Joe Ledger is a Baltimore detective recruited to lead a secret rapid-response group called the Department of Military Sciences. His first case, Patient Zero (2009), involved stopping a group of terrorists from releasing a bio-weapon that could trigger a zombie apocalypse, and things have gone downhill for the poor guy ever since. In the seventh volume, Predator One (2015), Joe and the DMS battled killer drones and a computer virus that turns Air Force One into a flying death trap; in Kill Switch (2016), they went up against terrorists who’d crashed the power grid and could turn ordinary citizens into deadly assassins. The Joe Ledger novels are New York Times bestsellers with some pretty imaginative villains; more than a few of the novels are tinged with horror elements, and even elements of the Cthulhu mythos. Kill Switch made Brandon Crilly’s list of the Ten Best Books he read last year; here’s his take:

Eight books into the Joe Ledger series and, much like Jim Butcher, Maberry hasn’t lost his stride. As a fan of 24 and Fringe, I’m crazy about these books, which have so far have tackled zombies, vampires, aliens, and other basic premises but twisted into a military science setting. Kill Switch applies Maberry’s unique storytelling to Cthulhu, taking something I think has long been overdone and using it in a really interesting way.

The newest novel, Dogs of War, introduces robot dogs that have been re-programmed to deliver weapons of mass destruction to cities across the country. It goes on sale in trade paperback from St. Martin’s Griffin on April 25th.

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Here’s the back covers for Predator One and Dogs of War.

Our previous coverage of Jonathan Maberry includes:

Deadlands: Ghostwalkers
Aliens: Bug Hunt edited by Jonathan Maberry
The Top Ten Books I Read in 2016 by Brandon Crilly

Dogs of War will be published by St. Martin’s Griffin on April 25th. It is 536 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by Rob Grom.

See all of our coverage of the best upcoming fantasy here.