Order of John Connolly Books

When the stars aligned on May 31, 1968, in Dublin, Ireland, they delivered to the literary world a future master of the macabre: John Connolly. In a world already rich with mystery and suspense, Connolly didn’t just want to play the game—he wanted to bend its rules, shadow its edges, and whisper his own strange melodies into the ear of every reader willing to listen.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Connolly’s route to international fame wasn’t paved in the traditional fashion. Before he was the acclaimed creator of the chilling Charlie Parker series, he was, quite simply, a journalist—hustling at The Irish Times, armed with nothing but curiosity and an unsettling ability to find the darkness lurking beneath every headline. But journalism couldn't hold him for long. The siren call of fiction—wild, ungoverned fiction—was too loud to ignore.

Connolly pursued education with almost the same ferocity he would later bring to his writing. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, one of Ireland’s most prestigious institutions, where he studied English. As if mastering the literary canon wasn’t enough, he later attended Dublin City University, earning a Master’s degree in journalism. These twin forces—deep literary understanding and a reporter’s unflinching eye—would combine to fuel the novels that would make him a global phenomenon.

The birth of Every Dead Thing in 1999 didn’t just mark Connolly’s entry into the literary world—it detonated it. Readers were stunned. Critics were confused. Was this crime? Was this horror? Was this poetry disguised as pulp fiction? The truth is that John Connolly's books defy easy categorization. His writing is haunted by grief, punctuated by violence, and elevated by a lyrical style that often reads like a prayer uttered too late. He created Charlie Parker, the tormented former NYPD detective whose battles with evil—both human and supernatural—redefined what a thriller could dare to be.

John Connolly didn't stop at one brilliant series. His career sprawls across genres. He charmed younger audiences with The Book of Lost Things, a haunting fairy-tale fantasy about grief and survival. He explored chilling standalone horror with Bad Men and even leaned into the whimsical with the delightfully absurd Samuel Johnson vs. The Devil trilogy. If you're hoping to pigeonhole him, think again: Connolly’s imagination is a creature that refuses to be caged.

And yet, despite the awards (Shamus, Edgar nominations, and beyond), the loyal international fanbase, and the critical acclaim, Connolly remains a somewhat reclusive figure—more comfortable in the shadows than in the blinding spotlight. He once said he doesn't believe in the traditional "happy ending," because real life rarely hands them out so neatly. His readers know: when you open a John Connolly novel, you’re stepping into a universe where beauty and horror waltz together—and no one promises you a safe return.

As of today, John Connolly is very much alive and still crafting his layered, eerie worlds from his home in Dublin. No death date needed yet—thankfully. But the clock ticks. The shadows lengthen. And you can't help but wonder: what chilling masterpiece is he dreaming up next?

One thing’s for sure:
If you dare to read John Connolly, you’ll never look at mystery, horror, or even the human soul in quite the same way again.
The monsters he writes about may not just be fictional. Some of them live inside us all.