Michael A. Black is the award winning author of 50 books, most of which are in the mystery and thriller genres. He has also written in the sci-fi, western, horror, and sports genres. A retired police officer from the Chicago area, he has done everything from patrol to investigating homicides to conducting numerous SWAT operations. Black was awarded the Cook County Medal of Merit in 2010, and was inducted into the Illinois Boxing and Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2023. He is the author of over 100 short stories and articles, and wrote two novels with the late television star, Richard Belzer (Law & Order SVU). He did eleven novels under the name Don Pendleton in the Executioner series and numerous westerns the Gunslinger series under the name A.W. Hart (Killer’s Choice, Killer’s Brand, Killer’s Ghost, Killer’s Gamble, and Killer’s Requiem).His Executioner novel, Fatal Prescription, won the Best Original Novel Scribe Award in 2018. Mike and his best friend, Ray Lovato, have written numerous Doc Atlas adventures together which have been collected in The Adventures of Doc Atlas, volumes 1 and 2. In 2023 they also collaborated on a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, The Adventure of the Iron Crown. His recent novels are in the ongoing Trackdown series (Devil’s Vendetta, Devil’s Breed, Devil’s Reckoning, and Devil’s Lair). Most recently, his western novel, Legends of the West, A Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves Novel, was released in paperback. His latest novels are Devil’s Lair and Where Legends Lie under his own name and Concho: Border Blood, written as A.W. Hart.