Michael McKinley

Michael McKinley is an award-winning writer, journalist, and filmmaker. Michael was educated at the University of British Columbia and Oxford University, where he also directed academic summer schools, as well as at Cambridge University.

He has written more than twenty books on subjects ranging from sport, military history, religion, business, and politics, and crime fiction.

These include his book Willie: The Game Changing Story of the NHL’s First Black Player which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and is now being made into a feature film. His first novel, The Penalty Killing, was nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award as best debut crime novel.

Michael has also created, written and produced television series for CNN, the History Channel, Discovery, TSN, CBC, and co-created and co-executive produced NBC Peacock/Sky UK’s ratings-hit Epstein’s Shadow: the Ghislaine Maxwell Story. His newest documentary, which he also wrote, produced and directed, Let’s Do A Miracle, recently debuted at the Big Apple Film Festival in New York City, where he also served as a juror for their 2025 documentary season.

In 2024, he has published the cybercrime thriller A Quiet Life; Lou Vairo: The Godfather of US Hockey; and Diamond Dust, the compelling story of a brilliant Mormon counterfeiter in Utah, as well as the airline terror thriller Squawk 7700.

In 2025 his co-written Vatican thrillers The Glamour of Evil and Something Wicked will be published, as will his co-written political book Party Crasher: Wrestling With Third Party Politics in the US; the business book Blood Feud: Greed, Hubris, and Redemption in a Family Business; the social justice book On Thin Ice: An LAPD Veteran’s 30-Year Journey Toward a New Culture of Policing; the crime memoir Redeemed: A Journey From Darkness to Light and the political and business book Who Knew? My Journey Through Vietnam, Harvard, the White House, the Department of State and Corporate America. So Far. Michael lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and daughter.