Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pronto | 1993 | Peter Leonard | Buy |
| 2 | Riding the Rap | 1995 | Peter Leonard | Buy |
| 3 | Fire in the Hole | 2001 | Peter Leonard | Buy |
| 4 | Raylan | 2011 | Peter Leonard | Buy |
| 5 | Raylan Goes to Detroit | 2018 | Peter Leonard | Buy |
Raylan Givens is one of crime fiction’s most memorable lawmen. Created by Elmore Leonard in Pronto (1993), Raylan is a U.S. Marshal with an old-fashioned sense of justice and a quick trigger finger. The character appeared in several of Elmore’s novels and short stories before gaining wider fame through the television series Justified, which ran from 2010 to 2015.
The books follow Raylan through various criminal entanglements, from Miami mob dealings in Pronto and Riding the Rap to Kentucky coal country feuds in Fire in the Hole. Elmore Leonard’s sharp dialogue and dry humor are on full display throughout, making these some of his most entertaining later novels. The 2011 novel Raylan was written alongside the TV show and features standalone episodes in the character’s life.
After Elmore Leonard’s death in 2013, his son Peter Leonard picked up the character with Raylan Goes to Detroit (2018), transplanting the Marshal to a new city. The continuation keeps the spirit of the original books while bringing a fresh setting and Peter’s own storytelling sensibility to the series.