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Michael Harvey Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Michael Harvey
Photo: David Turner

Michael Harvey

Michael Harvey Biography

Michael Harvey is a writer, journalist, and documentary producer. He is the co-creator, writer and executive producer of the Prime Time Emmy-nominated television series Cold Case Files and a former investigative producer for CBS in Chicago. Michael's work as a documentary producer and journalist has won numerous national and international awards, including multiple Emmys and an Academy Award nomination for the Holocaust documentary Eyewitness.

Harvey earned a law degree from Duke University, a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and a bachelor's degree in classical languages from Holy Cross College.

Harvey was born and raised in Boston and graduated from Boston Latin School. He now lives in Chicago with his wife, Mary Frances.

Michael Harvey's website

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Interview

Michael Harvey discusses his first novel The Chicago Way, the first in a series which also includes The Fifth Floor.

Where did the idea for The Chicago Way come from?

Good question. I had around about a hundred pages of this novel sitting in the back of a drawer for about two years. I pulled that out in April of 2006 and decided I wanted to finish it. At that time, I had a beginning and an end with not much else in between. So I just decided to sit down and write.

I let the characters start talking and they told me where to go with the story. The specific plot lines are all fictitious. I have, however, had a lot of contact with cops, killers, prosecutors, and forensic types. through my work as a journalist and documentary producer. That experience, to some extent, informs the entire manuscript and hopefully adds an air of authenticity to the novel.


You are the creator of the highly popular television show Cold Case Files. How did you come to be involved in that show?

The year was 1997. I was working away on a variety of documentary projects both for television and film. My work covered a range of topics, everything from the Holocaust to life inside the Clinton White House. The bulk of my documentary work, however, focused on the inner workings of the criminal justice system. (This was before CSI and its ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Michael Harvey at BookBrowse
Brighton jacket The Governor's Wife jacket We All Fall Down jacket The Third Rail jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Michael Harvey but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Lee Child

    Lee Child

    Lee Child was born in the exact geographic center of England, in the heart of the industrial badlands. Never saw a tree until he was twelve. It was the sort of place where if you fell in the river, you had to go to the ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Fifth Floor

    Try:
    Persuader
    by Lee Child

  • Erik Larson

    Erik Larson

    Erik Larson is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, most recently The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, which examines how Winston Churchill and his "Secret Circle" ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Fifth Floor

    Try:
    The Devil in the White City
    by Erik Larson

We recommend 5 similar authors

View all 5 Read-Alikes

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