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Series · young adult

Virals

by Kathy Reichs

The Virals series by Kathy Reichs has 9 known books (9 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Virals (2010). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Spike.

Books
9 known books (5 novels + 4 short stories)
Published
9
First published
2010
Status
completed
Shelved under
Young Adult
Last checked

Start here: Virals (2010) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of Virals

Virals (2010)

Reading order

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

  1. Virals

    Novel

    Virals (2010) opens the series with Tory Brennan -- Temperance Brennan's grand-niece -- and three friends on Loggerhead Island infected by an experimental canine parvovirus strain after rescuing a wolf-dog pup, gaining heightened senses and pack-like abilities they use to solve a decades-old murder. It runs 454 pages.

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  2. Seizure

    Novel

    Seizure, the second Virals novel at 491 pages, continues Tory Brennan and her infected friends' forensic-grounded mysteries on Loggerhead Island, followed by the interstitial novella Shift.

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  3. Shift

    Short story

    Shift (2013) is one of four interstitial novellas between the Virals novels, filling in smaller-scale mysteries and character moments the main books don't have room for -- this one slotting in between Seizure and Code.

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  4. Code

    Novel

    Code (2013), the third Virals novel at 408 pages, keeps Tory Brennan's infected pack of friends investigating with the forensic-science rigor Kathy Reichs brought over from her adult Temperance Brennan novels.

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  5. Swipe

    Short story

    Swipe (2013) is another of the interstitial Virals novellas, a short side-story slotting in between Code and Exposure with character material the full-length novels don't have room for. It runs 87 pages.

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  6. Exposure

    Novel

    Exposure, the fourth Virals novel at 418 pages, escalates Tory Brennan's story toward the corporate conspiracies and government interest in the teens' abilities that drive the series' back half.

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  7. Shock

    Short story

    Shock (2015) is one of four interstitial novellas filling in shorter side-stories between the five full-length Virals novels, slotting in ahead of the first book with smaller-scale mysteries and character moments.

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  8. Terminal

    Novel

    Terminal (2015) closes out the five main Virals novels, the culmination of Tory Brennan's escalating confrontations with a rival infected pack and the forces hunting her group's abilities.

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  9. Spike

    Short story

    Spike, the final interstitial Virals novella, slots in after Terminal with smaller-scale character material rounding out Tory Brennan's story. It runs 84 pages.

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About the Virals series

A YA spin-off from Kathy Reichs's adult Temperance Brennan novels, co-written with her son Brendan Reichs, Virals follows Tory Brennan — Tempe's grand-niece — and three friends on Loggerhead Island, South Carolina, where their scientist parents run a research institute. After rescuing a wolf-dog pup infected with an experimental canine parvovirus strain, the four teens are themselves infected, gaining heightened senses, strength and pack-like abilities that flare unpredictably under stress. What starts as a way of using their new abilities to solve local mysteries — beginning with a decades-old murder in Virals (2010) — escalates across the series into confrontations with a rival infected pack, corporate conspiracies around the virus's origins, and a government that wants the teens' abilities for its own purposes.

Reichs brings the same forensic-science rigor from the adult Temperance Brennan books to the YA series, grounding the biological premise and crime-solving in real procedure even as the plot leans further into thriller and light science-fiction territory as it progresses. Four interstitial novellas — Shock, Shift, Swipe and Spike — fill in shorter side-stories between the five full-length novels, following the same characters through smaller-scale mysteries and personal moments the main books don't have room for.

Frequently asked questions

How many Virals books are there?

Nine titles in total: five main novels (Virals, Seizure, Code, Exposure, Terminal) and four shorter novellas (Shock, Shift, Swipe, Spike). The series is complete.

What order should I read the Virals books in?

By series number: Shock (0.5), Virals (1), Seizure (2), Shift (2.5), Code (3), Swipe (3.5), Exposure (4), Terminal (5), Spike (5.5). The five main novels can be read alone if you skip the novellas.

Is Virals connected to the Temperance Brennan series?

Yes — protagonist Tory Brennan is Temperance Brennan's grand-niece, and Tempe makes background appearances, but the YA series is fully self-contained and requires no prior reading of the adult novels.

Who writes the Virals series?

Kathy Reichs, co-writing with her son Brendan Reichs, who has also gone on to write his own YA fiction separately.

Is Virals finished?

Yes, complete at nine titles published between 2010 and 2016, concluding with the novella Spike.

Reading order last verified .