Lawler has written three books, including The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
Lawler is an intrepid guide to this treacherous territory,” noted The Economist, which called The Secret Token “lively and engaging,”[5] though The Wall Street Journal chided the author for giving a “social justice” spin to the tale.
[6] His most recent publication is Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City,[7][8] which The Washington Post called "a sweeping tale of archaeological exploits and their cultural and political consequences told with a historian’s penchant for detail and a journalist’s flair for narration.
"[10] His fourth book, A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution has a January 2025 release date.
Historian Gerald Horne said, "this pathbreaking book is a gift this troubled nation needs as it approaches its 250th anniversary.