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Ace Atkins

Biography

Ace Atkins

Ace Atkins is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author who started his writing career as a crime beat reporter in Florida. DON'T LET THE DEVIL RIDE is his 30th novel. His previous novels include 11 books in the Quinn Colson series and multiple true-crime novels based on infamous crooks and killers. In 2010, he was chosen by Robert B. Parker’s family to continue the iconic Spenser series, adding 10 novels to the franchise. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family.

Ace Atkins

Books by Ace Atkins

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Addison McKellar knows she and her husband, Dean, don’t have the perfect marriage, but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. As days stretch into a week and she’s repeatedly stonewalled by Dean’s friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father’s old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes. Porter and Addison quickly discover that Dean was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis’ former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren’t the only ones looking for him.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

Carolina Garcia-Ramirez is a rising star in national politics, taking on the establishment with her progressive agenda. Now facing her second campaign, she finds herself not only fighting a tight primary with an old guard challenger but also contending with numerous death threats coming from hundreds of suspects. It doesn’t take long for Spenser to cross paths with an extremist group called The Minutemen, led by a wealthy Harvard grad named Bishop Graves. Although Graves is a social media sensation, pushing an agenda of white supremacy and toxic masculinity, he denies he’s behind the attacks. As the primary nears and threats become a deadly plot, it’s up to Spenser, Hawk and a surprise trusted ally to ensure the congresswoman is safe.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Before he was an Army Ranger who came home to become Tibbehah County Sheriff and take down a corrupt system, Quinn Colson was a kid who got into a lot of trouble. So when juvenile delinquent TJ Byrd insists that she doesn’t know who killed her mother --- an unreliable addict who has disappeared --- Quinn is inclined to believe her. But no one else does. When she senses she’s about to take the fall for her mother’s murder, TJ, her boyfriend, her best friend and her nine-year-old brother go on the run. As Quinn’s friend and former deputy, U.S. Marshal Lillie Virgil, tracks the kids across a trail of burglaries, stolen cars and even a kidnapping, intent on bringing TJ to justice, Quinn sets out to find the truth back in Tibbehah.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

Ten years ago, Spenser helped a teenage girl named Mattie Sullivan find her mother's killer and take down an infamous Southie crime boss. Now Mattie is a college student with a side job working for the tough but tender private eye. Her first big case involves a 15-year-old girl assaulted by a much older man at one of Boston's most prestigious private clubs. The girl, Chloe Turner, only wants the safe return of her laptop and backpack. But like her mentor and boss, Mattie has a knack for asking the right questions of the wrong people. Soon Spenser and Mattie find ties between the exploitation of dozens of other girls from working class families to an eccentric billionaire and his sadistic henchwoman.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Shot up and left for dead, Sheriff Quinn Colson has revenge on his mind. With the help of his new wife Maggie, rehabilitation and sheer force of will, he's walking again, eager to resume his work as a southern lawman and track down those responsible for his attempted murder. But someone is standing in his way: an interim sheriff, appointed by the newly elected Governor Vardaman, the man who Quinn knows ordered his murder. Vardaman sits at the top of the state's power structure --- both legal and criminal --- and little does he know that Quinn is still working to take him down. Now, as a bustling factory shuts down, a labor leader ends up dead, and Quinn's own nephew goes missing, everything looks to be unraveling.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

Gabby Leggett left her Boston family with dreams of making it big as a model/actress in Hollywood. Two years later, she disappears from her apartment. Her family, former boyfriend, friends --- and the police --- have no idea where she is and no leads. Leggett's mother hires Spenser to find her, with help from his former apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, now an L.A. private eye. Spenser barely has time to unpack before the trail leads to a powerful movie studio boss, the Armenian mob, and a shadowy empowerment group some say might be a dangerous cult. It's soon clear that Spenser and Sixkill may be outgunned this time, and series favorites Chollo and Bobby Horse ride to the rescue to provide backup.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Twenty years ago, Brandon Taylor was thought to be just another teen boy who ended his life too soon. That's what almost everyone in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, said after his body and hunting rifle were found in the Big Woods. Now two New York-based reporters show up asking Sheriff Quinn Colson questions about the Taylor case. What happened to the evidence? Where are the missing files? Who really killed Brandon? But Quinn is trying to shut down the criminal syndicate that has had a stranglehold on Tibbehah for years, trafficking drugs, stolen goods and young women through the MidSouth. Quinn has been fighting evil and corruption since he was a kid, at home or as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq. This time, evil may win out.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The Pritchards were an evil, greedy family who made their living dealing drugs and committing mayhem. Years ago, Quinn Colson's late uncle had put the clan's patriarch in prison, but now he's getting out, with revenge, power and family business on his mind. To make matters worse, a shady trucking firm with possible ties to the Gulf Coast syndicate has moved into Tibbehah, and they have their own methods of intimidation. With his longtime deputy Lillie Virgil now working up in Memphis, Colson finds himself having to fall back on some brand-new deputies to help him out. But with Old West-style violence breaking out, and his own wedding on the horizon, this is without a doubt Colson's most trying time as sheriff.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

The heist was legendary, still talked about 20 years after the priceless paintings disappeared from one of Boston's premier art museums. Most thought the art was lost forever. But when paint chips from the most valuable piece stolen, Gentlemen in Black by a Spanish master, arrives at the desk of a Boston journalist, the museum finds hope and enlists Spenser's help. Soon the cold art case thrusts Spenser into the shady world of black market art dealers, aged Mafia bosses and old vendettas. A five-million-dollar-reward by the museum's top benefactor sets Spenser and pals Vinnie Morris and Hawk onto a trail of hidden secrets, jailhouse confessions and decades-old murders.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Mississippi sheriff Quinn Colson had to admit he admired the bank robbers. A new bank was hit almost every week, and the robbers rushed in and out with such skill and precision it reminded him of raids he’d led back in Afghanistan and Iraq when he was an army ranger. In fact, it reminded him so much of the techniques in the Ranger Handbook that he couldn’t help wondering if the outlaws were former Rangers themselves. If he stood any chance of catching them, he was going to need the help of old allies, new enemies and a lot of luck. The enemies he had plenty of. It was the allies and the luck that were going to be in woefully short supply.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

Connie Kelly thought she’d found her perfect man on an online dating site. She fell so hard for M. Brooks Welles that she wrote him a check for almost $300,000, hoping for a big return on her investment. But within weeks, both Welles and her money are gone. Enter Spenser, who quickly discovers that everything about Welles is phony. But uncovering the truth won’t be easy, as he’ll have to keep the mystery man alive long enough to get back his client’s money. As the trail winds from Boston to backroads Georgia, Spenser will need help from trusted allies Hawk and Teddy Sapp to make sure Welles’ next con is his last.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When a former high school cheerleader is found walking a back road completely engulfed in flames, the entire state of Mississippi focuses on Tibbehah county, wanting answers. The light soon shines on several people: the girl’s father, a worthless drunk; a pair of teenage thugs with grand ambitions to control north Mississippi; and a red-headed truck stop madam who has her own problems. As Quinn Colson and acting Sheriff Lillie Virgil uncover old secrets and new lies, the entire town turns against them, and they learn that the most dangerous enemies may be the ones you trust most.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

The fire at a boarded-up Catholic church killed three firefighters who were trapped in the inferno. A year later, there are still no answers about how the deadly fire started. Boston firefighter Jack McGee, who lost his best friend in the blaze, suspects arson. McGee is convinced that department investigators aren’t sufficiently connected to the city’s lowlifes to get a handle on who's behind the blaze, so he takes the case to Spenser. Spenser quickly learns that the fire might be linked to a rash of new arsons spreading through the city, burning faster and hotter every night.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Quinn Colson is jobless --- voted out of his position as sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi. But in the middle of the long, hot summer, somebody smashes through the house of a wealthy mill owner, making off with a safe full of money and shooting a deputy. As Deputy Lillie Virgil hunts the criminals and draws Colson in, other people join the chase but with a much more personal motive. For that safe contained more than just money --- it held secrets. And as Colson well knows, secrets can kill.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

What started out as a joke landed 17-year-old Dillon Yates in a lockdown juvenile facility in Boston Harbor. When he set up a prank Twitter account for his vice principal, he never dreamed he could be brought up on criminal charges. Judge Joe Scali gives speeches about getting tough on today’s wild youth. But Dillon’s mother, who knows other Blackburn kids who are doing hard time for minor infractions, isn’t buying Scali’s line. She hires Spenser to find the truth behind the draconian sentencing.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Thirty-six years ago, a nameless black man wandered into Jericho, Mississippi. In less than two days, he was accused of rape and murder and lynched. When evidence surfaces of his innocence, county sheriff Quinn Colson sets out to charge those responsible for the lynching. But as he uncovers old lies and secrets, he runs into fierce opposition from people willing to play dirty. He finds himself accused of terrible crimes, and it is anyone’s guess who will prevail --- or even come out of it alive.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

When football star Kinjo Heywood’s nine-year-old son is kidnapped, ransom demands are given, and a winding trail through Boston’s underworld begins, Spenser puts together his own all-star team of toughs. It will take both Hawk and Spenser’s protégé, Zebulon Sixkill, to watch Spenser’s back and return the child to Heywood’s sprawling Chestnut Hill mansion.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Convicted murderer Jamey Dixon comes back to Jericho preaching redemption, but for the victim’s family, the only thought is revenge. The men in prison from Dixon’s last job, an armored car robbery, also don’t believe him; they break out and head straight to Jericho. Quinn Colson and his deputy, Lillie, know they have their work cut out for them, but they don’t count on a tornado that causes havoc just as events come to a head.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

A heavy-handed developer is trying to buy up Henry Cimoli's condo on Revere Beach and sends thugs to move the process along. Soon Spenser and his apprentice find a trail leading to a mysterious and beautiful woman, and plans to turn to a chunk of land north of Boston into a sprawling casino. Bitter rivals emerge, alliances turn, and the uglier pieces of the Boston political machine look to put an end to Spenser's investigation.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Fresh from 10 years as a U.S. Army Ranger, Quinn Colson finds his hands full as the newly elected sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi. An old buddy running a local gun shop may be in over his head when stolen army rifles start showing up in the hands of a Mexican drug gang.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

When 14-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother's death, he's not completely convinced by her claim that the original investigation was botched. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hit Spenser where he lives: they're the very characteristics he abides by.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Thriller
Quinn Colson left Mississippi and never looked back. Now he must return as an Army Ranger for his uncle's funeral. An admired sheriff, Uncle Hampton supposedly shot himself, but Quinn is ready to face enemies --- old, new, and very dangerous --- to get to the truth.