Below is the complete list of Ryan Steck books in order. For each series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Matthew Redd Thriller Books
Publication Order of Chase Burke Books
Publication Order of Alexander Hawke Books
About Ryan Steck
Ryan Steck is an American thriller novelist, editor, and critic whose career developed from close engagement with contemporary mystery and suspense fiction. Before publishing his own novels, he became widely known as the founder and editor-in-chief of The Real Book Spy, a site devoted to thriller news, reviews, interviews, and forthcoming releases. His years covering the genre and working privately with writers as a freelance editor gave him an unusually detailed view of series construction, pacing, character development, and the expectations surrounding modern action fiction.
Steck originally planned to become a sportswriter and began his professional writing life covering sports. His direction changed after he was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult and was encouraged to read extensively. Discovering Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp novels helped turn reading into both a discipline and a passion. He began discussing thrillers online, moved from sports coverage into book criticism, and launched The Real Book Spy in 2015. The site grew into a prominent specialist outlet, while Steck also worked as a developmental editor and “book doctor” for established and emerging authors.
His debut novel, Fields of Fire, introduced Matthew Redd, a former Marine Raider who returns to Montana after his adoptive father’s death. Redd is a capable special-operations veteran, but Steck places him in a contemporary Western environment of ranches, small communities, local power, and concealed violence rather than keeping him within a conventional international counterterrorism framework. The combination of military-thriller momentum and rural crime became the defining identity of the series.
The Matthew Redd novels continue through separate threats while developing his marriage, family responsibilities, military history, and attachment to the land. Redd wants a quieter life than his training and instincts allow, and each crisis forces him to decide how far he will go to protect people who cannot defend themselves. Steck supplements the main novels with Redd Christmas, a prequel novella that provides an earlier episode from the character’s life. The series is best understood as continuing action fiction with strong modern-Western elements rather than a collection of unrelated stand-alone thrillers.
Steck has also collaborated with Canadian thriller writer Simon Gervais on The Second Son. The novel broadens his bibliography beyond Matthew Redd while retaining his interest in highly trained protagonists, family loyalties, hidden histories, and threats that expand rapidly beyond their apparent starting point. His editorial experience is evident in the economical construction of his fiction: chapters move quickly, action sequences remain easy to follow, and personal stakes are established alongside the larger conspiracy.
A major new phase of his career began when he was selected to continue Ted Bell’s Alexander Hawke series after Bell’s death. Bell had been Steck’s friend and mentor, making the assignment both professionally significant and personally demanding. Beginning with Ted Bell’s Monarch, Steck inherited an established world of British aristocracy, espionage, international villains, and swashbuckling action. Ted Bell’s Warmonger continued that authorized extension, requiring him to preserve Hawke’s existing relationships and extravagant tone while creating new geopolitical conflicts.
Steck lives in Michigan with his wife and their six children. His bibliography now divides naturally into the Matthew Redd series, collaborative work, and the continued Alexander Hawke novels. Across those strands, he writes fast-moving thrillers grounded in loyalty, family, military experience, and protagonists who discover that returning home rarely means leaving danger behind.