Ace Atkins | |
|---|---|
 Ace Atkins (2013; age 43). | |
| Born | (1970-06-28)June 28, 1970 (age 54) |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Auburn University |
| Genre | Crime fiction, mystery |
Ace Atkins (born June 28, 1970)[1] is an American journalist and author. He became afull-time novelist at the age of 30.[citation needed]
Born in 1970, Atkins is the son ofNFL playerBilly Atkins.[2][3]
Atkins lettered for the Auburn Universityfootball team in 1992 and 1993.[4]
Atkins was featured on theSports Illustrated cover commemorating the Tigers' perfect 11-0 season of 1993. The cover shows Atkins celebrating after sacking futureHeisman Trophy winnerDanny Wuerffel of theFlorida Gators. Atkins wore number 99 for the Tigers.[citation needed]
Atkins graduated fromAuburn University in 1994.[4]
Atkins worked[when?] as a crime reporter in the newsroom ofThe Tampa Tribune before he published his first novel,Crossroad Blues (1998).[citation needed] While at theTribune, Atkins earned aPulitzer 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 andcritics. In his next novels,Wicked City andDevil's Garden, Atkins continued this kind of story-telling, a style that was compared to that ofDennis Lehane andGeorge Pelecanos.[5]
White Shadow (2006),Wicked City (2008), andDevil'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; andTampa, 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]
InDevil's Garden, Atkins explores the early life of one of those heroes:Dashiell Hammett, the originator of the hard-boiledcrime novel. As aPinkerton Agency detective, Hammett investigated therape andmanslaughter case against earlyHollywoodstarRoscoe Arbuckle, one of the most sensational trials of the 20th Century.[5] Atkins' novelInfamous (2010) is based on the 1933Charles Urschel kidnapping and subsequent misadventures of the gangster coupleGeorge "Machine Gun" and Kathryn Kelly.[citation needed]
In 2011, Atkins was selected by the estate ofRobert B. Parker to take over writing theSpenser 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]
In a 2023 interview forCrimeReads,Atkins said he’s been living for the past twenty years on a historic farm outsideOxford, Mississippi with his family.[4][8]
