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Series · legal thriller

Jason Kolarich

by David Ellis

The Jason Kolarich series by David Ellis has 4 known books (4 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Hidden Man (2009). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Last Alibi.

Books
4 known books (4 novels)
Published
4
First published
2009
Status
hiatus
Shelved under
Thriller
Last checked

Start here: The Hidden Man (2009) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of The Hidden Man

The Hidden Man (2009)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Hidden Man

    Novel

    The Hidden Man (2009) introduces Jason Kolarich, a former college football player turned Chicago defense attorney, as a friend's suicide pulls him into a decades-old conspiracy -- the opening case in Edgar Award winner David Ellis's four-book series.

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  2. Breach of Trust

    Novel

    Two years after The Hidden Man, Breach of Trust (2011) sends Jason Kolarich into the middle of political corruption across 352 pages, continuing the courtroom authenticity and twist-heavy plotting Edgar Award winner David Ellis built his reputation on.

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  3. The Wrong Man

    Novel

    The Wrong Man (2012) grew to 411 pages, turning Kolarich's third case into a matter of wrongful identity as his personal relationships -- especially with colleague Shauna Tasker -- continue to escalate alongside the legal stakes.

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  4. The Last Alibi

    Novel

    At 537 pages, The Last Alibi (2013) is the longest Jason Kolarich novel, closing out the series by making Kolarich himself a suspect in a serial-murder investigation.

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About the Jason Kolarich series

Jason Kolarich is a former college football player turned Chicago criminal defense attorney, drawn into cases that mix courtroom strategy with street-level danger. Edgar Award-winning author David Ellis -- himself a practicing lawyer and Illinois appellate judge -- built the series on his trademark blend of tight legal procedure and personal stakes: The Hidden Man (2009) opens with a friend's suicide that pulls Kolarich into a decades-old conspiracy, while Breach of Trust (2011), The Wrong Man (2012) and The Last Alibi (2013) escalate through political corruption, wrongful identity and a serial-murder case with Kolarich himself as a suspect.

The series showcases the same courtroom authenticity and twist-heavy plotting that made Ellis's earlier standalones (Line of Vision, Life Sentence) award winners, applied to a single recurring protagonist for the first time in his solo career.

Frequently asked questions

How many Jason Kolarich books are there?

Four: The Hidden Man (2009), Breach of Trust (2011), The Wrong Man (2012) and The Last Alibi (2013).

Is David Ellis really a lawyer?

Yes -- Ellis practiced law in Chicago and later served as an Illinois Appellate Court justice, which informs the series' legal detail.

Is the series connected to David Ellis's James Patterson collaborations?

No. Jason Kolarich is Ellis's own creation, separate from the Billy Harney, Invisible or standalone novels he co-wrote with James Patterson.

Is the Jason Kolarich series ongoing?

No new entry has appeared since The Last Alibi in 2013, and none has been announced.

Reading order last verified .