Ace Atkins

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Ace Atkins
Ace Atkins Natick MA 2013.jpg
Ace Atkins (2013; age 43).
Born (1970-06-28) June 28, 1970 (age 54)
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Auburn University
GenreCrime fiction, mystery

Ace Atkins (born June 28, 1970) [1] is an American journalist and author. He became a full-time novelist at the age of 30.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Biography

Born in 1970, Atkins is the son of NFL player Billy Atkins. [2] [3]

Atkins lettered for the Auburn University football team in 1992 and 1993. [4]

Atkins was featured on the Sports Illustrated cover commemorating the Tigers' perfect 11-0 season of 1993. The cover shows Atkins celebrating after sacking future Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel of the Florida Gators. Atkins wore number 99 for the Tigers.[ citation needed ]

Atkins graduated from Auburn University in 1994. [4]

Atkins worked[ when? ] as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The Tampa Tribune before he published his first novel, Crossroad Blues (1998).[ citation needed ] While at the Tribune, Atkins earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s. [5] The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, White Shadow, which was commented on positively by noted authors and critics. In his next novels, Wicked City and Devil's Garden, Atkins continued this kind of story-telling, a style that was compared to that of Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos. [5]

White Shadow (2006), Wicked City (2008), and Devil's Garden (2009) are personal books for Atkins, all set in his former homes: San Francisco, where he lived as a child; Alabama, his family's home and where he was born and went to college; and Tampa, where he embarked on his career as a writer. Each novel contains bits of himself – friends and colleagues he once knew, people he respected or admired, family members, and personal heroes.[ citation needed ]

In Devil's Garden, Atkins explores the early life of one of those heroes: Dashiell Hammett, the originator of the hard-boiled crime novel. As a Pinkerton Agency detective, Hammett investigated the rape and manslaughter case against early Hollywood star Roscoe Arbuckle, one of the most sensational trials of the 20th Century. [5] Atkins' novel Infamous (2010) is based on the 1933 Charles Urschel kidnapping and subsequent misadventures of the gangster couple George "Machine Gun" and Kathryn Kelly.[ citation needed ]

In 2011, Atkins was selected by the estate of Robert B. Parker to take over writing the Spenser series of novels. [6] The Boston Globe wrote that while some people might have "viewed the move as unseemly, those people didn't know Robert B. Parker, a man who, when asked how his books would be viewed in 50 years, replied: 'Don't know, don't care.' He was proud of his work, but he mainly saw writing as a means of providing a comfortable life for his family." [7]

Personal life

In a 2023 interview for CrimeReads, Atkins said he’s been living for the past twenty years on a historic farm outside Oxford, Mississippi with his family. [4] [8]

Novels

Nick Travers

  1. Crossroad Blues (1998)
  2. Leavin' Trunk Blues (2000)
  3. Dark End of the Street (2002)
  4. Dirty South (2004)

Quinn Colson

  1. The Ranger (2011) [9] [10] [11] [12]
  2. The Lost Ones (2012) [13] [14]
  3. The Broken Places (2013) [15]
  4. The Forsaken (2014) [16]
  5. The Redeemers (2015) [17]
  6. The Innocents (2016)
  7. The Fallen (2017) [18]
  8. The Sinners (2018)
  9. The Shameless (2019)
  10. The Revelators (2020)
  11. The Heathens (2021)

Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Stand Alone Novels

See also

Related Research Articles

Spenser is a fictional private investigator created by the American mystery writer Robert B. Parker. He acts as the protagonist of a series of detective novels written by Parker and later continued by Ace Atkins and Mike Lupica. His first appearance was in the 1973 novel The Godwulf Manuscript. He is also featured in the 1980s television series Spenser: For Hire and a related series of TV movies based on the novels. In March 2020 he was featured in the Netflix thriller film Spenser Confidential.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dashiell Hammett</span> American writer (1894–1961)

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, The Continental Op and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Marlowe</span> Fictional character

Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The genre originated in the 1920s, notably in Black Mask magazine, in which Dashiell Hammett's The Continental Op and Sam Spade first appeared. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep, published in 1939. Chandler's early short stories, published in pulp magazines such as Black Mask and Dime Detective, featured similar characters with names like "Carmady" and "John Dalmas", starting in 1933.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert B. Parker</span> American crime writer (1932–2010)

Robert Brown Parker was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies was also produced based on the character. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited as reviving and changing the detective genre by critics and bestselling authors including Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Atkins (American football)</span> American football player and coach (1934–1991)

William Ellis Atkins was an American football professional safety and punter who played for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL), and in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, the New York Titans / Jets, and the Denver Broncos. He was an AFL All-Star in 1961. He played college football at Auburn.

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<i>Lullaby</i> (Atkins novel) 2012 novel by Ace Atkins

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References

  1. "Official Site of American Writer Ace Atkins | About: Quick Facts". Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  2. Shearer, Jeff (September 20, 2020). "On the cover: From sacks to books, Auburn's Ace Atkins stands tall". Auburn Tigers . Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  3. Edgemon, Erin (January 13, 2019). "Alabama native, bestselling author Ace Atkins to be honored". AL.com . Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Barnes, Brad (April 14, 2008). "A Q and A with author Ace Atkins". Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 DeSilva, Bruce (April 20, 2009). "'Devil's Garden' is a remarkable book". Associated Press . Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  6. "Parker's series live on" by Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein, Boston Globe April 28, 2011
  7. Bissonette, Zac (May 12, 2013). "Robert B. Parker is dead. Long live Robert B. Parker!". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. "The Backlist: Revisiting Larry Brown's "Father and Son" with Ace Atkins". CrimeReads. February 2, 2023.
  9. Anderson, Patrick. "Review of Ace Atkins's 'The Ranger'". Washington Post. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  10. MARTINDALE, DAVID. "Author interview: Ace Atkins talks about 'The Ranger'". Dallas News. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  11. Kardos, Michael. "Book review: 'The Forsaken' by Ace Atkins". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  12. Gill, Leonard (October 3, 2014). "Summer Book Roundup". Memphis Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  13. Weaver, Kendal. "Book review: Second Quinn Colson novel features romance, dark family secret". News Sentinel. Retrieved June 7, 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. Bancroft, Colette. "Review: Ace Atkins' 'The Lost Ones' has Quinn Colson searching on the mean streets". Tampa Bay. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  15. Noble, Don (July 15, 2013). "Books:The Broken Places: A Quinn Colson Novel and Robert B. Parker's Wonderland". APR. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  16. Anderson, Lanie. "Atkins pens new novel, signs Wednesday". Oxford Citizen. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  17. "Review: 'The Redeemers' by Ace Atkins". October Country. July 17, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  18. "The Fallen (A Quinn Colson Novel)". aceatkins.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.