Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic literature, screenplays and comics. His best known work includes the Ms. Tree and Road to Perdition comics (the latter being the basis for an acclaimed film of the same name), and his long-running literary series characters such as steely hitman Quarry, hardened thief Nolan, and antiheroic private investigator Nate Heller. He wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for many years and has produced numerous novels featuring the character as well.
In 2017, the Mystery Writers of America named Collins a Grand Master. He is a three-time winner of the Private Eye Writers of America "Shamus", received the organization's Eye award for Life Achievement in 2006 and its Hammer award for making a major contribution to the private eye genre with the Nathan Heller saga in 2012.[Publisher's Note], in Max Allan Collins, "Too Many Bullets", Hard Case Crime Novel, Titan Books, London, 2013, np.
Biography Writing career Collins has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition (which was developed into a film in 2002), created the comic book private eye Ms. Tree, and took over writing the Dick Tracy comic strip from creator Chester Gould. Collins briefly wrote the Batman comic book in 1987 and crafted a new origin for the Jason Todd character. Collins and artist Terry Beatty created Wild Dog at DC that same year in a self-titled limited series. The character later appeared as a feature in the Action Comics Weekly anthology. As of 2016, Wild Dog became a recurring character in the Arrow television series and is portrayed by actor Rick Gonzalez.
Another Collins contribution to the Batman franchise was scripting the English-language translation of Batman: Child of Dreams in 2003.Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 266: "Translated into English by a voice familiar with chronicling Bruce Wayne's adventures, writer Max Allan Collins, this epic story followed a Japanese reporter...who traveled to Gotham City." He wrote books to expand on the Dark Angel TV series. He has written books and comics based on the TV series franchise CSI. In 2006 he wrote Buried Deep (also released as "Bones Buried Deep"), based on the TV series Bones.
He has written two sequel novels to Road to Perdition: Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. He wrote three more graphic novels starring the characters from Road to Perdition. These graphic novels, called collectively On the Road to Perdition, form the basis of the film.
He co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers with Lee Goldberg. The IAMTW is an organization for writers of tie-ins and novelizations. The IAMTW is the parent organisation of the Scribe Awards which has been won 6 times by Collins, either writing alone or in collaboration, and seen him elected Grandmaster of the organisation in 2021.
Collins studied in the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.
Collins is a fan of the mystery writer Mickey Spillane from childhood and later became close friends with him. The two collaborated on a comic book series in the 1990s called Mike Danger. Upon Spillane's death in 2006, Collins was entrusted to finish various uncompleted works by Spillane including Dead Street, The Big Showdown, and an ongoing series of Mike Hammer novel completions, beginning with The Goliath Bone in 2008. To date, Collins has completed fifteen Spillane Hammer novels, with the most recent being Baby, It's Murder (2025) - The Final Mike Hammer Novel, published in 2025.
In 2021, he and Canadian actor/writer Dave Thomas teamed to write the sci-fi mystery novel The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton.
Movies and music In addition to his work as a writer, Collins has written and directed four movies: Mommy, Mommy 2: Mommy's Day, Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market, and Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (based on his Edgar Award–nominated play). All four were produced independently on location in Collins' hometown of Muscatine, Iowa. The first three are available on DVD—separately or in the Black Box set—from Troma Team Video, and the Ness film is distributed by VCI Entertainment. The DVD release of Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market being notable for being one of the first films to take advantage of the multi-angle feature on DVD players, thus giving viewers the opportunity to watch the story unfold from different viewpoints.
Collins has written and performed music with his rock band, Cruisin'.
Political views Collins is a Democrat, describing his political views thus: "I think of myself as slightly left of center, but my father thought of himself as slightly right of center, when he was slightly right of Genghis Khan. So who knows? I do know that I veer left when the right is getting out of hand..."
Personal life Collins and his wife, Barbara, have a son, Nathan.
In 2008, the band he started in 1966 in Muscatine, Iowa—the Daybreakers—was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Ten years later, in 2018, Collins was again inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band Cruisin'.
Awards Collins received an Inkpot Award in 1982. He won the Shamus Award in 1984 and 1992.
Selected bibliography
Quarry series
This series features a former U.S. Marine sniper turned professional assassin after returning from the Vietnam War in 1973. The books are narrated in first person by Quarry (a code name). He maintains his own code of honor, and rationalizes his crimes by taking contracts to kill people who he believes brought about their own demise and will eventually be murdered by one enemy or another (e.g., corrupt politicians, mobsters, exploitative businessmen, drug traffickers). Quarry becomes a hit man following his legal exoneration for killing a man who was sleeping with his wife, an act which attracts the interest of a man known as Broker who schedules and organizes assassinations. After being betrayed by Broker, Quarry steals a batch of classified documents and shifts his focus to offering his services to those who are targeted for assassination. Quarry (a.k.a. The Broker) (1976) Quarry's List (a.k.a. The Broker's Wife) (1976) Quarry's Deal (a.k.a. The Dealer) (1976) Quarry's Cut (a.k.a. The Slasher) (1977) Quarry's Vote (a.k.a. Primary Target) (1987) Quarry's Greatest Hits (contains 'Primary Target' and a short story) (2003) The Last Quarry (2006) The First Quarry (2008) Quarry In The Middle (2009) Quarry's Ex (2010) The Wrong Quarry (2014) Quarry's Choice (2015) Quarry In The Black (2016) Quarry's Climax (2017) Killing Quarry (2019) Quarry's Blood (2022)
Cinemax created a TV adaptation of Quarry. Written by Michael D. Fuller and Graham Gordy based loosely on the book series, the project centers on a Marine marksman who, upon returning home from Vietnam in 1972, finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. The disillusioned vet is quickly recruited into a network of contract killers and corruption spanning the Mississippi River. The show was cancelled in May 2017 after the first season.
Nolan series This series features a professional thief, similar to and apparently inspired by Richard Stark's "Parker" character, who operates in the Midwest. Bait Money (1981) Blood Money (1981) Fly Paper (1981) Hush Money (1981) Hard Cash (1981) Scratch Fever (1982) Spree (1987) Mourn the Living (1999) Collins's first written novel, but not published until 1999) Two for the Money (omnibus reprint of the first two books Bait Money and Blood Money) (2004) Skim Deep (2020) Double Down (omnibus reprint of the third and fourth books Fly Paper and Hush Money) (2021) Tough Tender (omnibus reprint of the fifth and sixth books Hard Cash and Scratch Fever) (2022) Mad Money (omnibus reprint of the seventh and eighth books Spree and Mourn the Living) (2023)
Mallory series The Mallory series is about a mystery writer in Iowa who solves crimes. The Baby Blue Rip-Off (1983) No Cure for Death (1983) Kill Your Darlings (1984) A Shroud for Aquarius (1985) Nice Weekend for a Murder (1986)
Nathan Heller series Collins' longest running series and arguably his best known work is his Nathan Heller series. Featured in 19 novels and several short stories published over 40 years (1983–2023), Heller is a Chicago private investigator who gets involved in famous crimes and meets famous people from the 1930s to the 1960s, including Orson Welles, Frank Nitti, and Sally Rand.
Extensively researched historical novels, the Heller books usually deal with well-known historic events, including assassinations, murders, suicides, and kidnappings. Some, however, are not well known and a few don't involve any crime. In every novel, Collins offers a solution to the crime or events that differs from the generally accepted explanation. For example, the first novel in this historical fiction series, True Detective, deals with what is generally accepted as a failed assassination attempt on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt with the accidental killing of the mayor of Chicago; Collins suggests it is a successful assignation of the Chicago mayor. Each novel concludes with "I Owe Then One," where Collins explains that the novel includes real people with their real names and composite characters. He also lists the books, newspaper and magazine articles, and other sources he used for both the specifics of the case and for the milieu, the descriptions of buildings and places in the book.see for example Max Allan Collins, "I Owe Them One", Too Many Bullets, Hard Case True Crime, Titan Books, London, 2023, p.
Collins won the 1984 Shamus Award for Best P.I. Hardcover from the Private Eye Writers of America for True Crimes. Collins won his second Shamus in 1992 for the Heller novel Stolen Away, an account of the Lindbergh kidnapping. His 1999 novel Flying Blind sees Heller investigate the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, along the way becoming romantically involved with her. With the release of Chicago Confidential, Collins moved the action into the 1950s. Target Lancer, about an alleged attempt to assassinate John F. Kennedy in Chicago just weeks before the actual assassination in Dallas, was published in November 2012.
Collins suggests that the latest Heller novel,Too Many Bullets (2023), might be his last. The series began with an assassination, he notes. "Dealing with the Robert F. Kennedy assassination in Too Many Bullets feels like a bookend to the Heller saga, although one never knows when Nate might come up with another memory or two to share."Max Allan Collins, "I Owe Them One", Too Many Bullets, Hard Case True Crime, Titan Books, London, 2023, p.
In 2024, Robert Meyer Burnett and Mike Bawden released a ten-episode radio drama True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak based on the series' first novel True Detective. Michael Rosenbaum voiced Heller, with a supporting cast including Adam Arkin, Barry Bostwick, Jeffrey Combs, C. Thomas Howell, Patton Oswalt, Katee Sackhoff, William Sadler, Bill Smitrovich, Anthony LaPaglia and David Strathairn. True Detective (November 1983) True Crime (December 1984) The Million-Dollar Wound (February 1986) Neon Mirage (February 1988) Stolen Away (May 1991) Dying in the Post-War World (October 1991) – Novella Carnal Hours (April 1994) (about Harry Oakes' murder) Blood and Thunder (August 1995) (about Huey Long's assassination) Damned in Paradise (October 1996) Flying Blind (August 1998) Majic Man (September 1999) Angel in Black (March 2001) Kisses of Death: A Nathan Heller Casebook (Crippen & Landru, June 2001) – Short story collection Chicago Confidential (June 2002) Bye Bye, Baby (August 2011) Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories (October 2011)