Simon Gervais Books in Order (Updated September 9, 2026)

Simon Gervais writes international action and espionage thrillers shaped by his background in the Canadian military, federal law enforcement, counterterrorism, surveillance, and protective operations. His recurring characters include Mike and Lisa Walton, Pierce Hunt, Clayton White, Caspian Anderson, and Chase Burke.

Simon Gervais Books in Order

His catalog is easiest to follow by series rather than as one blended publication list. The main reading lanes are Mike Walton, Pierce Hunt, Clayton White, Caspian Anderson, the Chase Burke collaboration with Ryan Steck, and Robert Ludlum’s Blackbriar.

Affiliate Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This article may contain affiliate links. If you click one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

The best overall starting point depends on the kind of thriller you want. Start with The Thin Black Line for Gervais’s original counterterrorism series, Hunt Them Down for cartel and DEA action, The Last Protector for Secret Service and political suspense, or The Elias Network for his newest established solo series.

Choose Your Simon Gervais Route

  1. Start with The Thin Black Line if you want Mike and Lisa Walton, counterterrorism operations, and the beginning of Gervais’s published thriller career.
  2. Start with Hunt Them Down if you prefer former Army Ranger and DEA agent Pierce Hunt fighting cartels and international criminal networks.
  3. Start with The Last Protector if you want Secret Service protection, political families, assassinations, and national-security conspiracies.
  4. Start with The Elias Network for Caspian Anderson, a covert government assassin hiding behind the ordinary life of a United Nations translator.
  5. Start with The Second Son for the Chase Burke series co-written with Ryan Steck.
  6. Read The Blackbriar Genesis if you specifically want Gervais’s contribution to the larger Robert Ludlum intelligence universe.

Keep those routes separate on a first read. The characters may operate in similar worlds of intelligence, protection, terrorism, and covert action, but they belong to different series.

Mike Walton Thrillers in Reading Order

Mike Walton and his wife Lisa work for the International Market Stabilization Institute, a privately funded organization operating outside ordinary government channels to protect North American financial interests. Their missions combine terrorism, economic warfare, biological threats, and highly personal consequences.

  1. The Thin Black Line (2015): Covert operations officer Mike Walton and his wife Lisa are recruited by IMSI after terrorism devastates their family, sending them to Europe to confront the mastermind behind a campaign targeting the Western economy.
  2. A Long Gray Line (2016): This bridge novella sends Mike and Lisa after a sleeper-cell threat while unfinished business from their first mission forces them to weigh personal vengeance against a wider economic danger.
  3. A Red Dotted Line (2016): Mike and Lisa travel to Russia after an attempt on their superior’s life, where a revived biological-warfare threat and the continuing hunt for Mike’s kidnapped father blur the line between ally and enemy.
  4. A Thick Crimson Line (2018): A plan rooted in the final days of the Iranian monarchy surfaces decades later, forcing Mike and his team to identify traitors inside North American institutions before a retaliatory war begins.

Best order: Read all four entries in the sequence above. A Long Gray Line is a novella, but it was specifically written to bridge the gap between The Thin Black Line and A Red Dotted Line.

Why the Mike Walton Novella Should Not Be Skipped

A Long Gray Line is shorter than the three principal novels, but its placement is unusually clear. Gervais described it as a bridge between the first and second full-length Mike Walton books.

The novella continues unresolved consequences from The Thin Black Line while introducing another threat to Western financial stability. Readers who want the smoothest character progression should place it second rather than saving it for the end.

Pierce Hunt Trilogy in Order

Pierce Hunt is a former Army Ranger and DEA agent whose professional war against drug cartels becomes inseparable from his family life and his complicated relationship with Anna Garcia.

  1. Hunt Them Down (2019): When a cartel murders Vicente Garcia and kidnaps Hunt’s daughter along with Anna Garcia’s niece, the former lovers travel from Miami into Mexico to recover the girls and confront the criminal world that first brought them together.
  2. Trained to Hunt (2019): Hunt is drawn into a CIA hunter-killer operation when a lethal performance-enhancing drug kills several athletes and Anna becomes the prime suspect in a plan to flood the United States with a dangerous new narcotic.
  3. Time to Hunt (2020): Hunt crosses Europe to locate a missing CIA operative and friend, only to uncover betrayal inside the mission while pursuing intelligence that could threaten American national security.

Read the trilogy in publication order. The missions differ, but Hunt’s relationships with Anna, his daughter, and intelligence contacts carry forward from one book to the next.

What Changes Across the Pierce Hunt Books?

The first book is the most personal, with Hunt’s daughter directly endangered by the cartel world connected to his undercover DEA past. The second expands toward a wider drug conspiracy and CIA operations, while the third pushes Hunt more firmly into international intelligence work.

Because Anna Garcia remains important to Hunt’s personal history, beginning with Trained to Hunt would remove much of the context surrounding their relationship. Hunt Them Down is the correct first book even for readers primarily interested in the later espionage elements.

Clayton White Books in Order

Clayton White is a former Air Force combat rescue officer who becomes a Secret Service agent. His relationship with archaeologist Veronica Hammond repeatedly puts his private life beside major political threats because Veronica belongs to one of the most powerful political families in the country.

  1. The Last Protector (2021): Clayton’s apparently routine Secret Service career explodes when South African mercenaries target Veronica Hammond, forcing him into a conspiracy involving dangerous government secrets and the vice president elect’s family.
  2. The Last Sentinel (2022): After leaving the Secret Service, Clayton is pulled back into danger when his ship is attacked and the Second Lady is assassinated, forcing him to work again with Veronica’s powerful and difficult father.
  3. The Last Guardian (2023): Clayton leads an effort against the fentanyl trade and the Red Dragon Triad, but the investigation becomes a national-security crisis after the FBI director is assassinated and Clayton’s growing family is placed at risk.

The Clayton White trilogy should be read in numbered order. Veronica Hammond and her family are central to all three books, and changes in Clayton’s career make much more sense when followed from The Last Protector onward.

The Political Family at the Center of Clayton White

One of the defining features of this trilogy is that Clayton’s romantic relationship cannot be separated from his protection work. Veronica is not simply a recurring love interest. Her connection to Alexander Hammond repeatedly pulls Clayton toward political crises that would otherwise belong outside his personal life.

By The Last Guardian, Clayton is thinking less like the reckless operative readers met earlier because he and Veronica are preparing for a child. That character progression is another reason not to read the trilogy out of order.

Robert Ludlum’s Blackbriar

Gervais was selected to write a new series within the wider Robert Ludlum universe. His Blackbriar contribution introduces operatives from a counterintelligence program related to, but distinct from, Treadstone.

  1. Robert Ludlum’s The Blackbriar Genesis (2022): After a Treadstone operative is killed in a Prague car bombing during an unknown mission, Blackbriar agents Helen Jouvert and Donovan Wade investigate and uncover layers of deception, disinformation, and betrayal.

One Gervais Blackbriar novel is currently published. It introduces Jouvert and Wade and can be read as the beginning of its own Blackbriar line.

The book belongs to Robert Ludlum’s larger fictional universe, but readers do not need to complete Simon Gervais’s Mike Walton, Pierce Hunt, or Clayton White books first.

Caspian Anderson Books in Order

Caspian Anderson appears to the outside world to be an unremarkable United Nations translator. In reality, he has spent years operating as an elite government assassin under the code name Elias.

  1. The Elias Network (2024): Caspian’s assassination mission in Switzerland uncovers a human-trafficking conspiracy while he slowly discovers that his girlfriend, Liesel Bergmann, has been hiding an intelligence career of her own.
  2. The Elias Enigma (2025): Now working for the Defense Clandestine Service, Caspian joins Liesel on a mission involving stolen defense technology, a global criminal conspiracy, and disturbing connections to his own family.
  3. The Elias Conspiracy (2026): Caspian and Liesel are pulled from a brief recovery period in Mallorca when a journalist is abducted, leading them toward the humanitarian organization Hearts United and a conspiracy with deeply personal family connections.

Read these three in order. Caspian and Liesel’s relationship changes substantially across the trilogy, and each book assumes knowledge of secrets exposed in the previous installment.

Caspian and Liesel Make This a Continuing Story

The first Caspian Anderson novel is built around mutual deception. Caspian believes Liesel has an ordinary professional life, while she does not know that the mild-mannered translator beside her is the government assassin called Elias.

Once those secrets begin to fall away, the later books can move directly into the consequences. The Elias Enigma and The Elias Conspiracy therefore work less effectively as random standalone selections than many traditional action thrillers.

The Elias Conspiracy Is the Latest Published Simon Gervais Novel

The Elias Conspiracy was published on July 7, 2026 and is Caspian Anderson book three.

The novel continues directly from Caspian’s evolving government role and his relationship with Liesel. It also expands the family dimension by introducing or returning figures connected to both protagonists.

As of September 9, 2026, it is Gervais’s newest published novel.

Chase Burke Books with Ryan Steck

Simon Gervais co-writes the Chase Burke thrillers with Ryan Steck. This series follows former soldier Chase Burke as family tragedy drags him back toward the world of intelligence and covert violence.

  1. The Second Son (2025): Soldier-turned-sommelier Chase Burke investigates after his intelligence-analyst brother is killed and branded a traitor, while an attack leaves the congresswoman Chase loves fighting for her life.
  2. The Marked Son (expected November 10, 2026): Chase and Michael Burke continue their covert fight against FATHOM as sleeper cells activate and another conspiracy targets Congresswoman Tanya Hemsworth through the shadowy Project XIII.

The Marked Son is upcoming. It should be read after The Second Son because the conflict with FATHOM and Chase’s relationship with Tanya continue directly.

Why The Marked Son Is Not a New Starting Point

The second Chase Burke book is built on the covert struggle established in The Second Son. Chase and his brother are already at war with FATHOM, and Tanya’s relationship with Chase is already an important part of the stakes.

Readers planning to pick up The Marked Son when it appears in November 2026 should read The Second Son first rather than treating the sequel as an independent political thriller.

Simon Gervais Books in Overall Publication Order

If you want to follow Gervais’s writing career rather than one character, this is the useful cross-series publication view. Each line also shows which reading lane the book belongs to.

  1. The Thin Black Line (2015): Opens the Mike Walton counterterrorism series after a devastating attack turns an international threat into a personal war.
  2. A Long Gray Line (2016): A Mike Walton bridge novella about a sleeper-cell threat and unresolved consequences from the first novel.
  3. A Red Dotted Line (2016): Sends Mike and Lisa into Russia as a biological threat and the search for Mike’s father converge.
  4. A Thick Crimson Line (2018): Closes the currently published Walton sequence with Iranian intrigue, traitors, and a rapidly approaching international confrontation.
  5. Hunt Them Down (2019): Introduces DEA agent Pierce Hunt through a cartel kidnapping that forces him back together with Anna Garcia.
  6. Trained to Hunt (2019): Moves Hunt toward CIA operations as a deadly new drug puts Anna under suspicion.
  7. Time to Hunt (2020): Sends Hunt across Europe on a rescue mission complicated by betrayal inside the intelligence operation.
  8. The Last Protector (2021): Introduces former Air Force rescuer and Secret Service agent Clayton White through an attack on Veronica Hammond.
  9. The Last Sentinel (2022): Brings Clayton back into action after an assassination and a coordinated attack threaten Veronica and her political family.
  10. Robert Ludlum’s The Blackbriar Genesis (2022): Launches Blackbriar operatives Helen Jouvert and Donovan Wade inside the Robert Ludlum intelligence universe.
  11. The Last Guardian (2023): Pits Clayton against a fentanyl network and the Red Dragon Triad while the assassination of the FBI director raises the national stakes.
  12. The Elias Network (2024): Introduces Caspian Anderson, a UN translator secretly working as the government assassin Elias.
  13. The Elias Enigma (2025): Deepens Caspian and Liesel’s shared espionage world through stolen defense technology and secrets tied to Caspian’s family.
  14. The Second Son (2025): Starts the co-written Chase Burke series with a disgraced brother, a wounded congresswoman, and a global criminal conspiracy.
  15. The Elias Conspiracy (2026): Returns Caspian and Liesel for an abduction investigation that exposes corruption behind a global humanitarian organization.
  16. The Marked Son (expected 2026): Continues Chase Burke’s war with FATHOM and Project XIII and is scheduled for November 10, 2026.

This cross-series order is useful for tracking Gervais’s career, but it is not the recommended way to read the stories. Keeping each protagonist together produces better continuity.

Are Simon Gervais’s Series Connected?

The books share many interests: counterterrorism, intelligence agencies, protective operations, cartels, political conspiracies, and operators with military or law-enforcement backgrounds.

That does not make Mike Walton, Pierce Hunt, Clayton White, Caspian Anderson, and Chase Burke one numbered saga. Each has its own starting point and continuity.

The Blackbriar Genesis is the main exception in another direction because it explicitly belongs to Robert Ludlum’s larger fictional intelligence universe rather than Gervais’s original solo series.

A Reading Plan for New Simon Gervais Readers

  1. The Thin Black Line: Start here if you want to see Gervais’s thriller career from the beginning and meet Mike and Lisa Walton.
  2. Hunt Them Down: Choose this next if cartel warfare and a former Ranger turned DEA agent interest you more than financial counterterrorism.
  3. The Last Protector: Move here for political protection work and a continuing three-book relationship between Clayton and Veronica.
  4. The Elias Network: Use this as the starting point for Gervais’s most recent solo recurring protagonist.
  5. The Second Son: Begin here before the upcoming The Marked Son if you want the Ryan Steck collaboration.

Latest Release and What’s Next

The newest published Simon Gervais thriller is The Elias Conspiracy, released July 7, 2026 as Caspian Anderson book three.

The next confirmed book is The Marked Son, co-written with Ryan Steck and scheduled for November 10, 2026. It is the second Chase Burke thriller and should follow The Second Son.

No fourth Caspian Anderson, fourth Clayton White, fourth Pierce Hunt, or additional Mike Walton novel has a confirmed publication date as of September 9, 2026.

Simon Gervais Books in Order FAQs

What was Simon Gervais’s first novel?

The Thin Black Line, published in 2015, was his first novel and introduced Mike and Lisa Walton.

Should A Long Gray Line be read before A Red Dotted Line?

Yes. The novella was written specifically to bridge The Thin Black Line and A Red Dotted Line.

How many Pierce Hunt books are there?

There are three: Hunt Them Down, Trained to Hunt, and Time to Hunt.

How many Clayton White books are there?

There are three: The Last Protector, The Last Sentinel, and The Last Guardian.

What is the first Caspian Anderson book?

The Elias Network begins the Caspian Anderson series and should be read before The Elias Enigma and The Elias Conspiracy.

Is The Blackbriar Genesis part of the Bourne world?

Yes. It belongs to Robert Ludlum’s larger intelligence universe and involves Blackbriar and Treadstone, but it introduces its own principal operatives.

Did Simon Gervais write The Second Son alone?

No. The Second Son and its upcoming sequel The Marked Son are co-written with Ryan Steck.

What is Simon Gervais’s latest book?

As of September 9, 2026, his latest published novel is The Elias Conspiracy, released in July 2026.

What Simon Gervais book comes next?

The Marked Son, Chase Burke book two, is scheduled for November 10, 2026.

The Clearest Simon Gervais Reading Strategy

Read Gervais by protagonist rather than mixing every book by year. Start Mike Walton with The Thin Black Line, Pierce Hunt with Hunt Them Down, Clayton White with The Last Protector, and Caspian Anderson with The Elias Network.

For the collaborative series, read The Second Son before the upcoming The Marked Son. Treat The Blackbriar Genesis as its own entry into Robert Ludlum’s intelligence universe.

This keeps the continuing relationships and mission histories intact while still allowing you to choose whichever style of espionage or action thriller interests you most.

+ posts

Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.