John Connolly

John Connolly is an Irish author who mainly writes short stories and novels. He is best known as the author of the Charlie Parker series of private detective novels and the Samuel Johnson series of young adult novels. Connolly’s genres of books include crime fiction, horror fiction, science fiction, drama, and fantasy.

The best place to start is the Charlie Parker series, the earliest of John Connolly's multi-book series: it opens with Every Dead Thing (1999) and runs to 25 books across 1999–2026, ending with A River Red with Blood (2026). John Connolly's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

John Connolly has 140 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1991 and 2027. 111 of them belong to 8 named series — the largest being the Charlie Parker series with 25 books — and 29 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. John Connolly's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Charlie Parker (1999–2026, 25 books), Nocturnes (2004–2015, 2 books) and The Book of Lost Things (2006–2023, 2 books), plus 3 more.

This guide splits John Connolly's 140 books into 8 named series and 29 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Charlie Parker (25 books, 1999–2026); Charlie Parker Non-Fiction (3 books, 2016–2021); Samuel Johnson vs. the Devil (3 books, 2009–2013); Chronicles of the Invaders (3 books, 2013–2016); The Book of Lost Things (2 books, 2006–2023), plus 3 further series.