John Wells Books In Order

Publication Order of John Wells Books

John Wells is an undercover CIA Agent in the spy novels written by Alex Berenson. He has been undercover all over the world and his aim is to stop terrorists.

During his time undercover, he has converted to Muslim and he has been undercover so long that no one even knows if he is alive or not. He is a bit of a loner and it is hard for him to trust anyone. It seems the feeling is mutual because not a lot of people trust him. He is the only person ever to get on the inside of al Qaeda and he was initially blamed for the September 11th attacks on New York.

John Wells is introduced in Berenson’s first novel, The Faithful Spy.

The Faithful Spy

In this novel, when the readers are introduced to John Wells, a CIA Agent who has been undercover with al Qaeda for a very long time. So long, that the CIA weren’t even sure that he was still alive.

He has returned to America on the orders of his boss, Omar Khadri, who is in charge of all attacks on America. When he gets back to the CIA, it is clear that no one trusts him, even Khadri, and he is accused of knowing about the attacks in New York and didn’t warn anyone. He denies this and takes a lie detector test to prove it.

Only his partner really believes what he has been up to and even though the CIA are suspicious, they all must work together to prevent another terrorist attack with promises to be the worst that America has ever seen.

This novel was very successful and Berenson won the 2006 Edgar Award for the best first novel by an American author. The paperback edition of the book was number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

Since the release of the second novel in 2008, Berenson has released a novel every year, all released n February. This is trend, which will continue into 2014 with the release of the next installment of the series (see below).

Movie Rights

It is a little known fact that Berenson had sold the movie rights to the first book before he had even finished the second. He was a massive fan of Keanu Reeves so he sent the manuscript to his manager. This led Fox and Regency to put the film into development with Reeves interested in playing Wells.

However, the movie was never made but Berenson is still a Keanu fan and he would be interested in having the movies made.

The Second Book: The Ghost War

In this one, Wells has returned to America having been left to prevent a terrorist attack nearly on his own. He was badly injured, traumatized mentally and has very little trust left in the CIA.

He has spent some time trying to find himself again but he has failed. He doesn’t know who is anymore and has very little regard left for his own safety. When evidence of another attack surfaces, the CIA make contact again to ask him to return to undercover work and prevent this attack.

Wells returns to Afghanistan and infiltrates the cell but what he finds there is more than anyone else would ever expect.

The Third Book: The Silent Man

In this installment, Wells has returned from two years undercover, a broken man. His body has paid the price of constant abuse and his mind is not the same. He is living in Washington D.C and he just wants a quiet life to try and recover , and to make a life with Jennifer Exley, who is now his lover.

However, what he doesn’t know is that his past is about to come back to haunt him and he is called back into duty to try and prevent two attacks. If the attacks happen then it will mean Russia will be at war with America. He has a choice to make because he might only be able to stop one attack. However, he does have a slim chance of saving the world from both.

About the Author

Alex Berenson grey up in New Jersey, even though he was born in New York in 1973. He was an excellent student, graduating from Yale University in 1994. His degrees were in History and Economics and following his graduation, he went to work for the Denver Post. He was a reporter.

In 1996, he left the Denver Post and went to work for TheStreet.com, which was a financial news platform. He was one of the first employees so this was a massive risk for him.

He then went on to work for The New York Times as a correspondent. He covered Hurricane Katrina and then went on to work for the paper in Iraq. It was here that he got the idea to write the novels based on John Wells.

In 2010, he left the paper and devoted more time to his writing. By the time he had left, he had already written 7 novels and one non-fiction book. He has been very successful so far and The New York Times still contacts him for articles here and there.

He is still writing and he his happily married to his wife Jacqueline and they live together in New York with their dog and daughter Maggie.

The Future

Berenson has written a new John Wells novel called “The Counterfeit Agent” which is set to be released on February 11th 2014. In this novel, John Wells is sent undercover again to try and stop a nuclear war between America and Iran. There is a tip of in Istanbul that Iran is planning on killing on of the bosses of the CIA.

Wells is called in to try and stop it but he is too late. However there is more work to be done because the source gave more than one tip. With the first one coming true, the race is on to prevent the others.

Berenson’s books have all been adapted for new technology. They are all available in iTunes for Apple products and for Kindle and other digital readers. He has embraced the new way of reading books because he released a digital only book in 2010, entitled Lost in Khandahar. This book is about his own experiences in Afghanistan.

5 Responses to “John Wells”

1. Cara7: 2 years ago

   Please, more John Wells. Miss the series.

   Reply
2. Steven: 3 years ago

   I wish Alex Berenson would get back to basics and write fiction. I wouldn’t mind seeing John Wells coming back as a Director of the CIA or even National Security Adviser or even Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. If he returned to John Wells and distanced himself from the hoopla surrounding his materials since 2019, John Wells might just end up becoming a TV Series on Amazon or Netflix or even a movie, after all The Gray Man, the Terminal List, Reacher, Without Remorse, Jack Ryan, and more are getting enough viewing that Amazon, Netflix, and others are interested in the content, but they’re not going to move forward if there will be a significant rift between the creator and the stars nor if the name of the original content might cause controversy. Alex Berenson to distance himself can say those marijuana and covid installments were the product of being locked in a building for so long that he decided to write what some people were thinking and that figured, if he couldn’t travel or do research firsthand, he’d write stuff that would sell like hotcakes for a low price and earn money off the materials to fund research when he could travel around the world for writing the next John Wells installment. He could donate a percentage of the profits from future releases to charitable organizations that aid Nurses, Firefighters, Paramedics, Police Officers, and Teachers after they’ve been working throughout the pandemic and need the relief before they can no longer work.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     Agreed. I’ve read so many spy thriller series and the John Wells series is easily Top 3 for me. BTW have you read the Victor the Assassin series by Tom Wood? I am only two books in but absolutely loving it. https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/tom-wood/

     Reply
3. Francine Robbio: 3 years ago

   I read all the books, the last one The Deceivers. Will you have more? I love that serie. Thanks!

   Reply
4. Kenneth F Leder: 3 years ago

   which book has Wells as an aid to pres., dealing with a Governors ex CIA brother and rightist group of conspirators who murder “Lincoln”?? wealthy senator.

   Reply