Colter Shaw
thriller
Series · mystery
Rune
The Rune series by Jeffery Deaver has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Manhattan Is My Beat (1988).
- Books
- 3 books
- First published
- 1988
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: Manhattan Is My Beat (1988) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Manhattan Is My Beat
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Manhattan Is My Beat - Book 2:
Death of a Blue Movie Star
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death of a Blue Movie Star - Book 3:
Hard News
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hard News
About the Rune series
Rune is a young, single-named video store clerk and aspiring documentary filmmaker in 1980s New York who investigates crimes with a camera as often as with logic, treating each case as raw footage for the film she's always trying to make. It's the earliest series Jeffery Deaver wrote, launched with Manhattan Is My Beat in 1988, and its offbeat, artistically-minded amateur sleuth stands apart from the professional investigators (cops, forensic experts, kinesics analysts) who populate the rest of his body of work.
Across three novels Rune's cases move through the New York film and media world Deaver mined for period atmosphere — video piracy, underground pornography, and cutthroat local television news in Hard News (1991) — giving the trilogy a distinctly late-1980s New York flavor. It's a curiosity for readers who want to see Deaver's earliest voice before the Lincoln Rhyme series defined his signature style.
How to read this series
Publication order: Manhattan Is My Beat (1988), Death of a Blue Movie Star (1990), then Hard News (1991). A short, complete trilogy — read in order for Rune's development, though each case stands on its own.
Frequently asked questions
How many Rune books are there?
Three novels: Manhattan Is My Beat (1988), Death of a Blue Movie Star (1990) and Hard News (1991).
What order should I read the Rune books in?
Publication order. The trilogy is complete and each book is a self-contained mystery.
Is Rune connected to Deaver's other series?
No — it's his earliest series, with an entirely separate cast, written before Lincoln Rhyme.
Is there a new Rune book coming?
No. The trilogy has been complete since Hard News (1991).
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Reading order last verified .