Where to Start with Chris Holm
If you are new to Chris Holm's writing, your starting point will largely depend on which genre you prefer. Holm is a versatile writer who successfully bridges the gap between hardboiled crime fiction, supernatural fantasy, and high-concept biological thrillers.
For fans of high-octane action and contemporary thrillers, the absolute best starting point is The Killing Kind, the first book in the Michael Hendricks series. It introduces a unique protagonist—a hitman who only targets other hitmen—and moves at a breakneck pace. This novel won the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel and is widely considered his breakthrough work.
If you prefer urban fantasy with a classic pulp detective flavor, start with Dead Harvest, the opening volume of the Collector trilogy. Here, Holm blends 1940s-style noir with a war between Heaven and Hell. Finally, if you want a standalone, scientifically grounded thriller, start with Child Zero, which relies on Holm's background as a molecular biologist.
The Michael Hendricks Series
The Michael Hendricks series features a compelling premise: an ex-military operative who faked his death and now makes a living by assassinating other hitmen. It consists of two novels and a prequel short story. We recommend reading them in chronological order to follow the character arc and the overarching conspiracy.
- The Approach (2016): A digital-first prequel short story. While it can be read first to get a quick taste of the character, it is best enjoyed after the first novel.
- The Killing Kind (2015): The official first novel. Hendricks is hired to kill a hitman, only to find himself targeted by a ruthless syndicate.
- Red Right Hand (2016): The direct sequel. The stakes are raised significantly as Hendricks is blackmailed into executing an impossible heist, putting him in the crosshairs of federal agencies and the criminal underworld.
The Collector Trilogy
The Collector series represents Holm's unique blend of supernatural elements and classic noir tropes, often referred to as 'paranoir'. The trilogy follows Sam Thornton, a collector of souls bound to Hell, who begins to question his orders. Because this series tells a continuous story, it must be read in publication order:
- Dead Harvest (2012): Sam Thornton is sent to collect the soul of a young girl, but when he discovers she is innocent, he refuses, setting off a war between supernatural factions.
- The Wrong Goodbye (2012): Sam is forced to take on a case that plunges him into the heart of a mortal mob war, combining pulp detective tropes with cosmic stakes.
- The Big Reap (2013): The explosive conclusion to the trilogy, where Sam must confront the forces of Hell to secure his own redemption.
Standalone Novels
For readers looking for a complete story without the commitment of a series, Holm has written one major standalone novel:
- Child Zero (2022): Drawing on Holm's former career as a molecular biologist, this high-stakes biological thriller is set in a near-future world where antibiotics have become completely ineffective due to drug-resistant bacteria. When a new pandemic threatens what remains of humanity, a detective must solve a series of murders linked to a potential cure.
Short Stories and Project Clarifications
In addition to his novels, Holm is an accomplished short story writer whose works have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Thuglit, and various anthologies. His key short fiction collection is 8 Pounds: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror, & Suspense (2010), which gathers his early stories written between 2007 and 2009.
The 'Veridical Dreams' Mix-Up
Some database listings attribute a series called Veridical Dreams to Chris Holm, listing titles like The Lizard's Ardent Uniform (2014) and Treasure of Ice and Fire (2016). To clarify: Veridical Dreams was a collaborative charity project edited by David Cranmer, based on the dream journals of his late nephew. Chris Holm contributed the title short story to the first volume, The Lizard's Ardent Uniform & Other Stories, in 2014. The second volume, Treasure of Ice and Fire, is actually a novel by Wayne D. Dundee and does not involve Chris Holm. Readers looking for Holm's work only need to seek out his individual story in the first volume.