Adrian McKinty

Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and young adult fiction, best known for his 2020 award winning thriller, The Chain[1], and the Sean Duffy novels set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.[2] He is a winner of the Edgar Award, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Ned Kelly Award, the Barry Award, the Audie Award, the Anthony Award and the International Thriller Writers Award. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.

Adrian McKinty
Born1968
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Warwick, University of Oxford
Period1990s-
GenreCrime fiction, young adult fiction
Literary movementCeltic New Wave in Crime Fiction
Notable worksThe Chain; The Cold Cold Ground (Sean Duffy series)
Notable awardsEdgar Award, Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award
SpouseLeah
ChildrenArwynn, Sophie
Website
adrianmckinty.blogspot.com officialadrianmckinty.com

Biography

Early life

McKinty was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1968. The fourth of five children, he grew up on the Victoria Council Estate in Carrickfergus, County Antrim. His father was a welder and boilermaker at the Harland and Wolff shipyard before becoming a merchant seaman. He grew up reading science fiction and crime novels by the likes of Ursula Le Guin, J G Ballard and Jim Thompson. He studied law at the University of Warwick and politics and philosophy at the University of Oxford.[3][4]

After graduating from Oxford in 1993, McKinty moved to New York 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 Library. In 1999, while his wife studied for a Fulbright in Israel, McKinty played loose head prop forward for the Jerusalem Lions Rugby Club.[5] In 2000, he relocated to Denver, Colorado to become a high school English teacher.[3]

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.[3] 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 young adult novels set in New York City, his native Ireland, and the fictional planet Altair.

In 2008 McKinty moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia, to become a full-time writer.[6] He found his greatest success and critical acclaim with the Sean Duffy series, following the eponymous Royal Ulster Constabulary Sergeant during The Troubles, 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".[7]

The third Duffy book, In the Morning I'll Be Gone, won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel. McKinty has been an especially astute observer of class in fiction.[8]

He also began working as a writer and reviewer for a number of publications including The Guardian,[9] The Sydney Morning Herald,[10] The Washington Post,[11] The Independent,[12] The Australian,[13] The Irish Times[14] and Harpers.[15]

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 driver and a bartender.[16] Upon hearing of his situation, fellow crime author Don Winslow passed some of his books to his agent, the screenwriter and producer Shane Salerno. In a late-night phone call, Salerno persuaded McKinty to write what would become The Chain.[17] Salerno loaned the author ("advance on the advance") $10,000 to help him survive financially during the process.[18]

The stand-alone thriller was inspired by the chain letters 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.[19] The Chain was published in 37 countries.[18]

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.[20] He often uses the classic noir tropes of revenge and betrayal to explore his characters' existential quest for meaning in a bleak but lyrically intense universe.[21] 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.[22] Some reviewers have criticised the explicit use of violence in his novels.[23] However, in reviewing McKinty's Fifty Grand in The Guardian,[24] John O'Connor called him a "master craftsman of violence and redemption, up there with the likes of Dennis Lehane."[25]

His novel The Dead Yard was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the 12 Best Novels of 2006[26] Audible selected Falling Glass as the Best Mystery or Thriller of 2011.[27] In the Morning I'll Be Gone was named as one of the 10 best crime novels of 2014 by the American Library Association.[28]

In 2016, The Guardian included book 5 of the Sean Duffy series, Rain Dogs, about the investigation of a death at Carrickfergus castle, in their "The best recent thrillers" coverage.[29]

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.[30]
  • 2008 Young Hoosier Award and Beehive Award shortlist for The Lighthouse Land[31]
  • 2009 World Book Day Award longlist for The Bloomsday Dead[32]
  • 2010 Spinetingler Award for Best Novel for Fifty Grand[33]
  • 2011 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award longlist for Fifty Grand[34]
  • 2013 Spinetingler Award for Best Crime Novel for The Cold Cold Ground[35]
  • 2013 Prix Du Meilleur Polar shortlist for The Cold Cold Ground[36]
  • 2013 Crime Fest Last Laugh Award shortlist for The Cold Cold Ground[37]
  • 2013 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel shortlist for I Hear the Sirens in the Street[38]
  • 2014 Barry Award for Best Mystery Novel (Paperback Original) for I Hear the Sirens in the Street[39]
  • 2014 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière shortlist for I Hear the Sirens in the Street[40]
  • 2014 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award shortlist for I Hear the Sirens in the Street[41]
  • 2014 Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction for In the Morning I'll Be Gone[42]
  • 2015 Audie Award For Best Thriller shortlist for In the Morning I'll Be Gone[43]
  • 2015 Prix SNCF Du Polar shortlist for The Cold Cold Ground[44]
  • 2015 Ned Kelly Award shortlist for Gun Street Girl[45]
  • 2015 Boston Globe Best Book of 2015 for Gun Street Girl[46]
  • 2015 Irish Times Best Crime Novel of 2015 for Gun Street Girl[47]
  • 2016 Edgar Award (Best Paperback Original) shortlist for Gun Street Girl[48]
  • 2016 Anthony Award (Best Paperback Original) shortlist for Gun Street Girl[49]
  • 2016 Audie Award for Best Mystery shortlist for Gun Street Girl[50]
  • 2016 Boston Globe Best Book of 2016 for Rain Dogs[51]
  • 2016 Irish Times Best Crime Novel of 2016 for Rain Dogs[52]
  • 2016 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award shortlist for Rain Dogs[53]
  • 2016 Ned Kelly Award shortlist for Rain Dogs[54]
  • 2016 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger shortlist for Rain Dogs[55]
  • 2017 Edgar Award (Best Paperback Original) for Rain Dogs[56]
  • 2017 Barry Award for Rain Dogs[57]
  • 2017 Anthony Award (Best Paperback Original) for Rain Dogs[58]
  • 2017 Ned Kelly Award for Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly[59]
  • 2017 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award shortlist for Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly[60]
  • 2017 Boston Globe Best Book of 2017 for Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly[61]
  • 2018 International Thriller Writers Awards (Best Paperback Original Novel) shortlist for Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly[62]
  • 2019 Time Magazine Books of the Year for The Chain [63]
  • 2020 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2020 winner for The Chain. [64]
  • 2020 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award longlist for The Chain; CWA Body in the Library longlist for The Chain [65]
  • 2020 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel, The Chain.[66]

Bibliography

Michael Forsythe Trilogy
  1. Dead I Well May Be (Scribner) 2003
  2. The Dead Yard (Scribner) 2006
  3. The Bloomsday Dead (Scribner) 2007[67]

The Lighthouse Trilogy
Main article: The Lighthouse Trilogy
  1. The Lighthouse Land (Abrams) 2006
  2. The Lighthouse War (Abrams) 2007
  3. The Lighthouse Keepers (Abrams) 2008

The Sean Duffy series
  1. The Cold Cold Ground (Serpents Tail) 2012 ISBN 978-1616147167
  2. I Hear the Sirens in the Street (Serpents Tail) 2013 ISBN 978-1616147877
  3. In the Morning I'll Be Gone (Serpents Tail) 2014 ISBN 978-1616148775
  4. Gun Street Girl (Serpents Tail) 2015 ISBN 978-1633880009
  5. Rain Dogs (Serpents Tail) 2016 ISBN 978-1633881303
  6. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly (Serpents Tail) 2017 ISBN 1781256926
  7. The Detective Up Late (Blackstone) 2019[68]

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 (Orion) 2019

As editor

Notes and references
  1. Janet Maslin, "Here's an Existential Thriller:Pass It On." New York Times July 10, 2919.C6.
  2. Shortall, Eithne (23 June 2019). "Author Adrian McKinty strikes it rich with The Chain reaction". The Times. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  3. "Class, Race and the Case for Genre Fiction in the Canon". 27 September 2017.
  4. Doyle, Martin (2 October 2017). "Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty is October's Irish Times Book Club pick". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  5. "Interview with Malcolm Hillgartner". Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  6. Rowbotham, Jill (23 January 2015). "Adrian McKinty, writer, 46". The Australian. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  7. Myers, Scott (9 July 2019). "Go Into The Story Interview: Adrian McKinty". Medium.
  8. Lisa Levy, "Adrian McKinty: Working-Class Hero of Irish Crime Fiction." Lit Hub, March 17, 2016.
  9. "Adrian McKinty". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  10. McKinty, Review by Adrian (28 February 2014). "If the hotel walls had ears, this would be their story". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Five-minute memoir: Adrian McKinty recalls a scary school run during". The Independent. 30 June 2012.
  13. "Ice-cold killers run rampant". Theaustralian.com.au. 2 October 2009.
  14. McKinty, Adrian. "Aged 16, I vowed never to read another novel". The Irish Times.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. Flood, Alison "From Uber driving to a huge book deal: Adrian McKinty's life-changing phone call" The Guardian, 9 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019
  17. McKinty, Adrian "I gave up writing and found work in a bar... a year and a half later my book was sold to 36 countries" Belfast Telegraph, 13 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019
  18. "New Thriller 'The Chain' Has An Origin Almost As Exciting As Its Plot". NPR.org.
  19. Adrian McKinty interviewed by Jeff Glor on CBS This Morning, "The Author behind The Chain." August 3, 2019.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "Troubles fiction too urgent and topical to be historical". Irishtimes.com.
  23. "Review - Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty". Eurocrime.co.uk.
  24. O'Connell, John (7 August 2009). "Fifty grand by Adrian McKinty | Book review". Theguardian.com.
  25. Dougherty, Steve (23 May 2013). "Adrian McKinty's Hard-Boiled Belfast Trilogy". Wsj.com.
  26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. "Download Audiobooks with Audible.com". Audible.com.
  28. than 200, Booklist Online: More; Librarians, 000 Book Reviews for; Groups, Book; Association, book lovers-from the trusted experts at the American Library. "Year's Best Crime Novels: 2014, by Bill Ott | Booklist Online". Booklistonline.com.
  29. "The best recent thrillers – reviews roundup". the Guardian. 8 January 2016.
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  35. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. "Le tueur se meurt de James Sallis: meilleur polar de l'année 2013". LExpress.fr. 29 November 2013.
  37. "This page has moved". Crimefest.com.
  38. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  39. "Barry Awards". Stopyourekillingme.com.
  40. "Grand Prix de Littérature Policière 2014 la sélection". Lalettredulibraire.com. 8 July 2014.
  41. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  42. "Carrick author Adrian McKinty scoops literary accolade for Troubles thriller". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  43. "20th Annual Audie® finalists announced in thirty categories. Winners announced at the Audie Awards Gala in New York City on May 28th hosted by award winning author Jack Gantos" (PDF). Audiofilemagazine.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  44. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  45. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  46. "The best books of 2015". The Boston Globe.
  47. Burke, Declan. "Irish Times".
  48. "Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce the Nominees for the 2016 Edgar Allan Poe Awards" (PDF). Theedgars.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  49. "Boucercon Nominees". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012.
  50. Adrian McKinty [@adrianmckinty] (9 February 2016). "bloody delighted to be shortlisted for best mystery audiobook! #audies #underdog #blackstoneaudio #mystery" (Tweet) – via Twitter. /photo/1
  51. "Best books of 2016". The Boston Globe.
  52. Burke, Declan; Hughes, Declan. "The best crime fiction of 2016". The Irish Times.
  53. "Rowling's Galbraith makes book shortlist". Bbc.com. 31 May 2016.
  54. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  55. Rudolph, Janet (20 May 2016). "Mystery Fanfare: CWA Dagger Award Longlists".
  56. "Edgar Award Nominees". Theedgars.com.
  57. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  58. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  59. Steger, Jason (1 September 2017). "Crime writers Jane Harper and Adrian McKinty win Ned Kelly Award for best novel". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  60. Onatade, Ayo (19 May 2017). "SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL: CWA Dagger Longlists".
  61. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  62. "2019 Thriller Awards – International Thriller Writers". Thrillerwriters.org.
  63. "'The Chain' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019". Time.
  64. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/belfast-author-adrian-mckinty-wins-major-crime-fiction-prize-1.4311946
  65. Onatade, Ayo (5 June 2020). "SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL: CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Longlists Announced".
  66. https://thrillerwriters.org/thriller-awards
  67. Anderson, Patrick (26 March 2007). "Going great guns in Belfast". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  68. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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