About the Author

MAX ALLAN COLLINS was named a Grand Master in 2017 by the Mystery Writers of America. He is a three-time winner of the Private Eye Writers of America’s Life Achievement award (2006), the Eye. His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) became the Academy Award-winning film directed by Sam Mendes and starring Tom Hanks. His other comics credits include the syndicated strip Dick Tracy, Batman, and (with artist Terry Beatty) his own Ms. Tree and Wild Dog. He has completed fourteen Mike Hammer novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane, and his Hammer audio novel The Little Death with Stacy Keach won a 2011 Audie. Recently he adapted the first of his Nathan Heller novels into a ten-part audio drama, True Noir.

For five years, he was sole licensing writer for TV’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, creating best-selling novels, graphic novels, and video games. His movie tie-in

novels have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists, including Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, and American Gangster.

Max has written and directed two documentaries and seven feature films, including the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996); and he scripted The Expert, a 1995 HBO World Premiere, as well as the film-festival favorite The Last Lullaby (2009) based on his innovative Quarry novels, which were also adapted as a 2016 TV series by Cinemax, for which Max wrote two scripts. Collins properties have also been optioned by Skydance, Lionsgate and CBS Films. His most recent self-scripted/directed indie films are Mickey Spillane’s Encore for Murder (2022), Blue Christmas (2023) and Death by Fruitcake (2024).

Reviews

"Collins treats us to a wonderfully vivid look at the pornography industry in its heyday. From publishers to centerfolds to strippers to feminist protesters, he cuts through the stereotypes with quick bits of subtle characterization (but, please, don't say you read a book with Climax in the title only for the characters)." - Booklist

"Quintessential Collins and Quarry, a glorious mix of well-written action, humor, and sudden, unexpected, brutality." - Mystery Scene

I've written about the Quarry books several times... it remains my favorite Collins series. I think one of the reasons I enjoy these books so much is because it melds the headlong pulpy momentum of Mickey Spillane with the gleefully transgressive sensibility of seventies trash paperback series like The Executioner or The Liquidator. But, y'know, better...Collins can plot a mystery; everything develops naturally and the puzzle is always taxing without ever feeling contrived....I always enjoy seeing it done well and Collins does it better than most. I recommend all the Quarry books and you can read them in most any order, but I enjoyed this one more than any of them since The Wrong Quarry. -AtomicJunkShop

"fast paced and fun" - San Francisco Book Review & Seattle Book Reivew