Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lester | 1999 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 2 | Red Cliff | 2000 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 3 | No Alarms | 2002 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 4 | Home Boys | 2003 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 5 | Malcolm and Juliet | 2004 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 6 | Genesis | 2006 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 7 | Acid Song | 2008 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 8 | Jolt | 2010 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 9 | August | 2011 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 10 | Deep Fried | 2012 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 11 | Lullaby | 2015 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
| 12 | The Tunnel of Dreams | 2020 | Bernard Beckett | Buy |
Bernard Beckett’s standalone novels cover a surprising range for a relatively compact catalog. His early books, Lester (1999) and Red Cliff (2000), established him as a New Zealand YA writer. Malcolm and Juliet (2004) is a comic novel about a teen trying to brew beer for the school formal, and it remains one of his most popular books.
Genesis (2006) marked a shift into more serious territory, and subsequent novels like Acid Song, Jolt, and August continued to explore philosophical and moral questions through fiction. His most recent novel, The Tunnel of Dreams (2020), shows him still working at the intersection of speculative ideas and human stories. The variety across these twelve books makes it hard to predict what Beckett will write next, which is part of the appeal.