Ace Atkins Books

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Ace Atkins is a bestselling American author that writes crime fiction. Atkins was born in 1970 in Alabama. His father worked in the NFL. When he was a child, the family did quite a bit of moving.

So Atkins was afforded the opportunity to see many of the cultures and traditions that make up the US. The author always made an effort to fit in. He was very attentive to the cultural norms of the communities in which the family settled.

He would observe the differences in speech and the social habits, and by adopting them, Atkins found that he didn’t feel so out of place. This is one habit he continued to nurture as a writer.

He would eavesdrop on people just to take note of the way they spoke. Then he would incorporate everything he learned into his stories.

Though, it should be noted that, even with all the literary accolades he received later in life, the people of Alabama have never stopped associating his name with football. Ace Atkins was quite an athletic student.

He even appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated to commemorate Auburn University’s perfect season in 1993.

Atkins read a lot as a child. He also experimented with writing. But no one took him seriously because of his athletic prowess. One coach went so far as to take a book out of his hands after he found the author reading, proclaiming that fiction was useless.

Atkins’ teachers were just as uninterested in his love of books. So one assumes that they were shocked to learn that he had become The Tampa Tribune’s crime reporter.

They were probably even more shocked to learn that he had received a Pulitzer Prize Nomination for his series of articles about an old Murder Case.

The author started writing fiction when he was 27. He spent the three years that followed honing his craft, eventually making his mark on the publishing landscape with the Nick Travers and Quinn Colson series.

Ace Atkins’ work is inspired by his real-life experiences, the experiences of people he knows and the stories he stumbled across as a crime reporter. His renown is such that he was eventually chosen to write the Spenser series.

Atkins is grateful for the time he spent playing football because it taught him discipline. The verbal abuse that was rife in the locker room at the time also taught him how to handle criticism.

Ace Atkins Awards

Atkins received Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations for The Lost Ones and The Ranger.

Best Ace Atkins Books

The most notable aspect of Ace Atkins’ books isn’t the tension or the characters but the sense of humor that pervades every story he writes, with some of the best books in his bibliography including:

The Ranger: Northern Mississippi is not for the faint of heart. The land is rugged and dangerous. People die on a regular basis but no one ever bats an eye.

Quinn Colson has seen worse places, though. And when he finally comes back from Afghanistan, his home isn’t quite what he remembers

Corruption has become so commonplace that no one raises any suspicions when the Sheriff, Quinn’s uncle, dies. They say he committed suicide but some members of the community are not so sure.

Quinn comes to realize that the truth will never come out unless he opens the case and investigates it himself, a task that will force him to drag his family’s secrets and those of his town to the surface.

The Lost Ones: Quinn Colson spent a decade in the army. Now the ranger is the Sheriff of his hometown. But as dangerous as Afghanistan might have been, Quinn realizes that Tibbehah County is even more traitorous.

As the new Sheriff, Quinn is always putting out fires. This time, he has to look into a Mexican Drug Gang with stolen Army rifles in their possession. Quinn must also tackle a child abuse case with strong ties to a bootleg baby racket.

Quinn survived the Army where so many others did not. Now he has inadvertently placed his life on the line once more, and this time he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Fortunately for the former Ranger, he has Lillie Virgil, his partner, watching his back.

When Does The Next Ace Atkins book come out?

Ace Atkins doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Don't Let the Devil Ride and was released on June, 25th 2024.

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