A.J. Quinnell Books In Order

Publication Order of Creasy Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

A.J. Quinnell is a mystery, thriller, and crime fiction author that is best known for his bestselling debut novel “Man on Fire.”

He took his Quinnell pseudonym as he wanted to continue living a normal life in case any of his works became successful. Born Philip Nicholson in Nuneaton, he went to school at the Wakefield-based Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School.

As a teenager, he had once stumbled upon a group of tourists that included Ernest Hemingway his then hero, while he was on vacation with his parents in Tanzania.
When he requested a few minutes with the legend, he was rudely rebuffed as Hemingway said he had no time for kids. Convinced that he would grow up to become an author, he decided that he would be a different kind of author.

But first, he needed to earn a living and hence after graduating from high school he found a job in Liverpool working for a shipping company. At twenty years old, he moved to Hong Kong, where he started trading textiles.

It was while he was in Hong Kong that he would meet many of the characters such as crooks, mercenaries, journalists, and former French Foreign Legion officers that would be in his novels.

It was while A.J. Quinnell was flying from Tokyo to Hong Kong that he acquired the ingredients for his debut novel.

An Italian on the flight suffered a heart attack and the plane crew was just about to call for an ambulance when Quinnell used his connection to get the man into a private hospital.

He told the man’s associates that he would get better attention at the private hospital. A few days after the incident several Italians visited him and expressed eternal gratitude, while promising they would always offer him help if he needed it.

When he finally started his research on his novel, he contacted the Italians asking for help. They introduced him to Mafiosi, anti-mafia investigators, and lawyers who provided him with the information he needed for his novels.

A.J. Quinnell published “Man on Fire,” his debut novel in 1980 in New York, and a year later in London. The work would go on to become an international bestselling title that would spawn the popular “Creasy” series of novels.

Needing a pseudonym, he settled for the surname of Derek Quinnell the Welsh rugby player, and A.J. from the child of his local bartender.

With “Man on Fire” becoming a huge success, he kicked on from there and wrote more than ten novels. “Man on Fire” was made into a movie in 1987 that starred Joe Pesci, Scott Glenn, and Jade Malle.

However, the movie adaptation did not impress moviegoers and neither was A.J. impressed by the screenplay. In 2004, Tony Scott redirected a remake of the movie this time starring Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington as the leads.

The movie was also set in Mexico and this time became a critical success and even Quinnell loved this version of the novel.

Over the years, the author has sold more than 10 million copies of his novels which have been sold in more than 150 countries across the globe.
He was working on his last novel in the “Creasy” series when he died in Gozo, where he had been living since the 1970s.

A.J. Quinnell penned “Man on Fire” his debut novel using the stories and experiences of people he met and knew. For the most part, he set the work on the places he lived as a backdrop.

It is an exquisite book that has themes of justice and reconciliation with what happened in the past. The lead character is a trained killer named Creasy that spent many years as a mercenary and soldier, experiences that had hollowed him out.

Given his terrible circumstances, he has become a drunk disillusioned with life and he just wants to die. But he changes his mind when he is hired as a bodyguard and comes to adore the little girl that is his charge.

Methodically yet very slowly, she manages to break into his shell and she becomes something like a daughter to him. He starts cleaning up his life and it is not long before he starts to care.

He feels that the little girl has saved his soul and life. But it is not long before bad things happen and he is forced to go on a quest for revenge.
It is a touching relationship tale about a man’s resolve to live, a story of renewed vitality, and an exquisite story of vengeance.

Quinnell introduced the mercenary and veteran Creasy in “Man on Fire” and he makes a return in the second novel of the series “The Perfect Kill.”
Three days prior to the 1988 Christmas, Pan American flight 103 was blown out of the air over Lockerbie. The terrorist bomb had killed all passengers and crew on the plane including the four-year-old daughter and wife of Creasy.

The man goes on a personal quest for revenge and works with a US senator who also lost his wife on the flight and Michael an eighteen-year-old orphan. Relentlessly and ruthlessly, Creasy trains the youth into the perfect assassin.

Creasy is a very patient trainer as even though he is thirsty for vengeance, he takes time to plan everything out. This ensures that he gets his guy just when the time is right.

Combining elements of “The Mechanic” and a little of Jason Bourne, he makes for a very compelling character, who adds a lot to his storyline.

A.J. Quinnell’s novel “The Blue Ring” continues to follow the veteran mercenary Creasy, as he finds solitude on a tiny Mediterranean island. It is here where he can escape from the violent memories of his mercenary days.

The solitude is disrupted when he is confronted by a thirteen-year-old drug addict named Juliet. The latter’s life had almost been destroyed by heroin and association with an international powerful cartel known as “The Blue Ring.”

The cartel is known for dealing in prostitution, and drugs, and using Satanism to achieve their objectives. Creasy’s new mission is to hunt down the cartel leaders who profit from degradation and death.

He intends to destroy their leader the evil genius who keeps the international organization running smoothly.

One Response to “A.J. Quinnell”

1. Gerardine McGrath: 4 months ago

   Absolutely love ALL his Books. I have 7 and would love to buy a series for my Brothers. Sadly all now out of print. I bought most of mine in Malta when living there and 2 in Ireland 💓

   Reply