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. Black was also 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 in 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. His recent novels are in the ongoing Trackdown series (Devil’s Vendetta, Devil’s Breed, Devil’s Reckoning, and Devil’s Lair). His western novel about lawman Bass Reeves, Legends of the West, was just re-released in hardcover and large print. A paperback version is forthcoming, along with a second Bass Reeves novel. His latest novels are Devil’s Lair, Concho: Border Blood, (written as A.W. Hart), and his new western Where Legends Lie-Amazon