Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blink of an Eye | 2011 | William S. Cohen | Buy |
| 2 | Collision | 2015 | William S. Cohen | Buy |
| 3 | Final Strike | 2018 | William S. Cohen | Buy |
Blink of an Eye (2011) opens the series with a nuclear strike that levels a major city, and Falcone, now a DC attorney after years in the Senate and as national security advisor, is drawn into the investigation. The scenario reflects Cohen’s real-world concerns about nuclear proliferation and asymmetric threats, and the book reads like a scenario developed by someone who sat in actual briefings about these dangers.
Collision (2015) shifts to a different kind of violence: a mass shooting at a law firm that begins to unravel intelligence secrets. Final Strike (2018) raises the stakes to an existential level, with an asteroid on a collision course with Earth and a geopolitical crisis tangled up with the response effort.
Cohen writes Falcone as a man who understands that Washington operates on relationships and leverage as much as law or principle. The series is most satisfying for readers who enjoy procedural detail and political realism alongside the action. Each book stands alone, but reading in order develops a fuller picture of Falcone’s world and the recurring cast around him.