Below is the complete list of Joshua Hood books in order. For each series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Search and Destroy Books
Publication Order of Treadstone Books
with Robert Ludlum
Publication Order of Standalone Books
About Joshua Hood
Joshua Hood is an American military-thriller author whose fiction draws heavily on his experience as a combat infantryman and law-enforcement officer. Best known for the Search and Destroy novels and his continuation of Robert Ludlum’s Treadstone universe, Hood writes fast-moving stories built around covert operations, compromised intelligence agencies, battlefield loyalty, and protagonists forced to act without dependable institutional support. His background gives his action scenes an unusually practical emphasis on movement, weapons, communication, and the confusion that accompanies real violence.
Hood graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in English before following his brother into the United States Army. He spent five years with the 82nd Airborne Division, initially serving as a team leader in the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He deployed to Iraq from 2005 to 2006 and participated in combat operations supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
From 2007 to 2008, Hood served in Afghanistan as a squad leader with the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. His deployment placed him in direct conflict with Taliban forces, and he was decorated for valor for his actions during Operation Furious Pursuit. The experience later became central to his understanding of small-unit tactics, leadership under pressure, and the personal cost carried by soldiers after returning home.
Following his military service, Hood entered law enforcement in Tennessee. He worked with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department and became a sniper team leader on a full-time SWAT unit in the Memphis area. His assignments included operations involving federal agencies such as the FBI, ATF, DEA, Secret Service, and United States Marshals Service. He also received a lifesaving medal for helping save a civilian during an emergency. Hood eventually left law enforcement and became a full-time writer.
His debut novel, Clear by Fire, appeared in 2015 and introduced Mason Kane, a former covert operative marked for death after discovering that his own black-operations unit has become involved in murder and conspiracy. Hood continued Kane’s story in Warning Order, expanding the conflict to include the CIA, terrorism, and corruption reaching into the highest levels of the American government. Together, the novels form the Search and Destroy series and established Hood’s preference for damaged professionals who remain loyal to their comrades even after being betrayed by the institutions they served.
Hood later became one of the authors entrusted with expanding Robert Ludlum’s fictional world. Beginning with Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Resurrection, he created Adam Hayes, a former operative of the covert program responsible for transforming agents into highly effective assassins. Hood followed it with The Treadstone Exile, The Treadstone Transgression, and The Treadstone Rendition. The books preserve the conspiracy-driven momentum associated with Ludlum while incorporating Hood’s own knowledge of infantry tactics and contemporary intelligence operations.
His later fiction includes The Guardian, an action-adventure thriller about former Air Force pararescueman Travis Lane undertaking a dangerous rescue in the Congo Basin. Burn Out follows Jake Slade, an ex-convict training as a smokejumper whose encounter with a California wildfire draws him into murder, narcotics trafficking, and a cartel pursuit. These novels broaden Hood’s settings beyond conventional military operations without abandoning his interest in specialized skills and men seeking redemption through dangerous service.
Hood’s writing is direct, physical, and oriented toward momentum, but its emotional center is usually loyalty. His protagonists may distrust governments, commanders, and official explanations, yet they retain a powerful commitment to teammates, family members, and civilians placed in danger. He lives in Collierville, Tennessee, with his wife and children, writing thrillers informed by the worlds of soldiers and police officers he once inhabited.