Clinton McKinzie Books In Order

Publication Order of Antonio “Ant” Burns Books

Clinton McKinzie is a reputed American writer, who is famous for writing crime fiction, mystery, and detective fiction novels. He is particularly popular for his Antonio ‘Ant’ Burns series. All his books are very popular among his the fans of mystery stories. Over the years of his writing career, author McKinzie has established himself as a prominent author of mystery and thriller stories. McKinzie is the native of Santa Monica, California. He says he had the dream of becoming a writer, but did not have the courage of trying anything until he became 30 years old. He always liked reading the works of Ernest Hemingway and Jack London, and wished to write a story similar to theirs. However, it seemed to be an impossible task for him at that time. So, he indulged himself in collecting stories related to Nature and people. Also, got involved in surfing and other adventurous sports activities along with his brothers. His enthusiasm in water sports led McKinzie to places like Northern California, Mexico, Spain, Morocco, France, etc. And whichever place he visited, he did not forget to gather stories and characters.

Author McKinzie completed his education in a sporadic manner. He studied in a number of colleges in Paris, Mississippi, and Northern California. Subsequently, he worked for several odd jobs, which he says he is not proud of. McKinzie has worked as a chauffeur, bouncer, ski instructor, lifeguard, etc. All the while he kept his habit of collecting stories. While on a trip to Wyoming, McKinzie fell in deep love with a location and settled there for some time. This gave him the opportunity to explore his passion for ice and rock climbing. And with time, this passion continued to grow stronger.

Author McKinzie came across some very fascinating people in the mountains of Wyoming, who inspired him to come up with unique characters in his stories. He had an amazing transformation in his own character as he learned a lot about himself amid the avalanches and rockfall at a thousand feet height. Later, McKinzie applied for a law degree at the Law College of Wyoming University and ended up getting the license for practicing law. Soon after, McKinzie got married and moved to Colorado to work as a deputy district attorney. He felt his life was overwhelmed with characters & stories as soon as he was sworn in to take the role of a peace officer and handed over the badge. Every day was like an adventure for him. His work gave him numerous opportunities to observe and experience brave heroes and despicable villains in the everyday life. And the chance to witness the acts of depravity and courage was like a cherry on top for McKinzie.

A time came when author McKinzie realized he was overflowing with stories and must sit down to create his original stories. So, he took some time off from his job and used the next 6 months to do nothing else other than writing. Eventually, author McKinzie came up with the fictional mixture of the experiences and people he met in Wyoming and created his first book, Edge of Justice. The Random House bought the publishing rights of this novel and took McKinzie by surprise. They even contacted him for writing the prequel called Point of Law. Both these books became bestsellers and helped author McKinzie taste success as a novelist at the start of his career. So far, McKinzie’s books have sold around one million printed copies and are available in 8 different languages. He has also been nominated for some prestigious awards, including the Colorado Book Award, the Edgar Award, etc. As of today, author McKinzie has again started his law practice and continues to write his stories in spare times.

Author Clinton McKinzie wrote the Antonio ‘Ant’ Burns series, which were all released between 2002-2005. Each book of this series, i.e 4 novels and 1 novella features the lead protagonist in the role of Antonio Burns, who is an amateur rock climber living in Wyoming and works as an agent for the Criminal Investigation Division. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘Edge of Justice’. It was released by the Dell publication in the year 2003. Author McKinzie has done the setting of this novel’s plot in the beautiful mountains of Wyoming. Antonio Burn is depicted in the role of a Special Agent, climber, risk taker, brother, and determined man. He is commonly referred to as ‘Ant’ by his colleagues and family members.

At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Antonio Burns has the natural instincts of a climber and his special training has turned him into a skilled and courageous cop. He visits Laramie for investigating the deadly plunge of a young lady. As Antonio investigates the case more, he seems certain that this case is about a murder. Later, he discovers a shocking connection of the woman’s murder to the trial of a couple of men. In spite of claiming repeatedly that they have not committed the murder, the men get the death sentence and are sent for execution. Antonio believes the men are saying the truth. He gets the support of a beautiful lady reporter and the two ascend through the forbidden mountainside to look for clues and evidences that will lead them to the real killer.

‘Crossing the Line’ is another book in this series. It was also published by Dell in 2004. This book consists of the main characters as Antonio Burns, Mary Chang, Roberto Burns, and Hidalgo. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Antonio Burns tries to keep himself strong after a shooting went wrong. He has a brother named Roberto, who likes to have adrenaline rushes. His activities land him in prison and the FBI thinks of using him to bring down the criminal lords in Wyoming.

Another agent named Mary Chang is shown as a cool, composed, and collected lady. She wishes to catch the drug lord Hidalgo red handed. When Hidalgo shifts his operation to Wyoming from Mexico, Mary Chang follows him there. She decides to make Roberto penetrate the crime branch of Hidalgo and help bring down his drug activities. Antonio watches over his brother as he takes up this high-risk mission for the FBI. While working with each other, Mary Chang and Roberto develop feelings for each other. So, when Roberto joins Hidalgo’s gang, she becomes worried about his safety and doubts her decision of sending him into the death trap. Antonio assures that he is not going to let anything happen to Roberto and with each others’ co-operation they are going to finish this mission successfully.