On this page

This page lists novels by T. Jefferson Parker.

The cover images are, when possible, the first US edition and a recent paperback or digital edition.

- novels
- non-fiction
- collaborative novels
- books edited

Laguna Heat

T. Jefferson Parker

1985

"Laguna... Where every day the sun makes a promise the nighttime breaks, while the super-rich live out expensive fantasies in posh beach houses and drown their memories in Cuervo Gold margaritas... Laguna... Where trouble has swept in like a Santa Ana wind, blowing the cover off a world of torture, murder and blood-red secrets. Laguna... Where a crazed killer has turned paradise into a Disneyland of depraved violance--with a fiery vengeance--and where homicide cop Tom Shephard unravels a grisly mystery that reaches back across forty years of sordid sex, blackmail, and suicide into the dark corners of his own past, and sweats out a deadly truth in the sweltering."

Little Saigon

T. Jefferson Parker

1987

"For those who settled in Little Saigon, the war never really ended. The latest victim of the continuing struggle is Li Frye, a popular singer whose songs of hope and home have made her a heroine to her people. Ripped from the stage by masked gunmen, she has vanished into the dark alleys of Little Saigon, where outsiders are met with suspicion and a stony silence as impenetrable as the steaming jungles of Vietnam. Local surfing legend turned reporter Chuck Frye knows what it means to be an outsider. The black sheep of his wealthy family, Chuck is more at home on a longboard than in a boardroom. But Li is his sister-in-law, and he cannot sit back and let his family or the clueless police investigate the case alone. What Chuck cannot know is that he stands upon the crest of a deadly wave, a swirling vortex of corruption and violence that reaches to the highest levels of the United States intelligence community. And even as he comes closer to the truth, he draws nearer to a terrible secret that many would kill to keep."

Pacific Beat

T. Jefferson Parker

1991

"Ex-cop Jim Weir thought he'd seen it all during his years on the force. That is until he saw the body of his sister Annie, brutally used by a monster in human form, then carelessly discarded. He'd never seen such grief ravage the face of his friend and brother-in-law Ray Cruz, a good cop on the Newport Beach Police Department. When Weir learns that the only witness swore the killer made his escape in a Newport Beach squad car, his disbelief turns to confusion and outrage. Now the anguished Weir is on the killer's trail, looking for answers among his former colleagues, but he's going up against a solid wall of silent blue. And just out of sight, a fractured shadow of a man watches Jim's progress with twisted amusement as he waits for his time to come."

Summer of Fear

T. Jefferson Parker

1993

"Russ Monroe is a successful true-crime writer living in Southern California with his wife, who is battling cancer. When a series of very sinister and very similar murders follow one another in Orange County, Monroe senses true material at his doorstep, even though the cops are trying to deny that a serial killer is on the loose. But the next killing involves someone Russ knows intimately, and he begins his own investigation, which leads him back into his city, his family, his home. He finds that the truth may set you free, but it can also kill the ones you love."

The Triggerman's Dance

T. Jefferson Parker

1996

"When Rebecca Harris is murdered in front of the newspaper offices of the "Orange County Journal," she leaves behind friends and co-workers shocked by her violent death. But she also leaves behind two rivals who were in love with her -- passionate Joshua Weinstein, and FBI agent she was engaged to marry, and John Menden, the quiet newsman who was her lover. These men knew of each other's part in Rebecca's complex life, each hoping to be ultimately chosen by her. Weinstein solves the murder but he can't get the evidence to make an arrest -- the only person who can do that is Menden. Working together in an uneasy alliance, the two men join forces to bring down Rebecca's killer. Weinstein, the lawman, guides Menden, the journalist into a powerful paramilitary organization where his every move will be scrutinized and vetted by dangerous men, and where his body and soul will be tested in the extreme."

Where Serpents Lie

T. Jefferson Parker

1998

"Terry Naughton has dedicated his life to protecting the powerless. As the founder of the Orange County Crimes Against Youth unit, he pursues the men and women who kidnap, corrupt, and murder children. In the two years since his five-year-old son died, Naughton has fought to put his life back together. But terror is about to strike the families of Orange County, and ready or not, Naughton is the only man who can stop it. The kidnapper calls himself the Horridus, and he targets six-year-old girls. He releases his first two captives unharmed, but the next girl he abducts will not be so lucky. As his courage grows, his crimes become more depraved, until the Horridus becomes the most evil scourge Southern California has ever known. For Naughton, the battle for which he has spent his whole life preparing is about to begin."

The Blue Hour

T. Jefferson Parker

1999

A Merci Rayborn novel.

"After three decades in homicide, Tim Hess hangs up his gun. But retirement doesn't sit well with the veteran detective, and a string of grisly murders in Southern California calls him back to the job. The papers are calling the killer 'The Purse Snatcher,' because of his affinity for kidnapping women with designer bags, but the playful nickname doesn't reflect the horror of the crime scenes he leaves behind. He dumps their shredded purses in the woods, surrounded by blood-soaked dirt and a few scraps of flesh. The victims' fates remain gruesome yet unknown. Hess's partner is Merci Rayborn, a second-generation cop whose intense ambition has won her no friends in the department. As they chase the madman who is terrorizing the Californian suburbs, Hess finds himself falling in love. But before he can pursue his new feelings, there is a killer to be caught, and a partner to protect from the line of fire."

Red Light

T. Jefferson Parker

2000

A Merci Rayborn novel.

"Aubrey Whittaker is nineteen, God-fearing, and good at her job. The men of Orange County love the statuesque beauty -- at least, the men who can afford her. She is watching an evangelist preach on television, just finished with her last date of the night, when she hears a knock at the door. Death waits on the other side. It has been two years since ambitious young detective Merci Rayborn made the worst mistake of her life, getting her partner killed and leaving her unborn son without a father. As she tries to put herself back together, she starts dating Mike McNally, a well-respected and religiously devout cop. But when McNally becomes a suspect in the dead prostitute's murder, Merci is forced to choose between love and justice. And to finish grieving for her murdered lover, she may have to put her newest one behind bars."

Silent Joe

T. Jefferson Parker

2001

"With the horrible scars of a childhood tragedy forever burned across his face, Joe Trona is scared in more ways than one. Rescued from an orphanage by powerful California politician Will Trona, Joe grows up to be Will's right hand man -- gopher, driver, confidante, bodyguard, fixer. When Will Trona is gunned down in a dark alley in a hail of bullets, quiet, obedient Joe vows revenge. Looking through his father's life Joe finds his girlfriends, his deals, his friends and enemies. And Joe realizes how many secrets his father possessed and how many people he had the power to harm. But two leads come to the surface of his private investigation -- a kidnapped girl being held by her own psychotic brother, and two rival street gangs who have joined forces. The truths he learns about his father's murder are shocking. And the final truth he hears about what happened to his own face when he was just a baby in a crib changes his life forever -- and once again."

Black Water

T. Jefferson Parker

2002

A Merci Rayborn novel.

"Where Sergeant Merci Rayborn is concerned, opinion within the sheriff's department is sharply divided. To some she's a hero for exposing the biggest scandal in the department's history and bringing down the former sheriff. Others cannot forget that, in making her case, she was prepared to implicate her own father and arrest her lover, both well-respected police officers. Just as the hostility is beginning to die down, a young deputy named Archie Wildcraft is found shot in the head outside his home, next to the gun that has just been used to kill his wife. The evidence points to murder-suicide, and Wildcraft, his memory impaired by the bullet lodged in his brain, can offer nothing to contradict this. But with the arrest of one innocent deputy still plaguing her conscience, Merci is determined to defy the district attorney and pursue the unlikely scenario that Deputy Wildcraft has been framed. Wildcraft, in the meantime, is pursuing his own agenda."

Cold Pursuit

T. Jefferson Parker

2003

"California Homicide Detective Tom McMichael has every good reason to pass on the investigation of slain city patriarch Pete Braga. After all, it was former mayor and self-made millionaire Braga who killed Tom's grandfather in a dispute over money--and Tom's own father who, allegedly, sought revenge by savagely beating Braga's son into imbecility. But there are others who hated the old man as well. And McMichael is a good cop determined to perform his duty to the best of his abilities--despite his growing feelings for the beautiful nurse who is the prime suspect in the brutal bludgeoning death . . . and despite a twisting trail that is leading him into deadly, dark, and very private places where he dearly wishes not to go."

California Girl

T. Jefferson Parker

2004

"The Orange County, California, that the Becker brothers knew as boys is no more—unrecognizably altered since the afternoon in 1954 when Nick, Clay, David, and Andy rumbled with the lowlife Vonns, while five-year-old Janelle Vonn watched from the sidelines. The new decade has brought about the end of the orange groves and the birth of suburban sprawl. It is the era of Johnson, hippies, John Birchers, and LSD. Clay becomes a casualty of a far-off jungle war. Nick becomes a cop, Andy a reporter, David a minister. And the decapitated corpse of teenage beauty queen Janelle Vonn is discovered in an abandoned warehouse. A hideous crime has touched the Beckers in ways that none of them could have anticipated, setting three brothers on a dangerous collision course that will change their family—and their world—forever."

The Fallen

T. Jefferson Parker

2006

"What if you could tell someone was a killer just by looking at them? Detective Robbie Brownlaw can. A six-storey plunge from a burning hotel leaves him with the usual broken bones – and something different. Synesthesia. The ability to see words and emotions as colours makes Robbie a human lie detector. It's a condition that might have helped Garrett Asplundth. Hired to look into rumours surrounding a certain madam's Little Black Book, Garrett found a lot more than the usual round of losers and sad husbands. But the dirt came at a high price. Now he's dead and it's only when Robbie gets hold of the book that he finds out just why Garrett was so curious – and why others will kill to get it back."

Storm Runners

T. Jefferson Parker

2007

"Matt Stromsoe was in high school when he met the boy who would someday murder his wife and son . . . Once Stromsoe was best friends with brilliant, unpredictable Mike Tavarez. That was before Matt joined the San Diego P.D. and Mike left Harvard to run La Eme, the brutal Mexican Mafia, before a vengeance-obsessed Tavarez blew away everything Stromsoe loved, leaving him physically and emotionally broken. Years later, Mike Tavarez is in prison for life, controlling his vast criminal empire from within a maximum security facility. Matt Stromsoe has rebounded from rock bottom to become a private investigator--and he's starting to feel something for Frankie Hatfield, the beautiful local TV weather forecaster he's been hired to protect from a stalker. But powerful, dangerous people are becoming too interested in Frankie's remarkable experiments with rain. And bars alone won't keep Tavarez from his ultimate goal: to make Matt Stromsoe suffer the unendurable torment of losing everything . . . again."

L.A. Outlaws

T. Jefferson Parker

2008

A Charlie Hood novel.

"Los Angeles is gripped by the exploding celebrity of Allison Murietta, her real identity unknown, a modern-day Jesse James with the compulsion to steal beautiful things, the vanity to invite the media along, and the conscience to donate much of her bounty to charity. Nobody ever gets hurt - until a job ends with ten gangsters lying dead and a half-million dollars worth of glittering diamonds missing. Rookie Deputy Charlie Hood discovers the bodies, and he prevents an eyewitness - a schoolteacher named Suzanne Jones - from leaving the scene in her Corvette. Drawn to a mysterious charisma that has him off-balance from the beginning, Hood begins an intense affair with Suzanne. As the media frenzy surrounding Allison’s exploits swells to a fever pitch and the Southland’s most notorious killer sets out after her, a glimmer of recognition blooms in Hood, forcing him to choose between a deeply held sense of honor and a passion that threatens to consume him completely."

The Renegades

T. Jefferson Parker

2009

A Charlie Hood novel.

"Some say that outlaws no longer exist, that the true spirit of the American West died with the legendary bandits of pulp novels and bedtime stories. Charlie Hood knows that nothing could be further from the truth. These days he patrols vast stretches of the new American West, not on horseback but in his cruiser. The outlaws may not carry six-shooters, but they're strapped all the same. Along the desolate and dusty roads of this new frontier, Hood prefers to ride alone, and he prefers to ride at night. At night, his headlights illuminate only the patch of pavement ahead of him: all the better to hide from the demons and the dead outlaws receding in his rearview mirror. But he doesn't always get what he wants; certainly not when he's assigned a partner named Terry Laws, a county veteran who everyone calls Mr. Wonderful. And not when Laws is shot dead in the passenger seat and Hood is left to bear witness by someone who knew that Mr. Wonderful didn't always live up to his nickname. As he sets out to find the gunman, Hood knows one thing for sure: The West is a state of mind, one where the bad guys sometimes wear white hats and the good guys seek justice in whatever shade of gray they can find it."

Iron River

T. Jefferson Parker

2010

A Charlie Hood novel.

"Along the U.S./Mexico border, a man named Finnegan wakes up in the border-town of Buenavista after a hit and run-eerily aware of events he should know nothing about, $90,000 richer, and with Charlie Hood's name and address in his wallet. Meanwhile when tracking the flow of illegal guns into Mexico, Hood's team accidentally kills the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Now, Hood must work to grasp the enigmatic forces fighting for control of Buenavista- forces that circle back to Finnegan, and to Armenta's unstoppable plan for brutal vengeance."

The Border Lords

T. Jefferson Parker

2011

A Charlie Hood novel.

"ATF agent Sean Ozburn is deep undercover supporting the sicarios of the Baja Cartel when he suddenly goes completely dark, his only communications being the haunting digital videos he sends to his desperately worried wife, Seliah. Charlie Hood must determine if Oz is simply chasing demons deeper undercover than anyone has ever gone, or whether his friend has suffered a permanent break with his mission and his moral compass. A crime novel of unprecedented scope and unrivaled storytelling ambition by one of our most treasured talents, The Border Lords revisits the fevered landscape of America's southern border- and confronts the unexplored depths of humanity's dark soul."

The Jaguar

T. Jefferson Parker

2012

A Charlie Hood novel.

"When Benjamin Armenta, leader of the powerful Gulf Cartel, kidnaps songwriter Erin McKenna, his demands are as unique as the jungle fortress in which Erin is imprisoned. She s ordered to compose a narcocorrido, a folk ballad that will romanticize Armenta as one of the greatest desperadoes in Mexican history. Allowed to wander the hallways of the castle with only a guitar and a mysterious old priest to keep her company, Erin must produce the loveliest song these men have ever heard. Or she ll be skinned alive. As Erin s music wafts through the jungle, it serves as a siren call to the two men who love her: lawman Charlie Hood and Erin s outlaw husband, Bradley Jones. They have the power to rescue her, but their long-simmering rivalry could very well compromise Erin s deliverance and cause the ending of a life-and-death ballad to be rewritten in blood."

The Famous and the Dead

T. Jefferson Parker

2013

A Charlie Hood novel.

"Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Charlie Hood is attached to the ATF, working undercover on the illegal arms trade that flows across the U.S.-Mexico border. The sparkle of the diamond fillings he wears in his left canine distracts his task force targets and is often the first step toward a long stay behind bars. Meanwhile, Bradley Jones—sheriff’s deputy, employee of the Baja Cartel, and son of the love of Charlie’s life—is expecting a son of his own. Bradley, supposedly descended from the famed Mexican outlaw Joaquin Murrieta, has reaped the rewards of his treachery, keeping a hoard of cash and jewelry in a secret lair on his property. Charlie knows Bradley’s secrets, all of them; the question is what he’ll do with the information. But he still has to contend with the devilish Mike Finnegan, who flits in and out of the lives of his friends, knows things he should not know, is seemingly immortal, and delights in the havoc he wreaks in the orbits of everyone he touches."

Full Measure

T. Jefferson Parker

2014

"Patrick Norris returns to rural California after serving with the US Army in Iraq. Fire has ravaged his home farm and it has all become too much for his parents and brother to manage. The country has changed though, notably after the mass killings of children in schools across the United States, invariably by lone gunmen, and a great tension exists in the people. Is there really a case for an even wider ownership of guns? Patrick's brother, Ted, hasn't had it easy in life. Health conditions have slowed him down and set him apart. Ted worships Patrick, and Patrick knows he has to be an example, but settling down to the country life cannot be easy after Iraq. When a child is mown down by an unknown driver suspicion takes over Fallbrook. There will be deaths before it is all resolved, perhaps many and perhaps the death of innocents."

Crazy Blood

T. Jefferson Parker

2016

"Three powerful and unusual women have central roles in this volatile family feud: Cynthia, bent on destroying Wylie; his mother Kathleen, determined to protect him; and April Holly, a beautiful celebrity snowboarder, on track to win Olympic Gold. But, as Wylie falls in love with April and they begin to imagine a life away from the violence that has shattered his family, history threatens to repeat itself and destroy them both. Combining exquisite writing with breathtaking scenes of high stakes skiing, T. Jefferson Parker's Crazy Blood is an unforgettable story of two brothers on a ruthless quest for supremacy."

The Room Of White Fire

T. Jefferson Parker

2017

"Roland Ford—once a cop, then a marine, now a private investigator—is good at finding people. But when he’s asked to locate an Air Force veteran who’s escaped from a mental institution, he realizes he’s been drawn into something deep and dark. What he doesn’t know is why a shroud of secrecy hangs over the disappearance of Clay Hickman—and why he’s getting a different story from everyone involved. In a flash, what began as just a job becomes a life-or-death obsession for Ford, pitting him against immensely powerful and treacherous people and forcing him to contend with chilling questions about truth, justice, and the American way."

In the Shadow of the Master

Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

Editor: Michael Connelly

2009

Includes a chapter by T. Jefferson Parker called On Edgar Allen Poe.

"In the Shadow of the Master is an exceptional collection of classic stories from the lord of literary darkness himself—the inimitable Edgar Allan Poe—accompanied by enthralling essays from twenty of his bestselling acolytes and admirers. With appreciations by Michael Connelly, Stephen King, Lisa Scottoline, Tess Gerritsen, Laura Lippman, Nelson DeMille, Lawrence Block, and thirteen others, In the Shadow of the Master is a must-have for thriller and mystery fans of all ages."

No Rest for the Dead

Editor: Andrew F. Gulli, Lamia Gulli

Simon & Schuster

2011

Contributing authors; Jeff Abbott, Lori Armstrong, Sandra Brown, Thomas Cook, Jeffery Deaver, Diana Gabaldon, Tess Gerritsen, Andrew F. Gulli, Peter James, J.A. Jance, Faye Kellerman, Raymond Khoury, John Lescroart, Jeff Lindsay, Gayle Lynds, Philip Margolin, Alexander McCall Smith, Michael Palmer, T. Jefferson Parker, Matthew Pearl, Kathy Reichs, Marcus Sakey, Jonathan Santlofer, Lisa Scottoline, R.L. Stine, Marcia Talley.

"When Christopher Thomas, a curator at San Francisco's Museum of Fine Arts, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in Berlin, his wife Rosemary Thomas is the prime suspect. Long suffering under Christopher's unfaithful ways, Rosemary is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, becomes convinced that the wrong person was put to death. Along with financier Tony Olsen, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth about what happened that fateful evening. Could it have been the ne'er do well brother Peter Hausen, interested in his sister's trust fund having got through his own; the curatorial assistant Justine Olengard, used and betrayed by Christopher; the artist Belle who turned down his advances only to see her career suffer a setback; or someone else all together?"

Hook, Line & Sinister: Mysteries to Reel You In

Editor: T. Jefferson Parker

2010

Contributing authors include; Ridley Pearson, Mark T. Sullivan, Michael Connelly, John Lescoart, Andrew Winer, Dana Stabenow, Don Winslow, Melodie Johnson Howe, James W. Hall, C.J. Box, Victoria Houston, William Beall, Spring Warren, Brian M. Wiprud, William Tapply, T. Jefferson Parker.

"Sixteen of America's favorite author-anglers spin tales of mystery and fishing in this collection. From the tragic to the comic with many stops in between, these stories reflect the authors' passions for both making stories and catching fish. Michael Connelly, Ridley Pearson, John Lescroart, Don Winslow, Melodie Johnson Howe, Victoria Houston, and others all share a mysterious affection for things piscatorial when not busy writing best-selling books. This collection of all-original short stories will entertain even the most discriminating mystery reader."