unfinished business.

We all have to pay the piper at some point. Will Jeremy be able to run from his sins, or will what he has done catch up to him at last? Sometimes things that we leave in the past don’t stay in the past. When it comes to what this detective and full-time killer has done, he might not be so certain that facing his demons is a good thing. The things that are lurking in his past and his mind were enough to make him a murderer, after all.

Still, it may be the only thing that allows Jeremy to put them behind him for good. Will he have the mental and emotional stamina to take this battle on and win? Or will his strength give way as everything from his past and all of that trauma starts to take its toll on the killer? You’re going to have to pick up the exciting sequel in the Darkthorn series by Michael Lilly to find out!