Marcus Sakey is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and host of the Travel Channel show ''Hidden City''.

Personal life

Sakey was born in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

, and after marriage he settled in Chicago. Before becoming a writer, Sakey ran a graphic design company, Hingepoint Productions, in Atlanta. Mr. Sakey attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1992 to 1996 with a double major in communication and political science. He also attended

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...

for approximately one year in an MFA program with a focus in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

Career

Sakey writes crime novels set in the blue collar world of the south side of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. To conduct research for his plots, he has shadowed homicide detectives, gang cops, and interviewed soldiers. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''The Blade Itself'', was featured as a ''New York Times'' Editor's Pick and named one of ''Esquire'' Magazine's 5 Best Reads of 2007.

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

bought the film rights to ''The Blade Itself'' in 2008 for his production company. The film rights to his second and third novels, ''Good People'' and ''At the City’s Edge'', have also been bought. In March 2013, Sakey sold the screen rights to his then-forthcoming science fiction thriller ''Brilliance'' to

Legendary Pictures Legendary Entertainment, LLC (also known as Legendary Pictures or simply Legendary) is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major stu ...

for $1.25 million. The novel was published in July 2013, and as of March 2017 had sold over 1 million copies. A potential film adaptation had

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

attached to star,

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the fourth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.6 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical ...

to write, and

Joe Roth Joseph Emanuel Roth (born June 13, 1948) is an American film executive, producer and director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Entertainment in 1988 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and Walt Dis ...

to produce, but never made it out of development. The rights reverted to Sakey, who wrote the sequels ''A Better World'' (2014) and ''Written in Fire'' (2016). Sakey has licensed the ''Brilliance'' franchise to Kindle Worlds, a commercial venue for

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

, as ''The Abnorm Chronicles''. Works written by other authors but set in the ''Brilliance'' continuity include ''Twist'' by Kevin J. Anderson. In March 2017, Sakey sold the screen rights to another forthcoming sci-fi novel, ''Afterlife'', to

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment, formerly Imagine Films Entertainment, also known simply as Imagine (stylized in all caps as IMAGINE), is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron ...

. The novel was published in July 2017. Sakey has been contracted to write the screenplay for the film adaptation, which will be produced by

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated for four Acad ...

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

, Erica Huggins, and

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 ...

Bibliography

* '' The Blade Itself'' (2007) * ''Good People'' (2009) * ''At the City's Edge'' (2009) * ''The Amateurs'' (2009) * ''The Desert here and the Desert Far Away'' (2010) * ''No One'' (2010) * ''Gravity and Need'' (2010) * ''The Days Where You Were Anything Else'' (2010) * ''As Breathing'' (2010) * ''No Turning Back'' (2011) * ''Scar Tissue: Seven Stories of Love and Wounds'' (2012) * ''The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes'' (2012) * ''Brilliance'' trilogy: ** ''Brilliance'' (2013) ** ''A Better World'' (2014) ** ''Written in Fire'' (2016) * ''Afterlife'' (2017)

External links

Autism, Bourbon and Lies: Inspiring ''The Brilliance Saga''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakey, Marcus 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers American male novelists Living people Writers from Flint, Michigan Novelists from Chicago Novelists from Michigan University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni 21st-century American male writers Year of birth missing (living people) Columbia College Chicago alumni