Mack Maloney Books in Order (Updated September 9, 2026)

Mack Maloney is an American action, military, aviation, science-fiction, and paranormal writer best known for the Wingman series. His books range from post-apocalyptic air combat and futuristic space warfare to helicopter units, pirate hunting, covert military teams, UFO history, and World War II adventure.

The easiest way to approach Maloney is by series rather than trying to force every title into one chronology. Wingman is the largest sequence, Starhawk is a separate science-fiction saga, Chopper Ops focuses on helicopter missions, Pirate Hunters shifts toward maritime action, and several shorter military series stand independently.

Where to begin in Mack Maloney’s very different series

• For post-apocalyptic aviation: Start with Wingman.
• For military science fiction: Begin with Starhawk.
• For helicopter combat: Start with Chopper Ops.
• For modern maritime action: Begin with The Pirate Hunters.
• For small covert strike teams: Try Strike Force Alpha or Strikemasters.
• For UFO and paranormal nonfiction: Start with UFOs in Wartime or Beyond Area 51.

The Wingman saga in official series order

Wingman follows fighter pilot Hawk Hunter through a devastated America and an increasingly strange succession of wars. The early books are military post-apocalyptic adventures, while later installments expand into alternate realities, space warfare, secret installations, and conflicts that move far beyond the original collapse of the United States.

1. Wingman (1987): After America loses a devastating global war, former fighter pilot Hawk Hunter returns to a shattered country divided among hostile armies and begins fighting to restore a united United States.
2. The Circle War (1987): Hawk confronts the powerful Circle, whose control of territory and military resources threatens efforts to rebuild the country after the collapse.
3. The Lucifer Crusade (1987): With the Circle conflict behind him, Hawk is drawn toward the Middle East and another war involving fanatical forces, advanced weaponry, and the unstable postwar world.
4. Thunder in the East (1988): Hawk returns from the Middle East to find that new enemies are threatening the fragile American recovery and that another large military campaign is unavoidable.
5. The Twisted Cross (1989): A neo-Nazi movement known as the Twisted Cross becomes the next major threat to Hawk and the forces trying to reunify America.
6. The Final Storm (1989): Hawk and his allies push toward a decisive confrontation intended to secure the country against the enemies that have dominated the first phase of the series.
7. Freedom Express (1990): The Twisted Cross returns as Hawk becomes involved in defending a rail-based effort to reconnect and strengthen parts of the recovering United States.
8. Skyfire (1990): A series of violent attacks and aerial mysteries sends Hawk into another high-speed conflict where controlling the skies becomes central to national survival.
9. Return from the Inferno (1991): United American forces regroup for another campaign while Hawk returns to a continent still divided by rival powers and unfinished wars.
10. War of the Sun (1992): Hawk continues the struggle to liberate the American continent as new alliances and enemies turn the rebuilding effort into another continent-wide war.
11. The Ghost War (1993): Hawk intervenes when an allied country faces destruction, entering a conflict in which the enemy’s motives and capabilities are initially difficult to identify.
12. Target: Point Zero (1996): One of the most dangerous figures in the postwar world threatens the balance Hawk has fought to create, leading to another strategic battle over the future of America.
13. Death Orbit (1997): Hawk moves beyond conventional air combat when a space shuttle mission and an orbital threat turn the conflict toward space.
14. The Sky Ghost (1997): After stopping a catastrophic celestial threat, Hawk becomes caught in events that begin pushing the series toward alternate histories and stranger versions of reality.
15. Return of Sky Ghost (1998): Hawk plunges into another alternate world and confronts a version of history that differs dangerously from the America he knows.
16. The Tomorrow War (1999): Hawk is thrown into brutal warfare in a future setting where the nature of the conflict and the world around him have changed dramatically.
17. Attack on Area 51: Hawk becomes involved with the legendary secret military installation and a conflict involving hidden technology and threats beyond the ordinary battlefield.
18. Battle for America: The struggle returns directly to the fate of the United States as Hawk fights another campaign over who will control the country.
19. The Odessa Raid: Hawk and the United American Air Force launch a dangerous military operation against a heavily defended enemy target.
20. Battle of the Wingmen: Hawk faces another elite pilot and a conflict that turns the Wingman identity itself into part of the confrontation.
21. The Jericho Storm: Hawk enters another high-stakes campaign involving advanced weapons and an enemy capable of destabilizing the recovering world.
22. War of Dragons: The twenty-second Wingman adventure pushes Hawk into another technologically extreme conflict and currently stands as the latest book listed in the official series.

Mack Maloney’s official site lists twenty-two Wingman books, from Wingman through War of Dragons. Some older catalogues stop at twenty because the final two books were added later.

Why the Wingman series changes genre as it progresses

The first books are primarily post-apocalyptic military adventures about rebuilding a collapsed America. Hawk flies advanced combat aircraft, but the conflicts remain recognizable as wars among armies, political factions, and occupying powers.

Later books become much more speculative. Space missions, alternate realities, Area 51, futuristic warfare, and unusual technology move the series closer to military science fiction. Readers who begin with Wingman therefore get a gradual transition rather than being dropped immediately into the stranger later material.

Wingman books one through six form the original rebuilding arc

1. Wingman: Establishes Hawk Hunter and the ruined American setting.
2. The Circle War: Expands the battle against domestic warlords.
3. The Lucifer Crusade: Sends Hawk beyond America into a Middle Eastern conflict.
4. Thunder in the East: Brings him back into another American campaign.
5. The Twisted Cross: Introduces the neo-Nazi enemy that dominates the next crisis.
6. The Final Storm: Gives the early phase of the series a major climax.

Readers who only want to sample the original Wingman concept can treat the first six as a strong opening block before deciding whether to continue into the increasingly speculative later books.

Starhawk moves Maloney fully into space warfare

Starhawk is a separate six-book military science-fiction series. It should not be inserted into Hawk Hunter’s Wingman chronology.

1. Starhawk: The series begins with futuristic pilots and soldiers fighting in a far-reaching conflict where spacecraft replace the fighter aircraft of Wingman.
2. Planet America: The crew encounters a world whose connection to America creates both a strategic mystery and another battlefield in the expanding space war.
3. The Fourth Empire: A powerful imperial enemy expands the scale of the conflict and forces the Starhawk crew to confront a civilization with enormous military ambitions.
4. Battle at Zero Point: The war moves toward a strategically critical location where control of the region could determine the balance among the competing powers.
5. Storm Over Saturn: The series brings a major confrontation into the outer Solar System as Saturn becomes the center of another military campaign.
6. The Earth War: The six-book sequence reaches its climax as the conflict returns toward Earth and the stakes become the survival of the home world itself.

Read all six Starhawk books in order. They form one escalating military science-fiction storyline.

Chopper Ops trilogy

Chopper Ops centers on helicopter warfare and covert missions rather than Hawk Hunter’s fighter aircraft.

1. Chopper Ops: An elite helicopter team takes on dangerous missions where mobility, surprise, and low-level combat flying are essential to survival.
2. Zero Red: The unit returns for another high-risk operation involving a hostile target and a mission that conventional forces cannot easily reach.
3. Shuttle Down: A crisis involving a downed spacecraft forces the helicopter team into a rescue and combat operation built around recovering personnel and sensitive material.

The three books should be read in the order listed because the team and its capabilities are established in Chopper Ops.

Pirate Hunters trilogy

1. The Pirate Hunters: A specialized team goes after modern pirates whose operations are more heavily armed and organized than ordinary maritime crime.
2. Operation Caribe: The anti-piracy mission moves into Caribbean waters, where criminal networks, hidden bases, and maritime pursuit create another dangerous campaign.
3. Operation Sea Ghost: The team returns for a final listed operation involving an elusive maritime enemy and a threat that cannot be handled by ordinary law enforcement.

The four Super Hawks books

The Super Hawks sequence is built around a specialized strike force and should be kept separate from Wingman despite the aviation-oriented name.

1. Strike Force Alpha: The first book assembles an elite combat unit designed to respond to threats that conventional forces cannot handle quickly enough.
2. Strike Force Bravo: The team takes on another international combat assignment requiring advanced aircraft and special-operations tactics.
3. Strike Force Charlie: The third operation expands the series’ military scope and places the unit against a new heavily armed enemy.
4. Strike Force Delta: The fourth book completes the officially listed Super Hawks sequence with another large-scale strike mission.

Strikemasters officially contains three books

1. Strikemasters: The opening novel introduces another highly trained combat team operating with advanced military hardware.
2. Rogue War: The team becomes involved in a conflict complicated by rogue military forces and shifting loyalties.
3. Fulcrum: The third officially listed installment brings the unit into another strategic crisis where the outcome could change the balance of power.

Some older book databases list only two Strikemasters titles, but Maloney’s current official site lists Fulcrum as book three.

Stormbirds trilogy

1. Desert Lightening: The Stormbirds begin with a desert combat mission built around fast-moving aircraft and a specialized military response team.
2. Thunder From Heaven: The team returns for another mission where air power and a rapidly escalating threat dominate the operation.
3. The Gathering Storm: The third book brings the Stormbirds into the largest crisis of their short series and completes the officially listed trilogy.

War Heaven is a compact two-book sequence

1. Thunder Alley: A combat aviation story launches the War Heaven sequence with pilots operating in an environment where aerial superiority becomes the key to the mission.
2. War Heaven: The second book continues and completes the officially listed series with another high-intensity military air campaign.

Codename: Starman books

1. The Kalashnikov Kiss: The series opens with covert action, espionage, and a mission linked to dangerous weapons and hidden international operators.
2. The Sea of Moons: The second installment moves the Starman storyline toward more speculative territory and a threat connected to space.
3. The God Satellite: The trilogy culminates with a mysterious orbital system whose capabilities create a threat far larger than a conventional intelligence operation.

Iron Star stands apart as a World War II novel

Iron Star is Maloney’s separate World War II fiction rather than a Wingman prequel. It uses historical warfare and military adventure without requiring any of the post-apocalyptic or science-fiction continuity of his recurring series.

Maloney’s UFO and paranormal books

Maloney has also written nonfiction and paranormal material examining UFO reports, wartime sightings, mysterious military installations, and unexplained phenomena.

1. UFOs in Wartime: Maloney examines reports of unusual aerial phenomena associated with wars and military operations across different historical periods.
2. Beyond Area 51: The focus moves to secret bases, restricted military locations, UFO lore, and claims surrounding places beyond the famous Nevada installation.
3. Mack Maloney’s Haunted Universe: Maloney broadens the subject beyond UFOs to ghosts, unusual encounters, mysterious locations, and other paranormal reports.

These books do not belong to Wingman or any of the fictional military series.

A Mack Maloney sampler before tackling all 22 Wingman books

1. Wingman: Experience the original Hawk Hunter concept.
2. The Circle War: See how the post-apocalyptic American conflict expands.
3. The Twisted Cross: Sample one of the early recurring enemy arcs.
4. Death Orbit: Jump later to see how dramatically the series expands toward space.
5. Starhawk: Try Maloney’s dedicated military science-fiction series.
6. Chopper Ops: Switch from fighters and spacecraft to helicopters.
7. The Pirate Hunters: Sample maritime action.
8. UFOs in Wartime: Finish with Maloney’s paranormal and military-history interests outside fiction.

Mack Maloney’s current bibliography status

Maloney’s official site currently lists twenty-two Wingman titles, six Starhawk books, three Chopper Ops novels, three Pirate Hunters books, four Super Hawks novels, three Strikemasters books, three Stormbirds books, two War Heaven books, and three Codename: Starman titles.

The official catalogue also includes Iron Star, his UFO-related books, and other work outside those principal series. No later Wingman installment beyond War of Dragons is listed as of September 2026.

Questions about Mack Maloney reading order

What is the first Wingman book?

Wingman, first published in 1987, introduces Hawk Hunter and the devastated America that drives the series.

How many Wingman books are there?

Mack Maloney’s official site lists twenty-two, ending with War of Dragons.

Do Wingman books need to be read in order?

Yes. Hawk Hunter’s world changes dramatically across the series, and later books assume the outcome of earlier wars and alliances.

Is Starhawk connected to Wingman?

It is best treated as a separate six-book military science-fiction series rather than inserted into the main Wingman sequence.

How many Chopper Ops books are there?

Three: Chopper Ops, Zero Red, and Shuttle Down.

Does Mack Maloney write nonfiction?

Yes. His UFO and paranormal books include UFOs in Wartime, Beyond Area 51, and Mack Maloney’s Haunted Universe.

The cleanest reading plan

Read Wingman straight through from Wingman to War of Dragons if Hawk Hunter is your main interest. The series changes substantially over time, so publication order preserves its evolution from post-apocalyptic air combat into increasingly speculative military science fiction.

Keep Starhawk, Chopper Ops, Pirate Hunters, Super Hawks, Strikemasters, Stormbirds, War Heaven, and Codename: Starman in their own numbered sequences. Maloney’s UFO books and Iron Star can then be read separately without affecting any fictional continuity.