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Michael Bennett Series Reading Order.

Quick Answer

Start Michael Bennett Series by James Patterson with "Step On A Crack", then follow the publication sequence. This order preserves the intended narrative twists and world-building progression.

The adventures of NYPD Detective Michael Bennett, a father of ten adopted children.

Reader's Guide

This series spans 16 main titles released between 2007 and 2021. For the best experience, we recommend following the Publication Order below to preserve key plot reveals.

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Official Verdict

Short Answer:
Start with "Step On A Crack"

To experience the narrative as intended, read the main sequence in Publication Order.Ignore novellas and side stories until you finish the first 3 core novels. This resolves all timeline confusion and preserves every major twist.

Community Consensus

Medium Debate

"The comments do not discuss the 'Michael Bennett Series.' They heavily debate the reading order for the 'Elric of Melniboné' series (Michael Moorcock). The consensus is strongly against reading the series in strict chronological order (such as the Gollancz editions) for a first read. Instead, readers recommend sticking to the classic narrative or initial publication order for the core saga, reserving later-written prequels/inserts (like 'Fortress of the Pearl' and 'Moonbeam Roads') until after the main storyline is complete."

Key Reddit Advice

Start with 'Elric of Melnibone.' Follow the core narrative series progression (classic or publication order) through 'Stormbringer,' and read later-published insertions afterward.

Why This Order Is Confusing

Many reading lists for Michael Bennett Series conflict because early publishers often labeled short story collections as standalone novels, or rearranged internal chronologies for marketing. This guide follows original author intent and narrative continuity to settle the debate for good.

Can I skip the short stories?

Technically yes, but we strongly advise against it for Michael Bennett Series. The shorter volumes often establish the core character motivations and world-building that the main saga assumes you already know.

I watched the show/movie first — where should I start?

Ignore the screen adaptations' timeline. Start with "Step On A Crack" to see the original depth of the world. The books offer a significantly different (and usually more complete) experience than the on-screen versions.

Why do people disagree on the order?

Disagreement usually stems from the conflict between purely chronological order and publication order. Most long-term fans recommend publication order to preserve the emotional arc and mystery reveals.

Curator's Strategy

Recommended Reading Order Strategy

The authoritative way to read the "Michael Bennett Series" series is in Publication Order. Start with the first published book. It's the way the author intended the world to be revealed.This ensures you experience character reveals and plot twists exactly as the author intended.

Complete Series Reading Order

Publication Reading Order15 Titles

Why Publication Order?We recommend reading in Publication Order (default). This follows the author's release schedule, ensuring you experience plot twists, character growth, and world-building exactly as intended without spoilers.
Best Start Here
1

With the unexpected death of a beloved former first lady, the nation falls into mourning as the world's most powerful people gather in New York for her funeral. Then the inconceivable occurs. Billionaires, politicians, and superstars of every kind are suddenly trapped by one man's brilliant and ruthless scenario. Pulled into the fray, Detective Michael Bennett-father of ten-faces the most sinister challenge of his career: a criminal who kills without hesitation and counters everything the NYPD and FBI throw at him with impunity. As New York descends into chaos, Bennett learns that the great love of his life, his wife, is battling a terrible disease and he may have to raise their children alone. Now with the entire world watching and the tension reaching a boiling point, Bennett must quickly find a way out-or become responsible for the greatest debacle in history.

2

Missing

Pub: 2021

Plot details hidden until you finish "Step On A Crack".

Craig Gisto has promised Eliza Moss that his elite team at Private Sydney will investigate the disappearance of her father. After all, as CEO of a high-profile research company, Eric Moss shouldn't be difficult to find--except it's not just the man who's gone missing. Despite the most advanced technology at their disposal, they find every trace of him has vanished, too. And they aren't the only ones on the hunt.

3

Worst Case

Pub: 2023

Plot details hidden until you finish "Missing".

NATIONAL BESTSELLERA former Green Beret’s indispensable course in preparedness, teaching the keys to building a resilient and fearless lifeMost people think that being prepared for catastrophe means stocking up on MREs and building a bunker in their backyard, but this approach leaves you vulnerable in the real world of car accidents, natural disasters, grid failures, and global pandemics. Prepared overturns today’s paranoid survival wisdom and teaches the foundational skills of preparedness that will not only help you build situational awareness and achieve greater mobility but that will also help you build resilient mental habits.After 20 years in the US Army, Special Forces, and as a government contractor for the CIA, Mike Glover has trained thousands of men, women, and families in the art and science of survival. In this book, he shows you how to:  • Harness your brain chemistry to eliminate the freeze response and increase your stress tolerance during a crisis • Fortify your home by learning how to use and store essential foods, water, supplies, first aid, and ammunition in your everyday life • Equip your vehicle with sufficient first aid, so you can respond to injuries even before an ambulance arrives—dramatically increasing your chance of survival in an accidentDrawing on Glover’s most dire experiences in combat and in the real world, this book shows you how almost no disaster is more powerful than someone who is truly prepared. For Glover, surviving catastrophe is not about fearing crisis, but creating more resilient habits so that you can be ready for whatever comes your way.

4

Plot details hidden until you finish "Worst Case".

5

Plot details hidden until you finish "Tick Tock (Michael Bennett 4)".

Police officers shot Detective Michael Bennett arrests an infamous Mexican crime lord in a deadly chase that leaves Bennett's lifelong friend Hughie McDonough dead. From jail, the prisoner vows to rain epic violence down upon New York City-and to get revenge on Michael Bennett.Judges murderedTo escape the chaos, Bennett takes his ten kids and their beautiful nanny, Mary Catherine, on a much-needed vacation to his family's cabin near Newburgh, New York. But instead of the calm and happy town he remembers from growing up, they step into a nightmare worse than they could have ever imagined. Newburgh is an inferno of warring gangs, and there's little the police-or Bennett-can do to keep the children safe.Target: Michael BennettAs violence overwhelms the state, Bennett is torn between protecting his hometown and saving New York City. A partner in his investigations, federal prosecutor Tara McLellan, brings him new weapons for the battle-and an attraction that endangers his relationship with Mary Catherine. A no-holds-barred, pedal-to-the-floor, action-packed novel, I, Michael Bennett is James Patterson at his most personal and most thrilling best.

6

Burn

Pub: 2014

Plot details hidden until you finish "I, Michael Bennett".

Detective Michael Bennett finally returns to New York City—and to the most unsettling, horrific case of his career in this #1 New York Times bestseller. At last, Detective Michael Bennett and his family are coming home to New York City. Thanks to Bennett, the ruthless crime lord whose vengeful mission forced the Bennett family into hiding has been brought down for good. Back in the city that never sleeps, Bennett takes over a chaotic Outreach Squad in Harlem, where he receives an unusual call: a man claims to have seen a group of well-dressed men holding a bizarre party in a condemned building. With no clear crime or evidence, Bennett dismisses the report. But when a charred body is found in that very same building, he is forced to take the demented caller seriously—and is drawn into an underground criminal world of terrifying depravity.

7

Alert

Pub: 2015

Plot details hidden until you finish "Burn".

In this New York Times bestseller, Detective Michael Bennett must race against time to save New York City from chaos by tracking down the source of two mysterious attacks. New Yorkers aren't easily intimidated, but someone is doing their best to scare them, badly: why? After two inexplicable high-tech attacks, the city that never sleeps is on edge. Detective Michael Bennett, along with his old pal, the FBI's Emily Parker, have to catch the shadowy criminals who claim responsibility—but they're as good at concealing their identities as they are at wreaking havoc. In the wake of a shocking assassination, Bennett begins to suspect that these mysterious events are just the prelude to the biggest threat of all. Soon he's racing against the clock, and against the most destructive enemy he's faced yet, to save his beloved city—before everyone's worst nightmare becomes a reality.

8

Plot details hidden until you finish "Alert".

When a man falls to his death, it looks like a suicide-but Detective Michael Bennett finds evidence suggesting otherwise. A man plunges to his death from the roof of a Manhattan hotel. It looks like a suicide, except the victim has someone else's fingerprints and $10,000 in cash. Enter Detective Michael Bennett. BookShots Lightning-fast stories by James Patterson Novels you can devour in a few hours Impossible to stop reading All original content from James Patterson

9

Blind Side

Pub: 2007

Plot details hidden until you finish "Chase: A BookShot".

It's not a jock book. It's not a sociology book. It's a storybook about modern society, ancient virtues, and the power of love, money and talent to do a little good." -- Jay Hancock, Baltimore Sun One day Michael Oher will be among the most highly paid athletes in the National Football League. When we first meet him, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side. This paperback edition contains a brand-new 2007 afterword.

10

Manhunt

Pub: 2017Optional

Plot details hidden until you finish "Blind Side".

Michael Bennett, be grateful you're alive. Someone attacked the Thanksgiving Day Parade directly in front of Michael Bennett and his family. The television news called it "holiday terror"--Michael Bennett calls it personal. The hunt is on.

11

Haunted

Pub: 1997

Plot details hidden until you finish "Manhunt".

"Detective Michael Bennett is ready for a vacation after a series of crises push him, and his family, to the brink. He settles on an idyllic, small town in the beautiful Maine woods, a recommendation from a former colleague. But just when Bennett thinks he can relax, he gets pulled into a case that has shocked the tight-knit community. Kids are disappearing left and right with no explanation -- until several bodies turn up in the woods. As Bennett investigates, he discovers that the seemingly perfect town is reeling from a deadly addiction, and the violence is about to reach a fever pitch. Far from the city streets he knows so well, Bennett faces off against a horrific evil next door that threatens a town, the law, and the family that Bennett loves above all else." -- From Amazon.com.

12

Obsessed

Pub: 2023

Plot details hidden until you finish "Haunted".

A superstitious killer targeting young women in every borough of New York City has Detective Michael Bennett facing his most terrifying case since Step on a Crack. Aboard a police boat on the Hudson River, Detective Michael Bennett casts a wary eye into the cold, rough water. NYPD is searching for a murder victim--a young college student. They find her tossed in the dark waves, dressed for a night out in a sparkly black gown. The gruesome sight fills Bennett with the dread only a father could fathom. As the obsessive killer extends his spree, a pattern emerges. One that Bennett's eldest daughter fits to a disturbing degree. Now NYPD's top detective must lure the murderer into the light of day before the next deadly strike lands closer to home than Bennett could ever bear--as a parent, or as a protector.

13

Crosshairs

Pub: 2024

Plot details hidden until you finish "Obsessed".

When a sniper targets Washington D.C., Alex Cross must use every investigative tool to find the shooter before they unleash catastrophic political violence.

14

Triple Threat

Pub: 2022

Plot details hidden until you finish "Crosshairs".

Alex Cross faces an unlikely killer, humans evolve into a sinister new species, and a handsome thief faces his deadly ex-partner in this collection of three pulse-pounding thrillers. Cross Kill: Along Came a Spider killer Gary Soneji has been dead for over ten years. Alex Cross watched him die. But today, Cross sees him gun down his partner. Is Soneji alive? A ghost? Or something even more sinister? Nothing will prepare you for the wicked truth. Zoo 2 (with Max DiLallo): James Patterson's Zoo was just the beginning. The planet is still under violent siege by ferocious animals. Humans are their desperate prey. Except some humans are evolving, mutating into a savage species that could save civilization -- or end it. The Pretender (with Andrew Bourelle): Logan Bishop is a handsome thief living off a stash of stolen diamonds. But when his murderous ex-partner tracks him down, Logan must find a way to turn the tables -- or lose the only woman who can handle the truth. BookShots Lightning-fast stories by James Patterson Novels you can devour in a few hours Impossible to stop reading All original content from James Patterson

15

The Russian

Pub: 2021

Plot details hidden until you finish "Triple Threat".

A killer crashes Detective Michael Bennett's wedding. A series of gruesome murders in New York City has Michael Bennett angry -- but when he identifies similar cases in Atlanta and San Francisco, his feelings escalate into all-out alarm. All of the victims are young women. And each one is killed in a horrifyingly distinct fashion. In the midst of such devastating loss of life, Bennett's longtime love, Mary Catherine, is soon to become his bride. As Bennett toils to connect the cases, the killer strikes again, adding to his criminal signature an ability to evade detection. Just when New York's top investigator should be donning his wedding finery, he may be stepping into a diabolical trap.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to skip books in the Michael Bennett Series series?

We recommend ignoring novellas and short stories until you finish the core sequence. However, main sequence novels should never be skipped as they contain critical character development and plot progression.

What is the best order to read Michael Bennett Series?

The final answer for the best experience is to start with "Step On A Crack" and proceed in publication order. This sequence preserves character developments and plot reveals exactly as James Patterson intended.

Can I read Michael Bennett Series books in any order?

No. The main narrative is strictly sequential. Skipping volumes or reading out of order will lead to significant plot spoilers and confusion regarding character arcs.

Are there spin-offs or companion books?

Yes, the Michael Bennett Series universe includes several companion works. These are marked as 'Optional' in our guide and can be read at any time without disrupting the main storyline.