Max McCoy

Max Allan McCoy (born October 30, 1958) is an American journalist and novelist.

He is the author of ten westerns, two thrillers, four original Indiana Jones adventures, the novelization of the mini-series Into the West and the first three volumes in Wylde’s West, a paranormal mystery series.

Born in Baxter Springs, Kansas, McCoy is the son of Carl McCoy (1924–1997) and Mary Carter (1927–1986).
He attended Baxter Springs High School, has a B.A. from Pittsburg State University and an M.A. from Emporia State University.

McCoy began his career in journalism in 1980 as a police reporter for The Pittsburg (Kansas) Morning Sun. In 1986, he traveled to Japan on a grant to report, in words and photos, the story of the aging survivors of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

McCoy was the investigative reporter for The Joplin Globe in southwest Missouri and won first-place awards from the Associated Press Managing Editors and the Missouri Press Association for his reporting on unsolved murders, serial killers, and hate groups in the Ozarks.

Novels

Most of McCoy’s novels are set in Missouri or Kansas, and major themes include alienation, redemption, complicated family and personal relationships, and the legacy of violence in American culture.

• Giving Up the Ghost: An Ophelia Wylde Paranormal Mystery (2015) ISBN 978-0-7582-8197-5
• The Spirit Is Willing: An Ophelia Wylde Paranormal Mystery (2014) ISBN 978-0-7582-8195-1
• Of Grave Concern: An Ophelia Wylde Paranormal Mystery (2013) ISBN 978-0-7582-8193-7
• The Sixth Rider 20th Anniversary Edition. (2011) Kindle e-book.
• Damnation Road (2010) ISBN 978-0-7860-2121-5
• Canyon Diablo (2010) ISBN 978-0-7860-2120-8
• I, Quantrill (2008) ISBN 978-0-451-22380-7
• Hellfire Canyon (2007) ISBN 978-0-7860-1780-5
• A Breed Apart: A Novel of Wild Bill Hickok (2006) ISBN 0-451-21987-2
• Into the West (2005) ISBN 978-0-4514-1188-4
• Hinterland (2005) ISBN 978-0-8439-5514-9
• The Moon Pool (2004) ISBN 0-8439-5366-7
• Jesse: A Novel of the Outlaw Jesse James (1999) ISBN 0-553-57178-8
• Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx (1999) ISBN 0-553-56197-9
• Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth (1997) ISBN 0-553-56195-2
• Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs (1996) ISBN 0-553-56193-6
• Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone (1995) ISBN 0-553-56196-0
• The Wild Rider (1995) ISBN 0-553-56444-7
• Home to Texas (1995) ISBN 0-553-56445-5
• Sons of Fire (reprint, 1995) ISBN 0-553-56439-0
• The Sixth Rider (reprint, 1994) ISBN 0-553-56438-2
• Sons of Fire (1993) ISBN 0-385-42030-7
• The Sixth Rider (1991) ISBN 0-385-41495-1

Short Stories

• “The Devil and Bill Doolin.” Cactus Country. Lou Turner, ed. Memphis: High Hill press, 2011: 20-35.
• “Spoils of War.” Louis L’Amour Western Magazine. May 1994: 7-20. Winner of the Oxbow Award for Short Fiction.

Literary Awards

2014 – Kansas Notable Book Of Grave Concern
2011 – Spur Damnation Road [5]
2008 – Kansas Notable Book Hellfire Canyon [6]
2008 – Spur Hellfire Canyon [5]
2005 – ESU Outstanding Master Alumnus[7]
1991 – Spur The Sixth Rider [5]

Journalism Awards

2013 – Distinguished Newspaper Advisor – College Media Association [x]
2002 – Investigative Reporting, Associated Press, 2002 (“The Killing Season”).
2001 – Investigative Reporting, Associated Press, 2001 (“Ordained by Hate”).