Detective Michael Bennett is about to take on the most sinister challenge of his career. The nation has fallen into mourning after the unexpected death of a beloved former first lady, and the most powerful people in the world gather in New York for her funeral. Then the inconceivable occurs. Billionaires, politicians, and superstars of every kind are suddenly trapped within one man's brilliant and ruthless scenario. Bennett--father of ten--is pulled into the fray. As the danger escalates, Michael is hit with devastating news. After fighting for many years, his wife has succumbed to a terrible disease. As New York descends into chaos, he has lost the great love of his life and faces raising his ten devastated children alone--and rescuing 34 hostages. Day after day, Bennett confronts the most ruthless man he has ever dealt with, a man who kills without hesitation and counters everything the NYPD and FBI throw at him with impunity. As the entire world watches and the tension boils to a searing heat, Bennett has to find a way out--or face responsibility for the greatest debacle in history.
The series
In the shadows of New York City’s chaos, where high-profile crimes collide with the everyday grit of street life, one man stands at the intersection of both worlds—with ten kids at home and a badge on his chest. The Michael Bennett series thrives on contradiction: it’s part gritty police procedural, part intimate family drama, and all heart-pounding tension.
Read full series description
This isn’t your typical crime thriller. The pulse of the city runs through every scene, from hostage crises in glittering Manhattan penthouses to quiet, tense dinners around a worn kitchen table in the Bronx. Bennett is a detective who carries more than a gun—he carries the weight of being a single father, a protector, and a man constantly pulled between duty and devotion.
What makes the series stand apart is its emotional core. The cases may be cinematic in scale—terror plots, serial killers, corruption that cuts deep—but the real suspense is personal. With his sprawling, unconventional family always in the background, every choice Bennett makes reverberates beyond the crime scene. That balance between explosive action and tender vulnerability gives the story its punch—and its staying power.
Taut, fast-paced, and unflinching, the writing delivers thriller lovers everything they crave: layered mysteries, moral ambiguity, and a protagonist whose humanity is as compelling as his detective instincts. The Michael Bennett novels don’t just tell stories of justice—they ask what justice costs, and who pays for it in the end.
For those drawn to character-driven crime fiction set against the relentless thrum of urban life, this series offers both the adrenaline of high-stakes investigation and the quiet, stubborn hope of a man trying to hold his world together, one case—and one dinner table conversation—at a time.
#1 · 2007Step on a Crack 
#2 · 2009Run for Your Life 
#3 · 2010Worst Case 
#4 · 2011Tick Tock 
#5 · 2012I, Michael Bennett 
#6 · 2013Gone 
#7 · 2014Burn 
#8 · 2015Alert 
#9 · 2016Bullseye 
#10 · 2017Haunted 
#11 · 2018Ambush 
#12 · 2020Blindside 
#13 · 2021The Russian 
#14 · 2022Shattered 
#15 · 2023Obsessed 
#16 · 2024Crosshairs 
#17 · 2025Paranoia 
#18 · 2026Delusional 
#19 · 2027Michael Bennett Book 19 Be the first reviewer
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