Rachel Peng Books in Order

How to Read the Rachel Peng Series

For the best experience, readers should follow the Rachel Peng series in its publication order. Because the books follow a continuous narrative arc detailing Rachel's career, personal growth, and the evolving political landscape surrounding cybernetic enhancements, reading them chronologically as they were published is highly recommended. Below is the complete reading path, including the latest additions to the series.

The Main Rachel Peng Novel Order

1. Digital Divide (2013): The series opener introduces Rachel Peng, a half-Chinese, lesbian former military investigator and cyborg agent. Clinically blind but equipped with a neural chip that lets her "see" and interface directly with technology, Rachel becomes the first cyborg liaison to the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. She is immediately thrown into a murder case involving one of her fellow cyborg siblings from the Office of Advanced Cybernetic Enhancement and Technology (OACET).
2. Maker Space (2014): A devastating bombing at a local maker space raises the political stakes. Working alongside her human partner, Detective Raul Santino, Rachel must untangle corporate and governmental conspiracies while confronting growing public fear and prejudice against cybernetically enhanced individuals.
3. State Machine (2015): When a powerful political figure is implicated in the theft of an ancient artifact, Rachel is caught in a high-stakes race to recover it. This investigation acts as a pivotal turning point for the entire franchise and shares a major crossover event with the spin-off novel, Greek Key.
4. Brute Force (2016): Rachel and her team face their most dangerous physical threat yet when a hostile anti-cyborg militia targets her commanding officer's family, forcing Rachel to push her tactical skills and neural enhancements to their absolute limits.
5. Burn Rate (2023): Returning after a multi-year hiatus, this installment finds Rachel dealing with deep personal loss. She is pulled back into active duty to track a deadly serial arsonist whose targets are directly tied to the surviving members of her OACET cohort.
6. Inside Threat (2026): The newest chapter in Rachel's story takes her out of D.C. and down to New Orleans to hunt a rogue cyborg assassin. Amidst domestic terrorism, organizational secrets, and personal complications, Rachel also finds herself adopting a canine companion.

Understanding the "A Girl and Her Fed" Universe

Before Rachel Peng became the star of her own novels, she appeared as a secondary character in K.B. Spangler’s long-running webcomic, A Girl and Her Fed (which began in 2006). If you are looking to explore the wider universe, understanding how the comic and the novels interact will enrich your reading experience.

The Five-Year Timeskip

The Rachel Peng novels are set during the five-year timeskip between Act 1 and Act 2 of the A Girl and Her Fed webcomic. During this period, the existence of the government's highly classified cybernetic enhancement program (OACET) has just been revealed to the public, leading to Senate hearings and widespread social unrest. This makes the novels an excellent bridge between the comic's major story arcs, though they are written to be fully accessible to readers who have never opened the webcomic.

The Hope Blackwell Crossover

For readers who want to experience the complete story of the universe's supernatural side, the Hope Blackwell spin-off series is essential. Hope Blackwell is the "world's second-worst psychic" and a central figure in the webcomic. Her series consists of two books:

• Greek Key (2015)
• Spanish Mission (2018)

The events of Greek Key run concurrently with the middle portion of the third Rachel Peng novel, State Machine. The theft of a piece of the Antikythera Mechanism in State Machine serves as the direct catalyst for the supernatural investigation in Greek Key. While Rachel approaches the mystery from a sci-fi, procedural perspective, Hope approaches it from an esoteric, psychic angle. Reading Greek Key immediately after State Machine offers a fascinating double-sided look at the same conspiracy.

The Josh Glassman Novellas

For a lighter, comedic take on the universe, Spangler has also penned several shorter pulp novellas focusing on the character Josh Glassman. Often referred to by the author as "brain candy" or "Joshsmut," these books are not required reading for the main mystery plots but offer fun side stories for dedicated fans:

• The Russians Came Knocking
• The Dinosaur Heist
• The Alaska Escape

What to Know Before You Start

The Rachel Peng books successfully blend the gritty police procedural with classic cyberpunk themes. Spangler uses Rachel’s unique perspective to explore very real modern anxieties, including digital surveillance, data privacy, government overreach, and the ethical boundaries of human-machine integration.

As the series progresses, the tone shifts naturally from localized detective mysteries to broader political thrillers. While the early novels focus on police work in D.C., later installments like Burn Rate and Inside Threat deal with the long-term emotional and physical fallout of Rachel's enhancements. Additionally, readers should note that while the technology in the books evolves rapidly, the author utilizes a loose, contemporary timeline to prevent the books from feeling dated, focusing instead on character dynamics and thematic depth.