Before his thrillers landed him on The New York Times Bestseller list, Kevin O?Brien was a railroad inspector who worked all the live long day and wrote novels at night. He grew up on Chicago?s North Shore, the youngest of six children, and studied Journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He moved to Seattle in 1980. His railroad job took him all over the Pacific Northwest, and he wrote most of his first novel in Best Westerns and Red Lions. The result, ACTORS was translated into three languages. He took the advice of author, Terry Brooks, who told him: ?Don?t quit your railroad job until you?ve made enough money on your writing to support yourself for two years.? Kevin?s second book, ONLY SON was optioned for film rights by M-G-M, thanks to interest from David Seltzer and Tom Hanks. ONLY SON was also chosen by Readers Digest for their Select Editions? alongside John Grisham?s THE PARTNER. That same year, Kevin left the railroads and started writing full time. He delivered a thriller and a USA Today Bestseller with his third book, THE NEXT TO DIE. 

Illinois