Order of Andy McNab Books

One thing you have to appreciate about the Andy McNab books is you know he isn’t just living in a fantasy world; as a Sergeant and ex-member of the Special Air Service, he’s actually lived through a lot of the stories he tells.

McNab doesn’t have to do research for his books; he lived it. As you read the stories of the likes of Nick Stone, McNab’s main character, you have to wonder just how much of it is McNab basically writing an extended version of his memoirs.

McNab started writing non-fiction books with the famous Bravo Two Zero which was made into a movie, and went into detail about one of the actual missions that he lived through, however he soon found his calling in the fiction world, with his character “Nick Stone”. This series has spawned a large selection of books. Here are all of Andy McNab’s books in order:

Publication Order of Nick Stone Books

Publication Order of Street Soldier Books

Publication Order of Boy Soldier Books

(with Robert Rigby)

Publication Order of DropZone Books

Publication Order of War Torn Books

Publication Order of Liam Scott Books

Publication Order of Nathan Pike Books

Publication Order of Tom Buckingham Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Childrens Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Get Me Out of Here Books

(with Phil Earle)

Publication Order of Anthologies

Notes: The War Torn series is co-authored with Kym Jordan. The Boy Soldier series is co-authored with Robert Rigby. The novel Boy Soldier was also published as Traitor. Battlefield 3: The Russian is co-authored with Peter Grimsdale. The Good Psychopath’s Guide to Success was co-authored with Kevin Dutton.

If You Like Andy McNab Books, You’ll Love…

• Brad Thor
• Lee Child
• Vince Flynn
• Chris Ryan

Order of Andy McNab Books: A Readers Opinion

I was lucky – I had never even really heard of Andy McNab or his series of books until he had written 11 of them. So after reading and loving my first one(Remote Control) it was with a pleasant surprise that I googled Order of Andy McNab Books and discovered he had another 10 books in the Nick Stone series.

I was a big fan of the Jack Reacher series, and had moved onto Mitch Rapp. He’s much like Jack Reacher in that he’s mostly a loner – the difference was he was working for the CIA as part of the clandestine black ops team. I loved that sort of thing, and so I posted on a book recommendation forum asking for more like the Mitch Rapp series.

Someone pointed me towards the Nick Stone series, written by Andy McNab. I had recently just watched the movie Bravo Two Zero which was taken from the book of the same name by Andy McNab, so his name stuck out at me. It helped that I was immediately able to picture Nick Stone as “Sean Bean”, the leading actor in Bravo Two Zero.

I started the first book in the Andy McNab “Nick Stone” series which is Remote Control and I was absolutely hooked. The first chapter starts off rather rocky – but it reminds me of the TV show Lost. If you’re not hooked after the 4th episode then you might as well give up – that’s the episode where John Locke well…you know.

Remote Control is the same – it’s about the 4th chapter where things pick up and if you’re not hooked after the events that happen you just won’t be. Andy McNab carries that fine balance where is able to describe everything in gritty detail, but also leave a lot to the users imagination.

What I really like about the Andy McNab books is it’s not all action. You can go 100 pages without any action – it’s just Nick Stone planning, preparing, meeting people or walking around. And it’s enthralling. Just reading about him going to the mall and spending an hour preparing for a meeting and making sure the person he is meeting with isn’t shadowed – McNab manages to capture the atmosphere perfectly so you can really picture it as if you were there.

If you go through the entire Nick Stone series in the Order of Andy McNab novels above then you won’t be disappointed. As of this writing there are 14 novels in the Nick Stone series and out of them there was only one I didn’t really enjoy which was Recoil. It took place within the African jungle and it just lacked the usual atmosphere and character interaction that McNab usually nails.

One really good thing about the Nick Stone books is that McNab doesn’t make him out to be your typical superhero. He has his faults, and many of the time in a fight he has to resort to screaming, headbutting or biting someones nose just to get out of it rather than your usual ‘2 swift moves and it’s over” hero.

One great ability Andy McNab has is to really make you care about the outside characters. Whether it’s Kelly in various books or two people he has to work with who all entertain themselves in tense situations by wearing crazy hats. Part of that is McNabs ability to nickname the characters perfectly. You’ve heard the phrase “A picture says 1000 words” well in this case “A nickname says 1000 words”. Rather than spend hours describing a character he’ll simply nickname them “Sundance” or “Trainers” and somehow it always nails down their description a lot more than a full biography would.

Overall, the Nick Stone series is one of my favourite series ever, and I’m looking forward to going through the rest of the Order of Andy McNab Books above, and picking out a few others to read. He’s fast became my favourite author – probably because McNab is someone that lived through it so you really get a lot more realism in his novels than a Lee Child or a Vince Flynn.

Be sure to read them in chronological or publication order. Both orders are the same and Andy McNab doesn’t do a great job at explaining prior relationships or occurences. His style is mostly set as if you have already previously read his novels.

As for the non-fiction novels – Bravo Two Zero is a fantastic book and was made into a movie so it’s highly recommended, and is probably part of the inspiration behind the Nick Stone series. Immediate Action was another great one that gave some fascinating insight into Andy McNab and the SAS. Seven Troop is more of the same, but talks a lot about the people he “worked” with during that time. His descriptions are fantastic and it’s worth a read. Spoken From The Front is talking to various different soldiers who served in Afghanistan and isn’t your typical McNab book – fiction or non-fiction. More just a general book but still some interesting stories.

If you’re looking for other Andy McNab books to read from the lists above – the Boy Soldier ones are okay. Danny Watts is no “Nick Stone” that’s for sure. They are much more basic books and set for a more simplified audience. I wouldn’t personally recommend them – I only read the first two in the order above and that was enough for me.