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John Mackie was born in Brooklyn and
attended New York City public schools. At twenty-three he joined the New York Police Department. He spent many years in the
elite Street Crime Unit, retiring as a sergeant. John Mackie’s novels (Manhattan North, Manhattan
South, West Side and East Side) feature the fictional detective Thornton Savage and his homicide task force.
Publisher’s Weekly said of Manhattan
South, “Retired NYPD Detective Mackie captures the character of Manhattan in his gripping debut novel,
the first in a new series featuring Detective Thornton Savage and his homicide task force. When Candace Mayhew's husband
travels for business, she joins her Gambino-mob boyfriend for a clandestine meeting. With a tap of a trigger, the lovers lay
dead. Later that same morning, Andric Karazov plays with his toy Napoleonic Calvary and thinks about the less-than-perfect
job he just completed, and a senator in Queens contemplates his run for the presidency while his wife enjoys another rendezvous
with her Russian lesbian lover. As Savage soon realizes, all of these people are linked to Candace Mayhew. It isn't long
before he closes in on the assassin and his life is threatened, but after one shootout goes awry and another leaves two men
dead, Savage becomes the target of an internal investigation and is stripped of his car, gun and badge. Nevertheless, Savage
continues to track the killer and ultimately uncovers a plot involving infidelity, extortion and political intrigue. Mackie
stuffs this well-plotted police procedural with street-savvy details, but his meticulous play-by-play can be excessive he
includes the make and model of everything, including Savage's shoes. Still, Mackie writes with authority and presents
a street-wise protagonist that readers will welcome.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of Manhattan
North, “Fans of Mackie's debut, Manhattan South, will be pleased to note that NYPD Det. Sgt. Thornton
Savage, the larger-than-life protagonist of this high intensity police procedural, hasn't lost his hard edge or his renegade
impulses. Set in the heart of Harlem, the novel opens with the brutal murder of Horace Grimes, a notorious drug kingpin. Savage
and his homicide squad take the case-which turns out to be the latest in a series of gruesome drug-czar slayings. But after
the lead investigator, one of Savage's longtime friends, is killed, the case turns personal. Savage arrests Derek Ogden,
who has made a fortune running the city's most ruthless drug ring, but he lacks the evidence to hold Ogden and his sadistic
protege. While Savage builds his case, Ogden arranges for the detective's fiancee to be killed, which sends Savage on
a manhunt. Mackie excels at creating grisly imagery and dissecting intricate police work for lay readers. Unfortunately, he
isn't as adept at writing about interpersonal relationships. The dialogue between Savage and his bride-to-be feels forced.
Likewise, when Mackie tries to convey his characters' emotions, his prose often becomes overly dramatic. Nevertheless,
the book's relentless pacing and spine-chilling suspense will keep readers on their toes.”
According to the book description of
West Side, “In a Manhattan bar, two strangers pick up a soon-to-be-dead look-alike for one
of them. After pulling off a flawless one-and-a-half million dollar insurance fraud, the perpetrators decide that one perfect
scam deserves another. As Detective Sergeant Thorn Savage and his Manhattan South Homicide squad enter the investigation,
they are drawn into the city's seamy underbelly where dangerous fun-and the answers to an ingenious murder case-await
those who know where to look.” According
to the book description of East Side, “With the New York Archdiocese, the mayor, and the police
commissioner all cranking up the political heat, Detective Sergeant Thornton Savage and the Manhattan South homicide squad
are in a race against time to catch a priest-killer before he strikes again. Nothing will stop them-not even if their efforts
uncover something that could bring down the whole Roman Catholic church.”
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