Marcus Sakey

Marcus Sakey was an American novelist specializing in thrillers. Born and raised in the working class automotive town of Flint, Michigan, Sakey dreamt of becoming a novelist going as far back to the age of 5. As a youngster he would often write in his spare time, but figured that he needed some kind of stable career to support his passion for writing. When it came time to enter college he enrolled in the University of Michigan where he double majored in political science and communications. After graduating from the school, Sakey worked in a number of fields, including graphic design, advertising, and television, all the while continuing to write in his spare time. He eventually settled in Chicago, which would soon provide the setting for the majority of his work. In addition to his professional life, Sakey also attended Columbia University in Chicago for one year, where he studied creative writing in the school's MFA program. Then in 2007 Sakey published his debut novel The Blade Itself, which was lauded by book critics, thus allowing Sakey to quit his corporate career to focus on writing full-time. Over the next 10 years Sakey would release over a dozen more novels, most notably The Amateurs (2009), Good People (2009), and the Brilliance Trilogy (2013/2014/2016), making him one of the most prolific crime novelists of his generation. Several of his novels were also bought by Hollywood production companies with Good People being made into a movie in 2014. The film version of the novel starred James Franco. In addition to his writing, Sakey also hosted a series on the Travel Channel called "Hidden City" (Travel Channel, 2011-12), but the series lasted a single season. Undeterred, Sakey continued writing novels, publishing on average one a year. In July of 2017 he released his 15th novel Afterlife. The book was optioned by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard.