Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Risen Gods | 2015 | J.F. Penn | Buy |
| 2 | Catacomb | 2023 | J.F. Penn | Buy |
| 3 | Death Valley | 2025 | J.F. Penn | Buy |
| 4 | Blood Vintage | 2025 | J.F. Penn | Buy |
J.F. Penn’s standalone novels allow her to explore territory that does not fit neatly into any of her ongoing series. Risen Gods, co-written with J. Thorn, is set in New Zealand and draws on Maori mythology, using the 2011 Christchurch earthquake as a starting point for a story in which ancient gods finally act. Blood Vintage is folk horror set in Somerset, following an architect who seeks refuge at a vineyard with a troubling history tied to standing stones and older rites.
Death Valley takes a more contained approach, placing eight strangers in a luxury eco-lodge in California as a storm cuts them off from the outside world. Catacomb follows Walker Kane, a character who did not believe in monsters until they came after his daughter. Together, the four books show the range Penn works across when freed from series obligations.
For readers who have worked through the ARKANE books and want to see what Penn does with a single canvas, the standalones are worth exploring. They tend to be tighter and more intense than the series entries, with less room for the globe-trotting structure and more focus on a single location and a mounting sense of dread.