Chuck Logan Books In Order

Publication Order of Phil Broker Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Chuck Logan is one of the well known novelists from America who has written a number of highly successful books based on the crime fiction and drama genres. He is particularly famous for writing down the Phil Broker series. One of the books written by author Logan in the Phil Broker series titled ‘Homefront’ has been adapted into a Hollywood movie featuring Jason Statham, Winona Ryder, and James Franco. The screenplay of the book was written by Sylvester Stallone. Author Logan is a Vietnam veteran and currently lives in Stillwater, Minnesota along with his loving wife and beautiful daughter. He began his writing career in the year 1996 with the publication of his standalone book titled ‘Hunter’s Moon’. He has described the lead character of Phil Broker as an ex-police officer from Minnesota and an ex-soldier. Author Logan was born in Chicago as a war baby. He seems to have very little memory of his father as his parents separated from each other when he very small. Logan has learned from his mother that his father was a professional boxer and his actual name was Utecht. He was a promoter and trainer in Chicago and took up the name ‘Logan’ as a ring name.

Author Logan’s mother was not quite happy with the drinking habits and the love affairs of his father. In the beginning, his mother used to encourage him to read and draw as she hoped that he would become an artist after growing up. In the year 1950, author Logan was enrolled as a third grade cadet at the Georgia Military Academy, located in College Park, Georgia. One of his memories from the military academy include one of his classmates aged 8 years who cried himself to sleep after learning that his father was killed in Korea. Another memory of author Logan includes trying to copy and draw the famous World War II cartoons. In the year 1953, author Logan’s mother decided to shift to Arizona from Michigan and was driving along with him during a rainstorm. The car encountered an accident after hitting the slick pavements near Marion, Kentucky. Due to heavy luggage kept at the back of the car, Logan’s mother was hit with a great force at the steering wheel and died on the spot. But, Logan was still alive as the car went into the muddy waters. He was very much battered because of the impact, but somehow managed to live until help arrived from outside.

The accident had taken place at 7:00 pm on 7th July. Logan carried a tattoo ‘777’ on his left forearm, as a reminder of the terrible night. Author Logan spent the next three years living with his uncle and aunt in Arizona. Later, he was moved to stay with another aunt in Warren, Michigan, where he completed his high school studies. For the first time in his life, he spent more than a year in one school. As per the wishes of his guardian, Logan used to visit her fundamentalist, non-denominational church for 4 times every week. He continued doing it for a period of 4 years. When he turned 18, he went away from his aunt’s house to live on his own. He joined the Monteith College, which is a part of the Wayne University located in Detroit. This college offered author Logan an experimental curriculum that was funded by the Ford Foundation. With the help of this unique curriculum, author Logan was exposed to a highly accelerated program of liberal arts, along with a few other students from Michigan. The events that followed in his life later allowed him to join the paratroops that volunteered in the Vietnam War. When author Logan returned home from war, he had a Bronze Star and a Combat Infantry Badge. After the end of the war, he began focusing on drawing cartoons and writing novels.

The Phil Broker series written by author Chuck Logan consists of 6 books in total, which were published between the years 1997 and 2005. The debut book of this series is titled as ‘The Price of Blood’ and was published in the year 1997 by the HarperTorch publication. At the beginning of the novel, it is shown that Phil Broker has been trying to pull himself together for the past 20 years. Being a tough and a good undercover police officer in Minnesota, he understands the difference between a lucky break and a sucker punch very well. Phil seems to have put the Vietnam years of his life behind, but the grown up daughter of an old commander seems to be causing him dig his heels for the past few years. Nina Pryce has been trying to exonerate his dead father, who was discharged dishonorably from his duty. She seems more determined to find the ten tons of gold that her father had helped to liberate during a commando mission for The United States Army. Phil Broker smells something bad in it, but seems to be persuaded by the charms of Nina Pryce. Later, he learns that a couple of his old buddies from the army have beaten them in the race to search the hidden gold. One of them is Cyrus La Porte, who rich and sadistic, has every means but lacks direction. The other is a convicted thief named Jimmy Tuna, who knows about the location of the gold, but does not have the cash to travel there. Phil and Nina learn that Jimmy is about to die and has nothing to lose in the chase for the gold. They also know that both the men will tend to kill them at the first chance they will get. Overall, the book turns out to be a riveting suspense novel in the form of a thrilling treasure hunt. The murderous legacy mentioned in the book only adds to the thrill and excitement.

The second book in the Phil Broker series was published under the title ‘The Big Law’. It was released by the Harper publication in the year 1998. In this book, it is shown that Phil gets pitted against the Witness Protection Program, which turns out to have hidden the killer of his ex wife. Phil’s ex wife Caren is depicted as making a fatal choice by deciding to go against her husband named Keith Angland, who was a cop at St. Paul and was playing an informant for the mob in Chicago. Caren makes another unwise decision by confiding in Tom James, who is depicted as a disaffected reporter having the dream of covering a perfect crime. He sees it as a chance to get over with his dead end life and begins to cajole Caren into handing over to him the suitcase full of cash that was given to her husband by the mob in exchange for the confidential information. In the process, Caren gets killed and Tom goes on to frame Angland with the support of the FBI. When Broker senses some wrong doing, he tries to find out the truth. But first, he has to find out James, who hides under the protection program of witnesses. Before author Logan, no other author had thought of writing a novel on the concept of the Witness Protection scheme. This is what helped the novel as well as the series to become immensely successful all over the world and also allowed author Logan to establish himself as one of the best novelists among the thriller breed of the new generation.