Charlie Parker
supernatural crime
Series · paranormal mystery
Bishop / Special Crimes Unit
The Bishop / Special Crimes Unit series by Kay Hooper has 20 known books (20 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Stealing Shadows (2000).
- Books
- 20 known books (20 novels)
- Published
- 20
- First published
- 2000
- Status
- hiatus
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime, Fantasy
- Last checked
Start here: Stealing Shadows (2000) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Stealing Shadows
Stealing Shadows, published in 2000 at 356 pages, launches Kay Hooper's Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series and its opening trilogy. It introduces the FBI task force built around agent Noah Bishop, who recruits profilers with genuine psychic gifts -- precognition, telepathy, empathic sensing of violence -- to crack cases regular law enforcement can't.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stealing Shadows - Book 2:
Hiding in the Shadows
Hiding in the Shadows, published in 2000 at 339 pages, is the second entry in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series, part of the opening trilogy that also includes Stealing Shadows and Out of the Shadows. Like the rest of the series, it treats its psychics' visions as reliably, dangerously real rather than gifts that might be explained away.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hiding in the Shadows - Book 3:
Out of the Shadows
Kay Hooper placed Out of the Shadows as the third Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel in 2000, closing the trilogy that opened the series between Hiding in the Shadows and Touching Evil. From here Hooper would settle into a pattern of loosely linked trilogies -- the Evil books, the Fear books, the Blood books -- that Touching Evil begins.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Out of the Shadows - Book 4:
Touching Evil
Touching Evil, published in 2001, opens the second trilogy in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series -- the 'Evil' books -- following the opening Shadows trilogy and preceding Whisper of Evil. Like the rest of the series, it pairs police-procedural plotting with the unit's genuinely supernatural stakes.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Touching Evil - Book 5:
Whisper of Evil
Whisper of Evil, the fifth book in the series, was published in 2002 at 404 pages, continuing the 'Evil' trilogy that Touching Evil opened. As with every entry, Bishop's unit is deployed to a case regular law enforcement can't crack, relying on profilers whose psychic gifts are treated as real rather than ambiguous.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Whisper of Evil - Book 6:
Sense of Evil
Sense of Evil, published in 2003 at 350 pages, closes out the 'Evil' trilogy as the sixth Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel. It continues Hooper's pattern of loosely linked trilogies that slowly fill in Bishop's unit and its command structure while each still standing largely on its own.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sense of Evil - Book 7:
Hunting Fear
Hunting Fear, published in 2004 at 294 pages, opens the third trilogy in the series -- the 'Fear' books -- as the seventh Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel. It follows the same formula as its predecessors: an FBI task force of genuine psychics deployed against serial predators, cult violence and killers who leave almost no conventional evidence.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hunting Fear - Book 8:
Chill of Fear
Chill of Fear, the eighth book in the series, was published in 2005 at 453 pages, continuing the 'Fear' trilogy that Hunting Fear opened. It keeps the series' consistent blend of police-procedural plotting with supernatural stakes that are never explained away.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Chill of Fear - Book 9:
Sleeping with Fear
Sleeping with Fear, published in 2006 at 292 pages, closes the 'Fear' trilogy as the ninth Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel. Like the rest of the series, it slowly fills in Bishop's roster and command structure while each entry's own case stands largely on its own.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sleeping with Fear - Book 10:
Blood Dreams
Blood Dreams, the tenth book in the series, was published in 2007 at 340 pages, opening the fourth trilogy -- the 'Blood' books. It continues Hooper's pattern of an FBI task force whose profilers' precognition, telepathy and empathic sensing of violence are reliably, dangerously real.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Dreams - Book 11:
Blood Sins
Blood Sins, published in 2008 at 296 pages, continues the 'Blood' trilogy as the eleventh Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel, following Blood Dreams. It keeps the series' formula of the unit deployed against cases -- serial predators, cult violence -- that regular law enforcement can't crack.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Sins - Book 12:
Blood Ties
Kay Hooper placed Blood Ties as the twelfth Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel in 2010, closing out the 'Blood' trilogy between Blood Sins and Haven. It marks the point where the series' release rhythm slows and books space out more, though the internal chronology stays linear from here on.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Ties - Book 13:
Haven
Haven, the thirteenth book in the series, was published in 2012 at 326 pages, the first entry after the release rhythm slowed following Blood Ties. Like the later entries in the series, it increasingly foregrounds the unit's internal politics and the psychics' own relationships alongside the case of the week.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Haven - Book 14:
Hostage
Kay Hooper placed Hostage as the fourteenth Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel in 2013, between Haven and Haunted. Part of the series' later, slower-paced stretch, it continues to blend police-procedural plotting with the unit's genuinely supernatural stakes.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hostage - Book 15:
Haunted
Haunted, the fifteenth book in the series, was published in 2014 at 352 pages. Like the rest of the post-Haven entries, it foregrounds the psychics' own relationships and the internal politics of Bishop's unit alongside the case regular law enforcement couldn't crack.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Haunted - Book 16:
Fear the Dark
Kay Hooper placed Fear the Dark as the sixteenth Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel in 2015, between Haunted and Wait for Dark. Fifteen years into the series, it continues Hooper's consistent formula of genuinely supernatural stakes layered over standard police-procedural investigation.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fear the Dark - Book 17:
Wait for Dark
Wait for Dark, published in 2017 at 334 pages, continues the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series as its seventeenth entry, arriving after a widening gap in the series' later, slower release rhythm. It keeps the unit's psychics -- and their reliably real gifts -- at the center of the case.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wait for Dark - Book 18:
Hold Back the Dark
Hold Back the Dark, the eighteenth book in the series, was published in 2018 at 336 pages. Nearly two decades into the series, it continues Hooper's blend of procedural plotting and unambiguous supernatural stakes, with Bishop's unit still built around profilers whose visions are dangerously real.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hold Back the Dark - Book 19:
Hidden Salem
In the Bishop / Special Crimes Unit series, "Hidden Salem" (2020) follows the nineteenth position, arriving after "Hold Back the Dark" and ahead of "Curse of Salem".
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hidden Salem - Book 20:
Curse of Salem
Curse of Salem, the twentieth and most recent Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel, was published in 2021 by Kay Hooper. It closes out a two-book arc set in a town shaped by its witch-trial history that began with Hidden Salem the year before, and continues the series' two-decade run of blending procedural stakes with genuine psychic ability.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Curse of Salem
About the Bishop / Special Crimes Unit series
Kay Hooper's Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series follows an FBI task force built around agent Noah Bishop, who recruits and runs a shifting roster of profilers who all share a genuine psychic gift -- precognition, telepathy, empathic sensing of violence -- alongside standard investigative training. The unit is deployed to cases regular law enforcement can't crack: serial predators, cult violence, and killers who leave almost no conventional evidence behind. Hooper launched the series with a trilogy, Stealing Shadows, Hiding in the Shadows and Out of the Shadows (all 2000), before settling into a pattern of loosely linked trilogies -- the 'Evil' books, the 'Fear' books, the 'Blood' books -- that each stand largely on their own while slowly filling in Bishop's unit and its command structure. Later entries (from Haven onward) move to a slower release rhythm and increasingly foreground the unit's internal politics and the psychics' own relationships alongside the case of the week. Across two decades the series has stayed consistent in blending police-procedural plotting with genuinely supernatural stakes -- these are not psychics whose gift might be explained away, but people whose visions and hunches are reliably, dangerously real. The most recent entry, Curse of Salem (2021), closes out a two-book arc set in a town shaped by its witch-trial history that began with Hidden Salem the year before.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series?
Twenty novels, from Stealing Shadows (2000) to Curse of Salem (2021), plus the three-book Bishop Files companion series.
What order should I read the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit books in?
Publication order, starting with Stealing Shadows. The series unfolds as a sequence of trilogies that build on each other in sequence.
Is the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series connected to the Bishop Files books?
Yes -- Bishop Files is a companion trilogy set in the same FBI unit and world, but it runs alongside the main series rather than requiring it to be read first.
Is there a new Bishop/Special Crimes Unit book coming?
None has been announced as of this catalogue's most recent update; Curse of Salem (2021) is the most recent entry.
Are the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit books connected mysteries or a single ongoing story?
Each trilogy resolves its own case, but Bishop's unit, its roster of psychics and their relationships carry forward continuously across all twenty books.
If you like the Bishop / Special Crimes Unit series
Reading order last verified .