Written by Max Allan Collins
(75 min. Film Noir/Holiday Fantasy)

MAX ALLAN COLLINS was named a Grand Master in 2017 by the Mystery Writers of America. He is a three-time winner of the Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” award, receiving the PWA “Eye” for Life Achievement (2006) and their “Hammer” award for making a major contribution to the private eye genre with his Nathan Heller historical series (2012). His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) became the Academy Award-winning film directed by Sam Mendes and starring Tom Hanks. His other comics credits include the syndicated strip “Dick Tracy”; “Batman”; and his own “Ms. Tree” and “Wild Dog.” His innovative Quarry novels were adapted as a 2016 TV series by Cinemax. He has completed thirteen “Mike Hammer” novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane; and his audio novel, Mike Hammer: The Little Death with Stacy Keach, won a 2011 Audie. For five years, he was sole licensing writer for TV’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, creating best-selling novels, graphic novels, and video games. His movie tie-in novels have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists, including Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, and American Gangster. Collins has written and directed four features and two documentaries, all produced in Iowa. His features include the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996) and the documentary Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane (1998), featured on Criterion’s release of Kiss Me Deadly. Caveman showcases the life of Iowa cartoonist V.T. Hamlin, creator of Alley Oop, a documentary co-production with the University of Iowa. His Edgar-nominated play Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (2004) became an Iowa PBS special. In 1995 Collins scripted The Expert, a HBO World Premiere, and in 2009, The Last Lullaby from his novel The Last Quarry. Working with his longtime collaborator Phillip W. Dingeldein, and Chad Bishop of Muscatine Community College, he recently directed a video version of his play Encore for Murder with a predominantly local cast. In 1969 Collins earned a B.A. in English and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop in 1971. He taught English at at Muscatine Community College from 1971 - 1976. He has performed as a vocalist and keyboard player with the Daybreakers (1966 – 71) and Crusin’, (1974 - to date). Both bands have been inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Collins and his wife, writer Barbara Collins, are lifetime residents of Muscatine; as “Barbara Allan,” they have collaborated on twenty novels, including the “Trash ‘n’ Treasures” mysteries, Antiques Flee Market (2008) winning the Romantic Times Best Humorous Mystery Novel award of 2009. Their son Nathan, also a Muscatine resident, has translated numerous novels into English from Japanese, as well as video games and manga.