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Series · espionage thriller

The Handler

by M.P. Woodward

The Handler series by M.P. Woodward has 2 known books (2 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Handler (2022). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Dead Drop.

Books
2 known books (2 novels)
Published
2
First published
2022
Status
ongoing
Shelved under
Thriller
Last checked

Start here: The Handler (2022) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of The Handler

The Handler (2022)

Reading order

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

  1. The Handler

    Novel

    M.P. Woodward, a former naval intelligence officer, opened The Handler in May 2022 at 448 pages, forcing rising CIA case officer Meredith Morris-Dale and her ex-husband John, a once-brilliant field handler, back together to extract a defecting Iranian nuclear scientist.

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  2. Dead Drop

    Novel

    Dead Drop followed almost exactly a year later, in May 2023, at 416 pages, escalating with a mole hunt that threatens to expose both Dales' pasts and picks up directly from the first book's fallout.

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About The Handler

Meredith Morris-Dale is a rising CIA case officer; John Dale is her ex-husband, a once-brilliant field handler whose career and marriage both imploded after a catastrophic operation. M.P. Woodward — a former naval intelligence officer who later worked in tech — draws on real tradecraft to build a series about the messy overlap of professional and personal betrayal inside the Agency. In The Handler (2022), Meredith and John are forced back together to extract a defecting Iranian nuclear scientist, an operation that reopens old wounds even as it demands they trust each other again; Dead Drop (2023) escalates the stakes with a mole hunt that threatens to expose both of their pasts.

Woodward's prose leans procedural and technically dense — dead drops, compartmentalized intelligence, the bureaucratic friction between agencies — in the vein of a modern, character-driven le Carré rather than a shoot-first action thriller, with the Dale marriage's wreckage as the emotional engine underneath the tradecraft.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in The Handler series?

Two: The Handler (2022) and Dead Drop (2023). No third book has been announced.

What order should I read The Handler books in?

Publication order: The Handler, then Dead Drop, which continues the story directly.

Is M.P. Woodward still writing The Handler series?

No new installment has been announced since Dead Drop (2023); Woodward has since become one of the lead continuation authors for Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series.

Reading order last verified .