Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. He studied politics at Oxford University and after a failed legal career he moved to the US in the early 1990s. He found work as a security guard, postman, construction worker, barman, rugby coach and bookstore clerk before becoming a school teacher. He now lives in Australia. His books for Serpent’s Tail include the DEAD trilogy (featuring hitman Michael Forsythe) and standalone novels Hidden River and Fifty Grand.