Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels books in order

Q: "How many books are in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series?"

"There are eleven books in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series, published between 1979 and 2026."

Q: "What is the first book in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series?"

"The first book in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series is Summer Fires, published in 1979."

Q: "Which Bob Reiss standalone novel is a good starting point?"

"The Last Spy (1993) is widely regarded as one of Reiss's best books. It follows a Soviet sleeper agent who has lived undercover in Washington, D.C. for years, only to have his carefully constructed identity threatened when the Cold War ends. It is a tightly plotted espionage novel that works well as an introduction to his writing."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	Summer Fires	1979	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
2	The Casco Deception	1983	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
3	Divine Assassin	1985	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
4	Saltmaker	1988	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
5	Flamingo	1990	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
6	The Last Spy	1993	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
7	Purgatory Road	1996	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
8	Black Monday	2005	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
9	The Side Effect	2006	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
10	Still Hungry	2022	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy
11	The Impossible Detective	2026	Bob Reiss / Ethan Black	Buy

Bob Reiss / Ethan Black has published 11 standalone novels under his own name, beginning with Summer Fires in 1979. His early books, including The Casco Deception (1983) and Divine Assassin (1985), are action-oriented thrillers. Saltmaker (1988) dealt with nuclear tensions, while Flamingo (1990) moved into adventure territory. The Last Spy (1993) is often singled out as his best work, a Cold War espionage story about a deep-cover agent whose American life unravels as the Soviet Union collapses.

After Purgatory Road (1996), Reiss shifted toward high-concept thrillers with Black Monday (2005), which imagines a catastrophic oil crisis, and The Side Effect (2006), a pharmaceutical conspiracy thriller. Following a lengthy publishing break, he returned with Still Hungry (2022) and has a new release, The Impossible Detective, arriving in 2026. The standalones cover a broad range of settings and scenarios, from espionage to survival fiction, but they share Reiss’s interest in ordinary people caught up in extraordinary and dangerous situations.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series?

There are eleven books in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series, published between 1979 and 2026.

What is the first book in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series?

The first book in the Bob Reiss / Ethan Black Standalone Novels series is Summer Fires, published in 1979.

Which Bob Reiss standalone novel is a good starting point?

The Last Spy (1993) is widely regarded as one of Reiss’s best books. It follows a Soviet sleeper agent who has lived undercover in Washington, D.C. for years, only to have his carefully constructed identity threatened when the Cold War ends. It is a tightly plotted espionage novel that works well as an introduction to his writing.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order