Reader Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything readers ask most often about the books, the series order, and where to start. Each answer is short first, then the detail.
Who is Dave Bartell?
Dave Bartell is an American thriller author and the writer of the Darwin Lacroix Adventure series, ten thrillers published through his independent imprint, Triple Shot Press. He also writes the Zac Johnson series. He lives in Los Gatos, California.
I write the kind of book that starts with something real, a lava tube, a looted museum inventory, a coin cache in a Caucasus museum, and then asks what the official version of events left out. The research is the fun part. The chase is what you get.
What kind of books does Dave Bartell write?
Dave Bartell writes thrillers: fast, contemporary adventure novels built on real archaeology, real geography and real science. Readers who enjoy Steve Berry, Clive Cussler, Daniel Silva and Ernest Dempsey tend to find them familiar territory.
Every book starts from something documented. A Roman scroll under Vesuvius. The Knights Templar’s treasury. Operation Paperclip. The forensic audits that catch museums swapping originals for copies, and the freeports where the originals quietly end up. The story is invented; the ground underneath it is not.
How many Darwin Lacroix books are there?
There are ten published Darwin Lacroix novels and three novellas. The novels run from Roman Ice through to Tahitian Vault, and the novellas are Corsican Gold, Vulcan Legacy and Alexander’s Gold.
What is the first Darwin Lacroix book?
Roman Ice is the first Darwin Lacroix novel and the place to start the series. It introduces Darwin Lacroix, volcanologist Eyrún Stefansdóttir and Zac Johnson, and it sets up the discovery the rest of the series builds on.
A diamond cache surfaces in Iceland, Darwin gets on the first flight to Reykjavik to finish what his ancestors started, and a cartel that plays for keeps is already ahead of him.
What order should I read the Darwin Lacroix books in?
Read them in numbered order, starting with Roman Ice: Roman Ice, Lost Library, Templar’s Bank, Tuscan Hoax, Sinai Deceit, Genesis Plague, Louvre Escape, Celtic Omen, Signal Code, Tahitian Vault. Publication order and story order are the same.
The full list with buy links, plus where the three novellas fit, is on the reading order page.
Do I need to read the Darwin Lacroix books in order?
No. Each novel resolves its own discovery and its own threat, so any of them can be read on its own. Reading in order gives you the relationships in the order they were built, and one arc runs across Tuscan Hoax, Louvre Escape and Celtic Omen that reads best in sequence.
Is Darwin Lacroix a real person?
No. Darwin Lacroix is a fictional archaeologist created by Dave Bartell. He is the Founder of the Agrippa Centre for Archaeology, an independent NGO based in Corsica, and Special Director of Archaeology by Papal appointment.
The institutions he moves through are real enough to check. He isn’t.
Are the Darwin Lacroix books based on real archaeology and history?
Yes. Every novel is built on documented archaeology, history or science, then pushed into fiction. Iceland’s lava tube systems, the lost Library of Alexandria, the Knights Templar, Operation Paperclip and the Pacific gold rumours of 1945 all sit under the stories as real material.
Where the record stops, the novel starts. That gap is where most of these books were born.
Where are the Darwin Lacroix books set?
The series moves across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Pacific and Antarctica. Iceland, Rome, Egypt, Paris, Corsica, Tuscany, Zurich, Kyrgyzstan, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Tibet, Bora Bora and the ice tunnels below the Drygalski Glacier all carry chapters.
Corsica is the fixed point. The Agrippa Centre for Archaeology is based there, and Darwin and Eyrún come back to it between digs.
Are the Darwin Lacroix books on Kindle Unlimited?
Yes. Every Darwin Lacroix novel and novella is ebook-exclusive to Amazon and enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, so subscribers can read the whole series at no extra cost. Print and audio editions are sold separately.
Are there audiobooks of the Darwin Lacroix books?
Yes, for much of the series. Audiobook editions of the earlier Darwin Lacroix novels are available on Audible, and the current list is on the Dave Bartell Audible author page.
Where can I buy Dave Bartell’s books?
All Darwin Lacroix ebooks are sold on Amazon and included in Kindle Unlimited, with paperback and audiobook editions available for most of the series. Start with Roman Ice, or browse the full list in reading order.
Is there a free Dave Bartell book?
Yes. Vulcan Legacy, a Darwin Lacroix prequel novella, is free when you join the newsletter. Containment, the Zac Johnson origin novella, is free to read in Kindle Unlimited.
Is there a free Darwin Lacroix book?
Yes. Vulcan Legacy, a Darwin Lacroix prequel novella, is free for newsletter subscribers. It tells the ancient origin of the treasure Darwin later hunts in Roman Ice, set in Herculaneum in 54 CE, and closes with the present-day discovery that starts his quest.
Sign up at davebartell.com/join and it comes straight to you. Roman Ice itself is not available free anywhere.
What is SPEAR Ops, and is it connected to the Darwin Lacroix series?
The Zac Johnson thrillers are Dave Bartell’s second series. SPEAR Ops, the covert unit at their center, is Zac’s organization the way the Agrippa Centre is Darwin’s. Zac Johnson appears in both the Zac Johnson thrillers and the Darwin Lacroix novels, which is the link between them; there is no shared storyline and no required order.
Containment is the Zac Johnson origin novella, on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited. Threshold State, the first Zac Johnson novel, is available to pre-order now and releases 1 November 2026.
When is the next Dave Bartell book out?
Threshold State, the first Zac Johnson novel, is available to pre-order now and releases 1 November 2026. New releases, cover reveals and pre-orders go to newsletter subscribers first, usually well before anything appears on Amazon.
Join the newsletter at davebartell.com/join.
Who publishes Dave Bartell’s books?
Triple Shot Press, an independent imprint Dave Bartell co-runs, publishes the Darwin Lacroix Adventure series and the Zac Johnson series.
Where can I read more about the characters?
The Character Guide introduces Darwin, Eyrún, Zac and the wider cast, written so that nothing is spoiled if you have not started the series yet.
Start with Roman Ice
One book answers most of these questions better than a page can. Iceland, a diamond cache, and a family name to clear.