Jahn, (Joseph) Michael 1943-

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JAHN, (Joseph) Michael 1943-

(Mike Jahn)

PERSONAL: Born August 4, 1943, in Cincinnati, OH; son of Joseph C. (a newspaperman) and Anne (Loughlin) Jahn; married Catherine Knoll (a researcher), July 24, 1965; children: Evan R. Education: Adelphi University, B.A., 1965, graduate study, 1965-68; additional graduate study at Columbia University, 1967-68.

ADDRESSES: Office—Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Agent—Meredith Bernstein, 2112 Broadway, Suite 503A, New York, NY 10023. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Moriches Bay Tide (weekly newspaper), Center Moriches, NY, news editor, 1964-65; Newsday, Long Island, NY, editorial assistant, 1965-66; Long Island Advance (weekly), Long Island, reporter and photographer, 1966; Columbia University, New York, NY, associate director for college relations, 1966-67, staff writer for Office of Public Information, 1967-68; freelance writer, 1968—; Columbia University, press officer, 1980—. Commentator on radio station WNEWFM, 1969-70; lecturer, New School for Social Research, 1971.

MEMBER: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Mystery Writers of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America, 1977, for The Quark Maneuver.

WRITINGS:

UNDER NAME MIKE JAHN, EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED

Jim Morrison and the Doors: An Unauthorized Book, Grosset (New York, NY), 1969.

The Scene (novel), Geis, 1970.

Rock: From Elvis to the Rolling Stones, Quadrangle, 1973.

The Rockford Files: The Unfortunate Replacement, Popular Library, 1975.

The Invisible Man, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1975.

How to Make a Hit Record, Bradbury (New York, NY), 1976.

The Deadliest Game, Popular Library, 1976.

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Secret of Bigfoot Pass, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1976.

Switch, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1976.

The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women, and War, Wingate, 1976.

The Quark Maneuver, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1977.

The Six Million Dollar Man: International Incidents, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1977.

Killer on the Heights, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1977.

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Rescue of Athena, Wingate, 1978.

Thunder: The Mighty Stallion of the Hills, Grosset (New York, NY), 1978.

Thunder: Mighty Stallion to the Rescue, Grosset (New York, NY), 1978.

(Under name Michael Jahn) Kingsley's Empire, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1980.

(With Lewis Chesler and Elliot Blair) The Olympian Strain, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1980.

Shearwater, Hamlyn/American, 1980.

Armada, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1981.

Tambora, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1982.

Night Rituals: A Novel, Norton (New York, NY), 1982.

Death Games: A Novel, Norton (New York, NY), 1987.

City of God, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1992.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story: A Novel (Based on a screenplay by Edward Khmara and John Raffo and Rob Cohen), Jove Books (New York, NY), 1993.

"BILL DONOVAN MYSTERY" SERIES

Murder at the Museum of Natural History: A Bill Donovan Mystery, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1994.

Murder on Theater Row: A Bill Donovan Mystery, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1997.

Murder on Fifth Avenue: A Bill Donovan Mystery, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1998.

Murder in Central Park: A Bill Donovan Mystery, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2000.

Murder on the Waterfront: A Bill Donovan Mystery, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2001.

Murder in Coney Island, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2003.

Also author of two novels in the "Black Sheep Squadron" series, 1979 and 1980. Author of columns, "New York Current," Bell-McClure Syndicate, 1968-70, "The Pop Side,"Ingenue, 1968-71, "Sounds of the Seventies," New York Times Syndicate, 1970-72, "New York Offbeat," New York Times Syndicate, 1972-73, "Jahn on Music,"Cue, 1972—, and "Music," Gallery, 1974—; rock music critic, New York Times, 1968-71; reviewer, High Fidelity, 1971—. Contributor to periodicals, including Esquire, Vogue, Cosmopolition, New York Times Magazine, and Saturday Review. Popular music editor, Cue, 1972-76.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael Jahn has penned many novels over the course of his career, including several novelizations of television series and films. One of his first independent works of fiction, however, The Quark Maneuver, garnered him the Edgar Award in 1977. Since the early 1990s, however, Jahn has been best known for his series of mystery novels featuring New York City locales and detective Bill Donovan. The first book in the series, City of God, takes place in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The book also includes Donovan approaching marriage to a black fellow officer, Marcie Barnes. A Publishers Weekly reviewer of City of God noted that "Jahn shows sensitivity in depicting a biracial relationship, and he captures Manhattan's Upper West Side with gritty realism and touches of mordant humor."

Other settings Jahn has used include the theater district, the Museum of Natural History, and Central Park. Murder at the Museum of Natural History, which appeared in 1994, ends in a shootout among the dinosaur skeletons, and prompted another Publishers Weekly critic to remark that "Jahn's latest is suffused with a sense of place and a fitting irony." Discussing his 1997 novel, Murder on Theater Row, Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times Book Review reported that "the author knows his way around the theater and has sly fun sending up sacred cows." Robert A. Carter, reviewing the same novel in the Houston Chronicle, concluded: "It's another dandy piece of work from Michael Jahn, right on target." Similarly, David Pitt in Booklist praised Jahn's Donovan series for "its detailed look at New York," and called 2000's Murder in Central Park "a guaranteed hit with fans of the Donovan series and newcomers alike." Pitt also reviewed 2001's Murder on the Waterfront in Booklist, and while he did not like it as well as some others in the series, he remained willing to "recommend it confidently to anyone who likes mysteries set in the Big Apple."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2000, David Pitt, review of Murder in Central Park, p. 1088; August, 2001, David Pitt, review of Murder on the Waterfront, p. 2097.

Houston Chronicle, Robert A. Carter, "Sam Plays It Again, This Time Onstage," p. 23.

New York Times Book Review, March 16, 1997, Marilyn Stasio, review of Murder on Theater Row, p. 28.

Publishers Weekly, February 3, 1992, review of City of God, p. 66; October 10, 1994, review of Murder at the Museum of Natural History, p. 64.