John A Connell Books In Order

Publication Order of Mason Collins Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

John A Connell is one of the novelists from the US, who is famous for writing historical fiction, thriller, and mystery novels. He is particularly well known for writing the Mason Collins mystery series. Author Connell has obtained a degree in Anthropology. Before the start of his writing career, he used to work as a jazz pianist, a machinist, a stock boy, an operator of printing press and a repairman. For a considerable period of time, Connell has also worked as a cameraman. As an author, Connell gained prominence with the publication of his debut book titled Ruins of War. His success grew further after the release of it sequel novel called Spoils of Victory. Author Connell was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the US. He lived through most of his childhood days in the suburban regions of Ohio, Columbus, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Finally, Connell shifted to Atlanta when he was 13 years old. Connell enrolled himself at the University of Georgia State. While studying, he was fascinated with the human thought. This enabled him to go for the study of Psychology. However, he did not seem much satisfied with the curiosity of it and therefore, decided to return back to Anthropology. Eventually, author Connell graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the subject of Anthropology. In addition to this, Connell also obtained a Psychology minor. Right after his graduation, Connell joined a jazz and rock band as a singer and keyboard player. His interest in writing stories was always there and he used to indulge in creating short stories whenever he used to get time. In order to earn for his college expense and even beyond that, Connell took up some part time jobs. These include working at a brassiere factory, as a courier boy at the State Health Department of Georgia, as a repairer of vending machines, etc. Author Connell always loved to tell stories and this hobby compelled him to go for a change of career. Connell entered the film industry in spite of not knowing anyone in the film business and not having any knowledge about how things work over there. As a result, he ended up choosing camerawork as it appeared to be the simplest job to him.

Starting from Atlanta, Connell moved to different places as a cameraman, including Los Angeles. He worked very hard in the camera department and rose in the ranks. In the next few years, author Connell became very popular in camera operation for both TV and films. Later, Connell joined the aerial cinematography and started as an assistant. This allowed him to travel in helicopters to various parts of the world. While going through all this, Connell’s desire for writing did not die as he kept expressing his ideas on paper in his spare times. And when someone suggested him to take it seriously, Connell decided to become a full time writer. But firstly, he went on to study creative writing. Then, Connell decided to a couple of his action screenplays into young adult novels. He likes the idea very much and continued to do it for most of the screenplays that he produced. During one his projects, author Connell came across a French woman and married her. His wife got a job opportunity in France and decided to take it. Connell also agreed and appreciated the idea of living in Paris. He always wanted to explore Europe and his wife’s job offer was a dream come true for him as well. After some time, Connell shifted to Madrid, Spain along with his wife. Living in different places helped author Connell to learn multiple languages, which he likes to explore a lot. As of today, author Connell and his wife reside in Madrid. He is working on the development of the third book of his Mason Collin series. Besides writing books, Connell also enjoys photography, traveling, history, and music.

The Mason Collins series written by John A Connell consists of 2 books so far. Both the books feature the Mason Collins as the lead character. He is depicted as an ex-homicide detective in Chicago, POW, and United States soldier. Now, he works as a criminal investigator for the US Army. The first book of the series is entitled as ‘Ruins of the War’. It was released in 215 by the Berkley publication. Author Connell has set the plot in the year 1945. At the start of the book, it is shown that Munich gets totally ruined 7 months after the defeat of Nazi. After order is obliterated there, Mason Collins is given the job of enforcing the law. Due to this, he feels that his job has become even more dangerous. Just as Mason takes charge, he comes to know about a killer who stalks the city. The killer seems to have a lot of knowledge about human anatomy as he likes to enact mysterious rituals after killing his preys. Mason learns that this killer chooses his victims randomly. Being in an unfamiliar place, the only things that Mason can rely on, are his instincts and wits. For catching the killer, Mason Collins decides to venture into places where his life too gets put to risk. He moves from interrogation rooms filled with criminals of Nazi war to the black markets of the Army in search of the brutal killer. All the while, Mason does not seem to be aware of an important fact that the killer he is looking to catch is also keeping a watch on his activities. Now, he must act quickly and hunt him down before he takes the life of another victim or even his own.

The next book is known by the title ‘Spoils of the Victory’. It was also published by the Berkely publishers in 2016. At the beginning of this novel, Connell has mentioned that the little town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen became the hideout of the war criminals after the collapse of Third Reich. The place also got filled with the stolen riches of the Nazis. Now, the criminals look to make a fortune by selling the riches in the black market. As everyone tries to come up and push others down, extortion, corruption, and murder become a normal routine in the town. The situation seems to be perfect for Mason Collins to use his expertise and bring it under control. He is informed by his friend and CIC agent named John Winstone that some powerful men are trying to take over the black market’s lucrative trade. Before he could give all the information to Mason, John Winstone gets brutally murdered along with his girlfriend. Mason becomes determined to find the truth and therefore, he enters into the shadowy world of co-conspirators, including the Gestapo and SS officer, Polish POWS, and OSS officer of the U.S. Army. Soon, he learns that the evidences and witnesses have started to disappear one after the other. Mason becomes certain that someone at the top is playing this deadly game. Now, he must be able to find his way through the dark in order to unravel the truth and avenge the death of John Winstone.