Gideon Crew Books in Order

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

About the Gideon Crew Series

The Gideon Crew series is a thrill ride written by the bestselling duo Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Known for their great characters and plots, Preston and Child introduce us to a new kind of hero in Gideon Crew — a scientist, a thief, a man driven by revenge, survival and justice. The series starts with Gideon’s Sword, published in 2011, and pulls us into a high stakes world of conspiracy, espionage and deadly secrets.

What sets the Gideon Crew series apart is the main character — Gideon himself. He’s not your typical action hero. At first glance he’s a respected physicist at the famous Los Alamos National Laboratory. But behind his quiet academic life is a painful past and a hidden talent for deception. When he was twelve his father died — not in an accident but in what would later be revealed as a murder. This traumatic event becomes the fuel for Gideon’s lifelong mission: to uncover the truth and make those responsible pay.

In Gideon’s Sword we see this mission take shape. After years of planning, learning and hiding in plain sight Gideon finally has the evidence he needs to bring down the man who killed his father — General Tucker. It’s a great start to the series, full of twists and tension. But what happens when the revenge you’ve been planning your whole life is complete? What comes next?

That’s the question Gideon faces. Just when he thinks his journey might be over he’s recruited by a shadowy organization called Effective Engineering Solutions led by the enigmatic Eli Glinn. They see Gideon’s unique mix of skills — science, disguise, trickery — as a rare asset. His new mission is more dangerous than anything he’s done before: stop a Chinese scientist from defecting with classified weapon technology. The stakes are high and so is the risk. Gideon must outsmart enemies who are always one step ahead and sometimes even question who he’s really working for.

In the second book, Gideon’s Corpse, things get even crazier. Gideon is ready to get out of this world of lies and danger, but life won’t let him go that easy. He’s hit with some shocking news — he might only have months to live due to a brain aneurysm. At the same time, he’s pulled into another crisis: a potential nuclear terrorist attack. When a former colleague takes hostages in New York, Gideon jumps in to help, but what he finds is a terrifying web of secrets. Suddenly he’s not just trying to save lives — he’s trying to clear his own name as evidence starts to point to him as the suspect.

Teaming up with FBI agent Stone Fordyce and the enigmatic Alida Blaine, Gideon has to race against time to find the truth. But the deeper he digs the darker the secrets get. What starts as a bomb hunt turns into something much worse — a bioterrorist threat that could kill millions. As Gideon follows the clues he uncovers a file titled Operation Corpse that outlines a plan to release smallpox into the population. What was fiction is about to become reality.

Throughout the series you’ll be taken on a wild ride through cities, labs, hidden government agencies and global threats. Gideon is a complex character — intelligent, flawed and human. He’s not a superhero but he’s determined and that makes him very compelling. He lies, he steals, he fights — but always for a reason. And even when the odds are against him he doesn’t give up.

If you like action packed thrillers with science, mystery and morally gray heroes the Gideon Crew series should be on your reading list. It’s the kind of series that keeps you guessing until the very last page. Each book builds on the last but is also a complete adventure so you can jump in and get hooked. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have created a world where nothing is as it seems — and neither is Gideon Crew.