Here’s the reading order for Charlie Donlea’s books, based on publication order:

  1. Summit Lake (2016)
  2. The Girl Who Was Taken (2017)
  3. Don’t Believe It (2018)
  4. Some Choose Darkness (2019)
  5. The Suicide House (2020)
  6. Twenty Years Later (2021)
  7. Those Empty Eyes
  8. Long Time Gone
  9. Guess Again

Most of his books can be read as standalones, but Some Choose Darkness and The Suicide House are connected, so it helps to read them in that order.

Quick scoop

If you want the simplest path, go in publication order. That gives you the clearest progression of his writing and avoids missing the context in the connected Rory Moore/Lane Phillips books.

Best starting point

  • Start with Summit Lake if you want his first novel.
  • Start with The Girl Who Was Taken if you want one of his most commonly recommended early thrillers.
  • Read Some Choose Darkness before The Suicide House for the connected series thread.

Note on availability

Some lists online differ slightly in how they group his books, but the publication sequence above is the most consistent way to read them.