Barry Lyga Books in Order

Where to Start with Barry Lyga

If you are dive-playing into Barry Lyga's bibliography for the first time, your starting point depends heavily on what genre you prefer. For thriller fans, the absolute best place to start is his critically acclaimed psychological thriller I Hunt Killers. This novel introduces Jazz Dent, a teenager struggling against the terrifying legacy of his serial killer father, and is widely considered Lyga's masterpiece. If you prefer contemporary YA realism with a geeky twist, his debut novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, serves as the perfect entry point.

The I Hunt Killers Reading Order

This bestselling thriller series follows Jasper 'Jazz' Dent as he uses the profiling lessons taught by his infamous serial killer father to help local police hunt down active murderers. While the main trilogy should ideally be read in publication order, several digital prequels and side stories expand the story. Here are the two ways to read the series:

Option 1: The Core Trilogy (Recommended)

Most readers prefer to start directly with the main novels, as the prequel short stories are best enjoyed once you are already familiar with the characters and the overarching tension of the main plot:

1. I Hunt Killers (2012)
2. Game (2013)
3. Blood of My Blood (2014)

Option 2: Chronological Order (Including Prequels and Shorts)

For readers who want to experience the timeline strictly as events unfold, here is the chronological sequence. Many of these digital-first short stories are collected in the anthology Before the Hunt:

1. Career Day (2014) – A prequel story focusing on Jazz's father, Billy Dent.
2. Neutral Mask (2013) – A short story set before the main events of the first book.
3. Blood Boy (2014) – A prequel exploring the dark history of the Dent family.
4. Lucky Day (2014) – Set shortly before the start of the first novel.
5. I Hunt Killers (2012) – The first full-length novel.
6. Game (2013) – The second full-length novel.
7. Blood of My Blood (2014) – The third full-length novel.
8. Down Time (2018) – A follow-up story set after the events of the core trilogy.

The Brookdale High Shared Universe

Several of Barry Lyga's early contemporary YA novels take place in the same fictional suburban town around Brookdale High. Although each book functions perfectly fine as a standalone, they feature intersecting timelines and cameos. To get the full experience of this shared universe, read them in this order:

1. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (2006) – The debut novel focusing on teenage geekdom and comic book dreams.
2. Hero-Type (2008) – Set about a year after the events of the debut, overlapping slightly with the beginning of Boy Toy.
3. Boy Toy (2007) – A sensitive exploration of abuse, recovery, and societal perception.
4. Goth Girl Rising (2009) – The direct sequel to The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.

The "Barryverse" Arrowverse & Superhero Novels

Lyga has written extensively for major comic book and superhero franchises. His DC and Marvel works fall into distinct categories:

The Flash Trilogy

These prose novels exist in a "splinter reality" (often dubbed the "Barryverse") where the CW TV show's Flashpoint events never occurred, allowing the author to maintain a separate timeline:

1. Hocus Pocus (2017)
2. Johnny Quick (2018)
3. The Tornado Twins (2018)

The Flash: Crossover Crisis Trilogy

This series expands the Arrowverse crossovers into book format, bringing in characters like Green Arrow, Supergirl, and the Legends of Tomorrow:

1. The Flash: Green Arrow's Perfect Shot (2019)
2. The Flash: Supergirl's Sacrifice (2020)
3. The Flash: The Legends of Forever (2021)

Marvel Prose Standalones

• Wolverine: Worst Day Ever (2009) – A diary-style middle-grade prose novel featuring illustrations by Todd Nauck.
• Thanos: Titan Consumed (2018) – A YA prose novel exploring the origin story and early life of the MCU's iconic villain.

The Un/Edited Literary Experiment

In 2022, Barry Lyga released a unique meta-fictional project that exists in two versions representing different cuts of the exact same story:

• Unedited (2022) – The full, sprawling, unpolished original cut of the manuscript.
• Edited (2022) – The condensed, conventionally paced, and whittled-down version of the story.

Readers can choose to read either version first depending on whether they prefer the raw creative flow of the author's cut or the streamlined structure of a traditionally published novel.

Other Notable Standalones and Middle-Grade Series

Lyga's diverse portfolio also includes sci-fi, dystopian, and middle-grade works:

• Archvillain Series: A middle-grade superhero series consisting of Archvillain (2010), The Mad Mask (2012), and Yesterday Again (2013).
• Mangaman (2011) – A graphic novel co-created with illustrator Colleen Doran that plays with manga tropes.
• YA Standalones: Dystopian and thriller novels like Unsoul'd (2013), After the Red Rain (2015), The Secret Sea (2016), Bang (2017), The Hive (2019), and Time Will Tell (2021).