Burning Girl
supernatural thriller
Series · thriller
Zig & Nola
The Zig & Nola series by Brad Meltzer has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Escape Artist (2018). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Viper.
- Books
- 3 known books (3 novels)
- Published
- 3
- First published
- 2018
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Thriller
- Last checked
Start here: The Escape Artist (2018) — 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:
The Escape Artist
The Escape Artist opens the series in March 2018 at 434 pages, pairing Dover Air Force Base mortician Zig Zigarowski with reclusive Army artist-in-residence Nola Brown when Zig realizes the woman in a casket isn't who the paperwork says she is.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Escape Artist - Book 2:
The Lightning Rod
The Lightning Rod followed almost exactly four years later, in March 2022, at 432 pages, continuing Zig and Nola's uneasy partnership into further buried military and family secrets.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Lightning Rod - Book 3:
The Viper
The Viper closes Brad Meltzer's Zig & Nola trilogy in January 2026 as its shortest entry at 400 pages, continuing Dover Air Force Base mortician Jim 'Zig' Zigarowski and Army artist-in-residence Nola Brown's partnership after The Lightning Rod. Also marketed as the Escape Artist series, it builds on Meltzer's research into Dover's real port mortuary operations for a procedural texture distinct from his earlier Washington-conspiracy novels.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Viper
About the Zig & Nola series
Also marketed under its first book's title as the "Escape Artist" series, this trilogy pairs Jim "Zig" Zigarowski, a mortician at the U.S. military's official mortuary at Dover Air Force Base who prepares America's war dead and quietly investigates anything that looks wrong about a death, with Nola Brown, the U.S. Army's reclusive artist-in-residence, whose sketchbook skills mask a far more dangerous set of talents and a past she works hard to keep buried. The Escape Artist opens when a body arrives at Dover for a routine case and Zig realizes the woman in the casket isn't who the paperwork says she is -- setting off a conspiracy that pulls in Nola, believed dead, and forces the two into an uneasy partnership. The Lightning Rod and The Viper continue their partnership across further investigations into buried military and family secrets.
Meltzer built the series around his own research into Dover's real port mortuary operations and its unusually intimate role in how the military and the families of the fallen confront death, giving the books a procedural texture distinct from his earlier Washington-conspiracy novels.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Zig & Nola series?
Three so far: The Escape Artist (2018), The Lightning Rod (2022), and The Viper (2026).
Is this the same as the 'Escape Artist' series?
Yes -- some retailers and editions use 'Escape Artist' (the first book's title) as the series name; this catalogue uses 'Zig & Nola,' the character-based name used on the two most recent covers.
Who are Zig and Nola?
Jim 'Zig' Zigarowski is a mortician at the U.S. military's Dover Air Force Base mortuary; Nola Brown is the Army's artist-in-residence, whose sketchbook work conceals a much more dangerous skill set.
If you like the Zig & Nola series
Reading order last verified .