Jack Nightingale Books In Order

Publication Order of Jack Nightingale Books

Publication Order of Jack Nightingale Short Stories/Novellas

Stephen Leather began writing the Jack Nightingale character in 2009, and with the publishing of Nightfall, the first book in the series, was a huge success. The book reached the top of numerous bestseller lists, and help to solidify Stephen Leather’s name as of of the premier thriller writers of the generation. The Nightingale series incorporates elements of the supernatural, police procedural, and thriller genres, spun together with the authors terse and laconic prose that delivers a spine tingling and tense glimpse into the darker side of detective work.

The most successful of Stephen Leather’s series to date, the Nightingale series comprises four novels, Nightfall, Midnight, Nightmare, and Nightshade, each garnering more critical and commercial praise than the last, and attracting a devout and diverse fan base. Centering on former Metropolitan Police Negotiator Jack Nightingale, the series details his battle with the forces of Hell, and his struggle not only to rid the city of the polluting influences of the dark side, but also to save his immortal soul. The series document’s the transition of the skeptical Jack Nightingale form utter disbelief to total incredulity, and chronicle’s his transformation from a stung man with a dark past to a courageous hero with an uncertain future.

Initially envisioned as a screenplay, lukewarm interest prompted the author to rewrite the story as a novel. After showing around the respectably sized draft, Leather decided to increase the scope of the novel, adding a few plot twists and numerous gruesome deaths. These were added because, while he felt that the novel was almost complete, it could benefit from a darker and more suspenseful tone. Adding a few more chapters and a much more involved plot, it was published by Hodder and Stoughton Publishing in the year 2010.

Jack Nightingale

Jack Nightingale is the protagonist of the series, with the novels being written from his perspective. Formerly a crisis negotiator for the Metropolitan Police Service, he is now a private investigator and in his thirties. As his thirty third birthday approaches, his father mysteriously dies, bequeathing a mansion in a will that nightingale never knew existed. The house, Gosling Manor, is a decrepit and lonely chateau in the wood, ideal for grave and disturbing rituals for communing with the dead.

Learning that his father had sold his soul to the devil before his birth, the disbelieving Nightingale ignores the warning of his maniacal father and continues on with his life. It is not until a series of strange and horrible deaths start occurring that Nightingale begins to take the ravings seriously. Just weeks shy of his thirty third birthday, the day when the macabre pact is supposed to conclude, the former police officer must use all of of his analytical intelligence so solve the most important case of his career.

Described as a handsome, intelligent former policeman, with a knack for intuition and an empathetic sense of reason, Jack Nightingale’s background is not fully covered in the novels, perhaps to encase the character and hence the series in a shroud of mystery and suspense. A strong undercurrent of occultism and mysticism runs through his history however, as both he and his father are involved in the occult and supernatural phenomena to some degree. Its tone is broken up by seventy-seven small chapters, often jumping around, adding to the suspense and managing the exposure the reader has to the story, drawing out the suspense like a satanic stiletto.

The series

Begun in the year 2010, as of 2013 there are four novels in the series, each detailing a specific case, and going more and more in-depth as to the hero’s origins and involvement with occult. The first three novels have been written to form a kind of trilogy, with each successive book being a standalone story. The author has stated that he enjoys writing the Jack Nightingale character, and hopes to turn the Nightingale series into a successful independent thriller series with a strong motif of the supernatural, with or without the occult underpinnings of the original three novels. Their released dates have not be announced, but there are eagerly awaited by the series’ fans.

Nightfall

The first book in the series, it tells the story of Jack Nightingale, describing for the reader his origins in the Metropolitan Police Service, his dismissal, and adopting the position of a professional Private Investigator. The novel depicts the discovery of the death of his biological father, Nightingale’s discovery of his will, and the dark and supernatural happenings that these revelations catalyze. Heavily praised for its sombre tone and suspenseful and wire tight plot, Nightfall was extremely well received. In response to its soaring popularity, Hodder and Stoughton Publishing commissioned three sequels, all of which have been released.

Midnight

The sophomore effort by Stephen Leather in the Nightingale series, it see the return of supernatural Private Detective Jack Nightingale, this time investigating the circumstances surrounding the reappearance of his long lost sister. A delicious romp into the realm of both the macabre and the sinister, the protagonist must ask himself, in his fight to save his sister’s soul, if everyone’s soul deserves to be rescued. Packed with all of the sensational plot twists and occult styling of its predecessor, Midnight delves into the philosophical, asking deep questions while still providing an edge of the page thriller that will leave readers aghast and entertained.

More About The Author:

Stephen Leather was born in Manchester in the year 1956, he attended Bath University and earned a BSc in Biochemistry. He has worked as a biochemist, laborer, bartender and a journalist. His first successful attempt at writing professionally came in 1988 with the publishing of Pay Off by Harper Collins. He is the author of a number of successful series’, including the Nightingale series and the Dan Shepard series. He has been nominated for the prestigious CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger by The Crime Writer’s Association, and has been called by The Bestseller Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in modern British publishing and writing. He lives in England with his family.

3 Responses to “Jack Nightingale”

1. Imani: 2 years ago

   Nightfall is such a nice book..

   Reply
2. KryptoTSD: 5 years ago

   Okay… Gotta get these and read them all… Just like the Pokemon…

   Reply
3. Mari Myburgh: 6 years ago

   2018. I read the first book Nightfall. Received the book as a present, and will immediately search for the other for. Nail biting suspense. Will he ever marry Jenny?

   Reply