Reading Order
Rachel Hatch
Rachel Hatch has spent years moving on. Her sister’s suspicious drowning brings the former Army criminal investigator back to the hometown she left behind. Working with Sheriff Dalton Savage, she follows the questions others would rather leave unanswered. Personal stakes, investigative instincts, and hard-earned combat skills drive this action-mystery series.
Choose Hatch for a capable investigator, a restless life on the road, and cases that make the search for justice personal.
Start here
Start with Drift, the first numbered Rachel Hatch novel. It introduces Hatch’s return home and her investigation with Dalton Savage. Continue with Downburst and Fever Burn before moving through the numbered sequence.
Reading Order
Read the main novels by their whole-number series positions. The shorter Hatch stories are listed separately, with their catalog positions shown as a guide. A decimal label identifies a supplemental story; it does not make it an extra numbered novel.
- Drift
- Downburst
- Fever Burn
- Smoke Signal
- Firewalk
- Whitewater
- Aftershock
- Whirlwind
- Tsunami
- Fastrope
- Sidewinder
- Redaction
- Mirage
- Faultline
- Switchback
- PathfinderAvailable · Published September 29, 2026
- WashoutPreorder · Expected March 23, 2027
The latest released Rachel Hatch novel is Pathfinder, Book 16. Washout, Book 17, is available to preorder for March 23, 2027. Release dates may change.
Your first read
Drift is the main-series starting point. Fractured carries the catalog position 0.5, but readers beginning with Book 1 can keep the novels together and return to the shorter stories using the supplemental list. This guide does not promise that every later book can be read without knowledge of earlier events.
Supplemental stories
The supplemental titles are Fractured (0.5), Proving Ground (1.5), The Gauntlet (5.5), and Ricochet (12.5). Those are catalog placements, not a verified scene-by-scene timeline. They remain separate from the whole-number novel list so that a short story never shifts the numbering of the books that follow.
Collections and box sets
A Rachel Hatch box set gathers books already in the main sequence. The Books 1–3 collection contains Drift, Downburst, and Fever Burn; continue with Smoke Signal afterward. Use the book numbers on later collections to find your place and avoid purchasing the same novel twice.
- Rachel Hatch Series: Books 1–3
- Rachel Hatch Series: Books 4–6
- Rachel Hatch Series: Books 7–9
- Rachel Hatch Series: Books 10–12
The collaborators
L.T. Ryan and Brian Shea are the principal series collaborators. Current selected editions of Fastrope and Ricochet credit L.T. Ryan and Fiona Ryan. Credits belong to the individual edition, so a collection or older edition may show a different combination of names.
Dalton Savage’s own series
Dalton Savage first works with Hatch in Drift and also leads his own series. If you want to follow him beyond Hatch’s investigation, start that series with Savage Grounds. Read the Savage novels by their own numbers; this guide does not insert them into a combined Hatch chronology.
Reader questions
Which Rachel Hatch book should I read first?
Start with Drift, Book 1, then Downburst and Fever Burn. The shorter stories appear in their own section of this guide.
Is Ricochet another numbered Rachel Hatch novel?
Ricochet is a supplemental Rachel Hatch story, cataloged at 12.5. Its selected current cover calls it A Rachel Hatch Story; it does not replace Book 13, Mirage.
Is Dalton Savage connected to Rachel Hatch?
Yes. Sheriff Dalton Savage works with Hatch in Drift. His own series starts with Savage Grounds.