Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, best known for his 2020 award-winning thriller, ''The Chain'', and the Sean Duffy novels set in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

during

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. He is a winner of the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the "Macavity, mystery cat ...

, the Ned Kelly Award, the Barry Award, the

Audie Award The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...

, the

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

and the International Thriller Writers Award. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière The (or the Police Literature Grand Prize) is a French literary award, literary prize founded in 1948 by author and literary critic Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe. It is the most prestigious award for crime fiction, crime and detective fiction in Franc ...

Biography

Early life

McKinty was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 1968. The fourth of five children, he grew up in the Victoria area of

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. His father was a welder and

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

at the

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

shipyard before becoming a merchant seaman. He grew up reading science fiction and crime novels by the likes of

Ursula Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

, J G Ballard and Jim Thompson. He studied law at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

and politics and philosophy at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. After graduating from Oxford in 1993, McKinty moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and found work in a number of occupations: security guard, barman, bookstore clerk, rugby coach, door to door salesman and librarian for the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Library. In 1999, while his wife studied for a Fulbright in Israel, McKinty played loose head prop forward for the Jerusalem Lions Rugby Club. In 2000, he relocated to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado, to become a high school English teacher.

Writing career

After writing several short stories, a novella and book reviews, his debut crime novel, '' Dead I Well May Be'', was published by Scribner in 2003. The book was followed by two sequels in what would become to be known as the Michael Forsythe Trilogy. Alongside these, McKinty wrote the three books in his Lighthouse Trilogy, a series of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

novels set in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, his native

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and the fictional

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila (constellation), Aquila and the list of brightest stars, twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinisation of name ...

. In 2008 McKinty moved with his family to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, to become a full-time writer. He found his greatest success and critical acclaim with the Sean Duffy series, following the eponymous Royal Ulster Constabulary Sergeant during

, beginning with 2012's ''The Cold Cold Ground''. In 2019, the author made this comment about that novel: "It didn't sell very well, but it ended up getting the best reviews of my career. I got shortlisted for an Edgar, won a couple of awards, and so then that set me on that path for the next six years of reluctantly, kind of being dragged into writing about Northern Ireland in the 1980s". The third Duffy book, ''

In the Morning I'll Be Gone ''In the Morning I'll be Gone'' is a 2014 novel by Belfast born novelist Adrian McKinty which won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel. It is the third in the author's Sean Duffy series, following ''The Cold Cold Ground'' and ''I Hear the Sir ...

'', won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel. McKinty has been an especially astute observer of class in fiction. He also began working as a writer and reviewer for a number of publications including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', ''The Washington Post'', ''The Independent'', ''The Australian'', ''The Irish Times'' and ''Harpers''.

Quitting writing and ''The Chain''

McKinty quit writing in 2017 after being evicted from his rented house, citing a lack of income from his novels, and instead took work as an

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

driver and a bartender. Upon hearing of his situation, fellow crime author

Don Winslow Don Winslow (born October 31, 1953) is an American political activist and retired author best known for his crime novels including ''Savages (novel), Savages'', ''The Force'' and the Cartel Trilogy. Early life Winslow was born on Staten Isl ...

passed some of his books to his agent, the screenwriter and producer

Shane Salerno Shane Salerno (born November 27, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, and Chief Creative Officer of The Story Factory, which has put 32 books on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list, with seven books hitting #1. His writing credits in ...

. In a late-night phone call, Salerno persuaded McKinty to write what would become ''The Chain''. Salerno loaned the author ("advance on the advance") $10,000 to help him survive financially during the process. The stand-alone thriller was inspired by the

chain letters A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a Tree (graph theory), tree graph) that cannot b ...

of his youth and contemporary reports of hostage exchanges. McKinty returned to writing after the book landed him a six-figure English-language book deal, and was optioned for a film adaptation by Paramount Pictures. In an interview on CBS McKinty talked about never giving up and took the interviewer, Jeff Glor, to Plum Island, Massachusetts, where ''The Chain'' is set. ''The Chain'' was published in 37 countries.

Reception

Patrick Anderson of the ''Washington Post'' has praised McKinty as a leading light of the "new wave" of Irish crime novelists along with Ken Bruen, Declan Hughes and John Connolly. He often uses the classic noir tropes of revenge and betrayal to explore his characters'

existential Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

quest for meaning in a bleak but lyrically intense universe. Steve Dougherty writing in ''The Wall Street Journal'' praised McKinty's use of irony and humour as a counterpoint to the violent world inhabited by McKinty's Sean Duffy character. Liam McIlvanney, writing in the ''Irish Times'', singled out McKinty's lyrical prose style as the defining characteristic of the Duffy series. Some reviewers have criticised the explicit use of violence in his novels. However, in reviewing McKinty's ''Fifty Grand'' in ''The Guardian'', John O'Connor called him a "master craftsman of violence and redemption, up there with the likes of Dennis Lehane." His novel ''The Dead Yard'' was selected by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' as one of the 12 Best Novels of 2006.

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

selected ''Falling Glass'' as the Best Mystery or Thriller of 2011. ''In the Morning I'll Be Gone'' was named as one of the 10 best crime novels of 2014 by the American Library Association. In 2016, ''The Guardian'' included book 5 of the Sean Duffy series, ''Rain Dogs'', about the investigation of a death at

Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of B ...

, in their "The best recent thrillers" coverage.

Awards and honours

*2004 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award shortlist for ''Dead I Well May Be'' * 2007 Audie Award for Best Thriller/Suspense for ''The Dead Yard''. *2008 Young Hoosier Award and Beehive Award shortlist for ''The Lighthouse Land'' *2009

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright ...

Award longlist for ''The Bloomsday Dead'' *2010 Spinetingler Award for Best Novel for ''Fifty Grand'' *2011 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award longlist for ''Fifty Grand'' *2013 Spinetingler Award for Best Crime Novel for ''The Cold Cold Ground'' *2013 Prix Du Meilleur Polar shortlist for ''The Cold Cold Ground'' *2013 Crime Fest Last Laugh Award shortlist for ''The Cold Cold Ground'' *2013 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel shortlist for ''I Hear the Sirens in the Street'' *2014

Barry Award (for crime novels) The Barry Award is a crime literary prize awarded annually since 1997 by the editors of ''Deadly Pleasures'', an American quarterly publication for crime fiction readers. From 2007 to 2009 the award was jointly presented with the publication ''My ...

for Best Mystery Novel (Paperback Original) for ''I Hear the Sirens in the Street'' * 2014 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière shortlist for ''I Hear the Sirens in the Street'' *2014 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award shortlist for ''I Hear the Sirens in the Street'' *2014 Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction for ''In the Morning I'll Be Gone'' *2015 Audie Award For Best Thriller shortlist for ''In the Morning I'll Be Gone'' *2015 Prix SNCF Du Polar shortlist for ''The Cold Cold Ground'' * 2015 Ned Kelly Award shortlist for ''Gun Street Girl'' *2015 ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' Best Book of 2015 for ''Gun Street Girl'' *2015 ''Irish Times'' Best Crime Novel of 2015 for ''Gun Street Girl'' *2016

(Best Paperback Original) shortlist for ''Gun Street Girl'' * 2016

for Best Mystery shortlist for ''Gun Street Girl'' *2016 ''Boston Globe'' Best Book of 2016 for ''Rain Dogs'' *2016 ''Irish Times'' Best Crime Novel of 2016 for ''Rain Dogs'' * 2016 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award shortlist for ''Rain Dogs'' *2016 Ned Kelly Award shortlist for ''Rain Dogs'' *2016 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger shortlist for ''Rain Dogs'' *2017

(Best Paperback Original) for ''Rain Dogs'' *2017 Barry Award for ''Rain Dogs'' *2017

(Best Paperback Original) for ''Rain Dogs'' *2017 Ned Kelly Award for ''Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly'' *2017 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award shortlist for ''Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly'' *2017 ''Boston Globe'' Best Book of 2017 for ''Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly'' *2018 International Thriller Writers Awards (Best Paperback Original Novel) shortlist for ''Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly'' *2019 ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine Books of the Year for ''The Chain'' *2020 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2020 winner for ''The Chain.'' *2020 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award longlist for ''The Chain''; CWA Body in the Library longlist for ''The Chain'' *2020 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel, ''The Chain.'' *2020 Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction for ''The Chain.'' *2020

Macavity Awards The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. ...

for Best Mystery Novel by Mystery Readers International for ''The Chain.'' *2020

for Best Mystery Novel winner for ''The Chain.'' *2022 ''In The Morning I'll Be Gone'' winner of the Prix Polar Pourpres for Best Mystery Novel *202
Best Thrillers of 2022
for ''The Island''. ''New York Times'' *202
Best Thrillers of 2023
for ''The Detective Up Late''. ''Washington Post'' *2024

nominee for Best Mystery Novel for ''The Detective Up Late''

Bibliography

Michael Forsythe Trilogy

#'' Dead I Well May Be'' (Scribner) 2003 #''The Dead Yard'' (Scribner) 2006 #''The Bloomsday Dead'' (Scribner) 2007

The Lighthouse Trilogy

#''The Lighthouse Land'' (Abrams) 2006 #''The Lighthouse War'' (Abrams) 2007 #''The Lighthouse Keepers'' (Abrams) 2008

The Sean Duffy series

#'' The Cold Cold Ground'' (Serpents Tail) 2012 #'' I Hear the Sirens in the Street'' (Serpents Tail) 2013 #''

'' (Serpents Tail) 2014 #''Gun Street Girl'' (Serpents Tail) 2015 #''Rain Dogs'' (Serpents Tail) 2016 #'' Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly'' (Serpents Tail) 2017 #''The Detective Up Late'' (Blackstone) 2023 #''Hang On St Christopher'' (Blackstone) 2025 # ''The Ghosts Of Saturday Night'' TBD Two more Sean Duffy novels to be published by Blackstone Publishing On a blog post dated July 15, 2021, on his official site, McKinty explains that the 7th Sean Duffy novel (''The Detective Up Late'') may be out in late 2022. He states that ''The Detective Up Late'' is in fact finished and Book 8 (''Hang On St Christopher'') is pretty much done.

Standalone books

*''Orange Rhymes With Everything'' (novella) (Morrow) 1998 *''Hidden River'' (Scribner) 2005 *''Fifty Grand'' (Holt) 2009 *''Falling Glass'' (Serpents Tail) 2011 *''Deviant'' (Abrams) 2011 *''The Sun Is God'' (Serpents Tail in the UK/Seventh Street Books in the US) 2014 *''

The Chain "The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album '' Rumours''. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John ...

'' (Orion) 2019 *'' The Island'' (Little, Brown and Company) 2022

As editor

*''Belfast Noir'' (Akashic) 2014 with Stuart Neville

Notes and references

External links

Fearless fiction and non-fiction from an award-winning publisher - Serpent's Tail Books

the psychopathology of everyday life - Adrian McKinty's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinty, Adrian Living people 1968 births Male novelists from Northern Ireland Irish mystery writers Alumni of the University of Warwick Alumni of the University of Oxford Emigrants from Northern Ireland to Australia Ned Kelly Award winners Barry Award winners Thriller writers from Northern Ireland