The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 22 books · 1976 to 2013 · Mostly set in Chicago

Max Allan Collins

Crime and mysteryChildren’sPrivate eyeHistorical crimeNoir and hardboiledGraphic novels

Max Allan Collins writes hard-boiled crime. Nate Heller is a Chicago private eye who keeps finding himself at the great crimes of the twentieth century; Quarry is a Vietnam veteran turned professional hit man. He also wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Real historical figures appear in many of the Heller books; only invented characters are charted.

Vote for Max Allan Collins as a favourite author, and for books and characters below. See the favourites

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
The chart needs JavaScript. The reading order and character list below work without it.

Max Allan Collins books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Nathan Heller

15 books · Set in ChicagoPrivate eyeHistorical crime
  1. 1True Detective1983With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  2. 2True Crime1984With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Million-Dollar Wound1986With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Neon Mirage1988With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Stolen Away1991With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Carnal Hours1994With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  7. 7Blood and Thunder1995With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  8. 8Damned in Paradise1996With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  9. 9Flying Blind1998With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  10. 10Majic Man1999With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  11. 11Angel in Black2001With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  12. 12Chicago Confidential2002With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  13. 13Bye Bye, Baby2011With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  14. 14Target Lancer2012With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon
  15. 15Ask Not2013With Nathan HellerBuy on Amazon

Quarry

6 books · Set in various placesNoir and hardboiled
  1. 1Quarry1976With QuarryBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Quarry's List1976With QuarryBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Quarry's Deal1976With QuarryBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Quarry's Cut1977With QuarryBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Quarry's Vote1987With QuarryBuy on Amazon
  6. 6The Last Quarry2006With QuarryBuy on Amazon

Road to Perdition

1 book · Set in Rock Island, IllinoisNoir and hardboiledGraphic novels
  1. 1Road to Perdition1998With Michael SullivanBuy on Amazon

Characters

4 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Nathan Heller

Quarry

Road to Perdition