About
Meet Mike Donohue, thriller author of the popular Max Strong and Marti Wells crime series. Specializing in character-driven suspense, Mike Donohue writes about complex protagonists with checkered pasts who can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
Mike now lives outside Boston with his wife, two daughters, and Dashiell Hammett. Dash is the family dog. He recently got a little brother named Domino. When he’s not crafting his next thriller, Mike enjoys triathlons, making pizza, and reading. Always reading.
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Mike was born in Trenton, New Jersey, but has no recollection of the place. Raised in Rhode Island, he was an avid reader from an early age but not one of those people who claim to know they wanted to be a writer in their crib. When he was small, he wanted to be Larry Bird or Jim Rice.
He thanks his Mom for his love of reading, even if she was one of those people who often flipped ahead to read the last chapter of a mystery. He is adamantly not one of those people. She also took him to the library constantly, where he devoured the Hardy Boys, Penguin Reader Biographies, Robert Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury. As a proper book nerd, he read massive amounts of fiction in his early teens—influences that still shape how he builds suspense and explores what people do when pushed to their limits.
His path to writing was winding. He’s previously worked as a waiter, moving man, ice cream scooper, management consultant, and web designer. Each job taught him something about people under pressure, which turns out to be useful when writing thrillers about characters who never seem to catch a break.
The Lightning Round
Trivia over board games. Coffee over tea. Coke over Pepsi. Pixar over Dreamworks. Cardio over weight lifting. Manual over automatic transmission. Fiction before non-fiction. Chocolate more than vanilla. Vegetable gardening over flower gardening. NY over Chicago-style pizza. Whoever is playing the Yankees.
Stay in Touch with Mike Donohue
Get two free books instantly: SLEEPING DOGS, the Max Strong prequel, and OCTOBER DAYS, a collection of short stories. Then once a month I’ll share what I’m writing, what I’m reading, and those Tuesday afternoon moments that somehow become stories.
Plus you’ll hear about new releases first.
Less newsletter, more like notes from a friend who writes books.
