Michael A. Black is the author of 19 books and over 100 short stories and articles. He has a BA in English from Northern Illinois University and a MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago. He was a police officer in the south suburbs of Chicago for over thirty years and worked in various capacities in police work including patrol supervisor, SWAT team leader, investigations, and tactical operations.His Ron Shade series, featuring the Chicago-based kickboxing private eye, has won several awards, as has his police procedural series featuring Frank Leal and Olivia Hart. He has also written two novels with television star Richard Belzer of Law & Order SUV. His hobbies include the martial arts, running, and weight lifting.In addtion to his own novels, Black is currently writing novels in a highly popular adventure series under another name.Mike's newest novel is SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS, the third in the Leal and Hart series. Other recent books include, THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF DOC ATALS (with Ray Lovato), THE HEIST and FREEZE ME, TENDER (think: Frozen Elvis)which are now availble as e-books and trade paperbacks on available in bookstores and on Amazon.com.