The Checquy Files
#2114.10 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Ongoing 2012–present Reading commitment Medium Daniel O'Malley Last reviewed 2026-08-19
Overview
The Checquy Files (Daniel O'Malley) follows agents of a secret British government body that manages supernatural threats to the United Kingdom, blending spy-thriller plotting with body-horror-adjacent superpowers and bureaucratic comedy. Four novels have been published so far: The Rook (2012), Stiletto (2016), Blitz (2020), and Royal Gambit (2025). The second novel, Stiletto, follows tense peace negotiations between the Checquy and the Grafters, a rival Belgian organisation that engineers supernatural abilities through surgical body modification rather than innate powers, forcing agents from both sides to cooperate despite a violent shared history; it was reviewed on release by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and other trade and general outlets. The series opens with a protagonist waking with amnesia inside the Checquy's own ranks, a device that lets O'Malley introduce the organisation's bureaucracy and powers alongside the reader across the opening novel.
Urban fantasy, Comic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
The Checquy Files Daniel O'Malley
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Rook | 2012 | 1 | core | 4.09 (64,824 ratings) |
 | Stiletto | 2016 | 2 | core | 4.14 (22,960 ratings) |
 | Blitz | 2020 | 3 | core | 4.02 (5,629 ratings) |
 | Royal Gambit | 2025 | 4 | core | 4.32 (2,539 ratings) |
A paranormal secret-agency series (a British government body that polices supernatural threats), in the same urban/secret-history fantasy mode this canon already admits for Rivers of London and Ninth House. Four books published 2012-2025; no announced conclusion, treated as in_progress.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Checquy Files? The Checquy Files's Core Canon is 4 books.
- What is the reading order for The Checquy Files? Publication order, starting with The Rook. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Checquy Files finished? Ongoing (2012–present).
- How much reading does The Checquy Files take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books · ~1,999 pages).
- How is The Checquy Files ranked? #211 in this site's official ranking, based on 95,952 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #211?
Ranked #211 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.10 across 4 core books.
- A smaller readership (95,952 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #210, The Chronicles of Prydain (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 4 books · Ongoing · 96k ratings · Ranks #211 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length urban fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- The Rook (2012)
- Stiletto (2016)
- Blitz (2020)
- Royal Gambit (2025)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No award nominations found for this series as of admission; award recognition is not a requirement for admission.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.10 across 95,952 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Checquy Files admitted; all 4 books registered as one continuous Core Canon sequence accepted 2026-08-19
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19
Rule: Core Canon = all 4 published novels, a single continuous author-controlled sequence with no disputed authorship. The series sits at the fantasy/urban-fantasy boundary the same way this canon already treats Rivers of London and Ninth House; admitted per the genre-boundary transparency convention rather than silently assumed.