Adrian McKinty Books

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Adrian McKinty is an award-winning novelist from Ireland that writes crime, mystery, and YA novels. Born in 1968 in Belfast, McKinty was one of five children. The son of a welder and boilermaker, he read a lot of science fiction and fantasy when he was young. But publishing wasn’t necessarily on his radar, not where his career path was concerned.

McKinty attended the University of Warwick from where he studied Law. He also dipped his toes into politics and philosophy (University of Oxford). But his was hardly the life of a scholar. The father and husband moved to the US in 1993.

After settling down in New York, he did a number of odd jobs, working as a bartender, librarian, and a rugby coach, to mention but a few. McKinty only found stability once he moved to Denver, becoming the English teacher at a high school.

His writing career officially began in 2003 when ‘Dead I Well May Be’, his debut novel, was published. He became a full-time writer in 2008 after moving the family to Melbourne in Australia; though, McKinty’s career was far from conventional.

He kicked his career off with the Michael Forsythe Trilogy. Then he jumped into the YA science fiction arena with the Lighthouse Trilogy. However, none of those works produced the traction that McKinty’s career needed.

Everyone that read his stories took note of his talent. However, his novels were not popular enough for McKinty to categorize himself as a successful author. The people that knew him at the time will tell you that the Sean Duffy series changed everything.

The books told the tales of a constabulary sergeant plying his trade during the troubles. Their success convinced Adrian McKinty that he had been right to dedicate his life to writing and publishing. They didn’t sell all that well.

But at the time, that did not matter. The series was a critical hit, earning McKinty the best reviews of his entire career. The books also received numerous awards and nominations. It was all the encouragement the author needed to keep writing the Sean Duffy series.

He admitted later on that he was a little reluctant to tell so many stories set during Northern Ireland’s darkest years. But he was also certain that his hard work would produce dividends down the line once his writing star exploded and the financial rewards started pouring in.

It came as quite a surprise for McKinty and those who knew him when the author quit writing. This happened in 2017. Despite all the rave reviews surrounding his work, McKinty wasn’t selling enough copies of his books to earn a decent income from his writing.

He finally threw in the towel when his family was evicted from their house. Certain that the publishing field had nothing more to offer him, McKinty started driving for Uber and bartending to make ends meet.

He was quite sure that his writing days were behind him. It took a conversation over the phone with producer Shane Salerno to change his mind. Don Winslow, a fellow writer, heard about McKinty’s situation. He reached out to Salerno who called McKinty, offering him a $10,000 advance to write a new book.

Grateful for the money and the opportunity to write again, Adrian McKinty wrote ‘The Chain’, the book that finally brought a tangible change to his life. It secured the author a six-figure book deal and cemented his place in the publishing arena.

Adrian McKinty Awards

McKinty’s novels have won the Edgar, Ned Kelly, Barry, Audie, and Anthony Awards.

Best Adrian McKinty Books

McKinty has been praised for his use of irony, humor, and classic noir tropes, with some of the best books in his bibliography including:

The Chain: The Chain asks readers to imagine a bizarre scenario in which a parent’s child is kidnapped. The only way to get that child back is to kidnap another parent’s child. It is a chain, one in which old parents draw new parents into a kidnapping scheme in an effort to safeguard the life of their child.

The Cold Cold Ground: Detective Sergeant Duffy is a catholic policeman trying to keep the peace in 1981. Because it’s 1981, no one trusts him. People are rioting. Communities are starving. A serial killer is on the loose, and Duffy must catch him despite the opposition that meets him wherever he goes.

When Does The Next Adrian McKinty book come out?

Adrian McKinty doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Hang on St. Christopher and was released on March, 4th 2025. It is the newest book in the Detective Sean Duffy Series.

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