Books by Michael A. Black

Michael A. Black graduated from Columbia College, Chicago in 2000 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiction Writing. He previously earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northern Illinois University. Despite his literary leanings, he has ofte

CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT by Michael A. Black
by Michael A. Black
MYSTERY THRILLER
Released: June 18, 2014
"In a switch from his police procedurals (Sacrificial Offerings, 2012, etc.), Black presents a promising but unexceptional thriller that draws on his years of police experience. It's slow to get going but builds to an exciting climax."
A military officer is willing to do whatever it takes to get the promotion so far denied him. Read full book review >
SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS by Michael A. Black
by Michael A. Black
Released: Sept. 19, 2012
"Black's third procedural (Hostile Takeovers, 2009, etc.) uses his 30 years of police experience to ballast a credible and often exciting tale."
Chicago police officers fight crime and each other. Read full book review >
DEAD RINGER by Michael A. Black
by Michael A. Black, Julie Hyzy
MYSTERY THRILLER
Released: Nov. 19, 2008
"Black (A Final Judgment, 2006, etc.) and Hyzy (State of the Onion, 2008, etc.) unite their disparate detectives in a fast-paced tale with intriguing twists."
A seasoned Chicago private eye and an upcoming news reporter combine their talents to solve an unsavory crime. Read full book review >
A FINAL JUDGMENT by Michael A. Black
by Michael A. Black
MYSTERY THRILLER
Released: Oct. 31, 2006
"Black's smooth style makes Shade's third escapade (Windy City Knights, 2004, etc.) brisk and entertaining."
A Chicago shamus and world-class kickboxer juggles a pair of intriguing cases and a chance at a title bout. Read full book review >
FREEZE ME TENDER by Michael A. Black
by Michael A. Black
MYSTERY THRILLER
Released: Feb. 20, 2006
"Veteran police officer Black (Windy City Knights, 2004, etc.) is torn between glitz and noir, with a side of schmaltz. Okay for reading on a junket to Vegas . . . and leaving on the plane, finished or not."
Another Elvis sighting, only this time he's called Colton Purcell. Read full book review >
A KILLING FROST by Michael A. Black
by Michael A. Black
MYSTERY THRILLER
Released: Oct. 1, 2002
"A brawny debut so foursquare in its characters and prose that you can hardly wait till Shade finally gets to put those kickboxing skills to use."
Having lost his wife to overwork, his job with the Chicago Police Department to politics, his ancient car to natural causes, and his girlfriend to LA, private eye Ron Shade is about to give up his office—why keep it when he has no walk-in clients?—when his old friend, social worker Maria Castro, walks in. Her buddy Juanita's fiancé, Carlos Sanchez, has disappeared from his job at Two Thousand and One: Space Oddities, and since he's a Salvadoran illegal, Juanita doesn't want to go to the police. By the end of Shade's first visit to the storage facility, it's pretty obvious what's happened to Carlos and who's responsible. But it takes a long time for Shade to trace the spreading stain of fraud, payoffs, and cover-ups as far as it reaches for several reasons: He's busy training for the championship kickboxing fight an earlier job injury robbed him of; the theft of his spiffy new Camaro Z-28 robs him of his wheels just when he thinks he's got nothing left to lose; the clunker he borrows as a replacement needs mechanical work every time he puts the key in the ignition; and his sudden, unexpected romance with Maria makes every hour he's not spending with her feel like he's playing hooky. It isn't long, though, before he learns that fate held worse things in store for Carlos than deportation. Read full book review >