Charles Martin Books in Order

This reading order guide provides the complete list of Charles Martin books in order, from the very first to the latest, so you won’t miss anything!

Charles Martin is a bestselling author and a gifted storyteller who deeply resonates with readers on a sensitive, emotional level. From an early age, he had a passion for words and stories, which he pursued through academics, achieving a B.A. in English at Florida State University, followed by an M.A. in Journalism and Ph.D. in Communication from Regent University. He even spent a brief period teaching English at the university level, but only until he discovered a greater passion—writing novels.

Charles resides in Jacksonville, Florida, where he lives with his wife Christy, whom he married in 1993, and their three sons. Family life is of the utmost priority for him, and whether he is fishing with his boys, coaching T-ball, praying at bedtime, or gardening with his wife, his dedication is apparent. He often remarks about having known and loved Christy for over half his life, and that heartfelt devotion is reflected in the fictional relationships he pens in his novels.

Aside from writing, Charles has a surprisingly active lifestyle. He loves martial arts, practicing Fight Fit and Tae Kwon Do, and even earning a black belt in ‘12. It’s funny to hear him talk about Tae Kwon Do because he considers himself inflexible. His passion for the the martial arts really shines through, perhaps even more than the enjoyment his sons get from it, who happen to outperform him.

Around the turn of the century, Charles Martin’s career took a turn when he decided to move away from business towards his passion of writing it into a career. The inspiring novel he published in ‘04, THe Dead Don’t Dance, quickly became a favorite for a many and it’s portrayal of moving on and healing in a small southern town resonated with a multitude of readers. Since then he has published several novels, each exploring the themes of love, redemption, and the quiet resilient faith in one’s self it takes to keep moving through this life.

He draws on his Southern upbringing, incorporating real, flawed, but hopeful characters into his landscapes. Both readers and critics have made comparisons of his work to that of Nicholas Sparks and even William Faulkner. Unlike those, however, Charles does not write to be compared. Instead, he writes to make sense of the world, his way.

Martin has also dabbled into nonfiction, writing a biography on Frist Bill, a heart transplant surgeon and a Senate Majority Leader, which later inspired his novel When Crickets Cry. Furthermore, he self-published a personal ebook River Road, and this allowed readers a glimpse into the process behind his fiction.

For all In all, Martin’s faith and family keep him grounded. He once expressed the sentiment that picking a favorite book out of the myriad he has read, out of all of the choices is akin to picking a favorite child; to put it simply, impossible. Often, like C.S. Lewis, he receives a glimpse of a scene or character before the story fully manifests. The process begins with a flash of something real, something exquisite, and he is off from there. For example, a little girl in a yellow dress.

Reading a Martin novel is akin to stepping behind the veil which separates the imagination from the real world, and the transition is one that is deeply personal. His characters love, grieve as well as forgive, and and fall, akin to how we all do. The harrowing depth is what elevates the book from story to an emotional experience that lingers long after the reader is done with the book.