Finished The Da Vinci Code and looking for authors like Dan Brown? Start with Steve Berry or Raymond Khoury for Templar-flavoured treasure hunts, or James Rollins for the Sigma Force series, and check each series’ order before you buy.
The entry-point question applies to every writer below, and our guide on which book to read first by an author covers the general approach.
Where Brown’s own series begins
The most common mistake is assuming that a famous thriller is the first book in its series. According to Goodreads, The Da Vinci Code is Robert Langdon book two, published in 2003. Dan Brown has sold more than 200 million novels globally (a 2019 update). Many readers therefore met the Langdon series in the middle, and that is a fair way to read it.
Readalike series do not always work that way. The table compares the entry points of Brown’s book and several readalikes.
| Book | Series position | Published | Planning use |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) | Robert Langdon, #2 | 2003 | The benchmark. A reader can enter a series at book two, but should check the order first. |
| Map of Bones (James Rollins) | Sigma Force, #2 | 2005 | Skip it as a first read. Sandstorm is described as the launch pad of the Sigma Force series. |
| The Eight (Katherine Neville) | The Eight, #1 | 1988 | A true series opener, and an older one than Brown’s novel. |
| The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón) | The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1 | 2001 | A series opener that sits on Goodreads’ like-Dan-Brown shelf. |
| Extraordinary People (Peter May) | Enzo Files, #1 | 2006 | A series opener from the same shelf. |
Series positions and dates come from Goodreads’ like-Dan-Brown shelf, and the Sandstorm note comes from Early Bird Books.
The pattern is that the book with the best-known title is not always the one to open first. Neville’s The Eight shows the secret-history thriller was already established in 1988, years before The Da Vinci Code appeared in 2003. The rest of this guide sorts the authors by the Brown trait they match best.
History-led treasure hunts
Readers who came to Brown for the sense that real history sits behind the plot should start here. These authors build their mysteries around historical subjects, and the Templars feature prominently.
Steve Berry
Berry’s Knights Templar series starts with The Templar Legacy, the first book in the Cotton Malone series, according to one reader roundup. The same review says he conducts two to three years of research for each book. It also notes that each novel ends with a note distinguishing historical fact, conjecture and fiction.
That closing note is what makes Berry the sharpest match for the historical side of Brown. It suits readers who finish a thriller wanting to know which parts were real.
Raymond Khoury
The same review says The Last Templar is the first in Khoury’s Sean Reilly series. It is a clean starting point for readers who want the Templar subject matter in a series with a defined opening book. A reader who has already tried Berry gets a different set of characters and a separate series from Khoury.
Church secrets and Langdon-style pairs
If your favourite part of Brown is the investigator and the Vatican-shadowed setting, these picks follow that thread more closely than the treasure-hunt authors do.
- Sam Cabot, Blood of the Lamb. Early Bird Books says fans of Brown’s Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu will fit right in with Cabot’s leading pair: Thomas Kelly, a Jesuit priest, and Livia Pietro, an art historian. The series starts in 2013. It is the closest match here for the two-lead dynamic.
- Sam Christer, The Rome Prophecy. The same roundup calls it a Da Vinci Code-style novel. An ex-priest, Tom Shaman, investigates a prophet’s arrest in Rome.
- Ashwin Sanghi, the Bharat series. A reader review calls him the Dan Brown of India. The Krishna Key is book three of the series, so check the order before choosing a first title. The label is reviewer shorthand, and a sample chapter will show whether the pace suits you.
Action-first and wider-ranging picks
Some readers want the chase more than the lecture. These authors push the same appetite toward faster action or a different setting.
James Rollins and R.D. Brady
Rollins writes the Sigma Force series. Because Map of Bones is the second book, Sandstorm is the better opening, being the launch pad of the series. R.D. Brady offers another series route: she describes The Belial Stone as the first book in her Belial Series.
Douglas Preston
One reviewer recommends starting with The Codex or The Ice Limit before moving to the Pendergast series, according to the same roundup. That gives you a taste of Preston without committing to a long series at the outset.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
The Captain Alatriste series is called excellent in that review. For something self-contained, it points to the standalones The Dumas Club and The Seville Communion. A Brown fan after a book-centred mystery should try a standalone first.
Choosing between them
Decide what you valued most in Brown, then let that point you to one author rather than sampling all of them.
- You want to know what is real. Choose Steve Berry. His closing note separating fact, conjecture and fiction is the clearest support for that interest.
- You liked the investigating pair. Try Sam Cabot’s priest-and-art-historian leads, which one roundup likens to Langdon and Neveu.
- You want a ready-made series. Go to Khoury’s Sean Reilly books or Rollins’ Sigma Force, entering at the launch title rather than the numbered title you happen to see.
- You are wary of commitment. Take a standalone or a side door: Preston’s The Codex or The Ice Limit, or one of Pérez-Reverte’s standalones.
- You trust labels too easily. Treat tags such as the Dan Brown of India as a prompt to read a sample, not as proof of fit.
If this reading leads you to browse more broadly, you could continue with Famous Female Authors: A Concise Guide To 25 Essential Writers (2026) or Storytellers Who Shaped Childhood: 12 Famous Children’s Authors Every Parent And Teacher Should Know (2026 Guide).
Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is there a standalone thriller that suits Brown fans? | Nelson DeMille’s The Quest is a standalone novel, separate from his John Corey series, according to a reader roundup. |
| How widely has Dan Brown sold? | The Da Vinci Code author has sold more than 200 million novels globally, per a 2019 update from Early Bird Books. |
| Is the Magdalene Line a finished series? | It is a trilogy, and the reviewer noted that only two parts were out when the review was written. Check the current publication status before starting. |
