Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Under Cover of Daylight | 1987 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 2 | Tropical Freeze | 1989 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 3 | Mean High Tide | 1994 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 4 | Gone Wild | 1995 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 5 | Buzz Cut | 1996 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 6 | Red Sky at Night | 1997 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 7 | Blackwater Sound | 2002 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 8 | Off the Chart | 2003 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 9 | Magic City | 2007 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 10 | Hell’s Bay | 2008 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 11 | Silencer | 2009 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 12 | Dead Last | 2011 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 13 | Going Dark | 2013 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 14 | The Big Finish | 2014 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 15 | Bad Axe | 2020 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 16 | Trickster | 2022 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
| 17 | Stare Down | 2024 | Thorn P.I. | Buy |
The Thorn series begins with Under Cover of Daylight in 1987 and continues through Stare Down in 2024. Thorn is a Florida Keys recluse who wants nothing more than to fish and be left alone, but keeps getting entangled in violent plots that threaten his home and the people he cares about. The series mixes hard-boiled crime fiction with vivid descriptions of South Florida’s coastline and wildlife.
Over 17 books, the series has explored drug running, environmental destruction, art theft, and more, always returning to Thorn’s complicated relationship with the Keys and the trouble that follows him. The later entries like Bad Axe, Trickster, and Stare Down show a protagonist who has aged with his readers but lost none of his stubborn edge.