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Greer Macallister Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

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

Greer Macallister

Greer Macallister

Greer Macallister Biography

Raised in the Midwest, Greer Macallister earned her MFA in creative writing from American University. Her debut novel The Magician's Lie was a USA Today bestseller, an Indie Next pick, and a Target Book Club selection. Her novels Girl in Disguise ("a rip-roaring, fast-paced treat to read" - Booklist) and Woman 99 ("a nail biter that makes you want to stand up and cheer" - Kate Quinn) were inspired by pioneering 19th-century private detective Kate Warne and fearless journalist Nellie Bly, respectively. Her book The Arctic Fury was named an Indie Next and Library Reads pick, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, and a spotlighted new release at PopSugar, Libro.fm, and Goodreads. Scorpica was her epic fantasy debut. A regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and the Chicago Review of Books, she lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Greer Macallister's website

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Interview

Greer Macallister outlines the real-life characters that populate her novel Girl in Disguise, including Kate Warne, who became the first female Pinkerton agent in 1856.

Kate Warne is one of the most interesting people we know almost nothing about.

The real Kate Warne was indeed hired as the first female Pinkerton agent by Allan Pinkerton himself in 1856 after answering a newspaper ad. That much we know. Multiple accounts say she was a widow, though what happened to her husband is not clear, nor why she took the extremely drastic step of applying for a position that had never previously been open to women.

We're not even sure what Kate looked like. There are no confirmed images of her. Two photographs show up from time to time in discussions of her. Both date from the Civil War, and both show a person in men's clothing, so it's far from certain that we're really looking at Kate. For such an influential and pioneering figure, precious little information about her has been recorded and passed down. Then again, as a detective and a spy, that's probably how she liked it.

Everywhere we turn for information on Kate's life, there are blank spaces. Many of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency's files are kept in the Library of Congress, and those files are extensive; however, much of the material previous to 1871 was wiped out by the Great Chicago Fire, and Kate's entire career was previous...

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Books by this Author

Books by Greer Macallister at BookBrowse
The Thirteenth Husband jacket Scorpica jacket Girl in Disguise jacket The Magician's Lie jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Greer Macallister 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

  • Julie Clark

    Julie Clark

    Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight. It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and the New York Times has called it "thoroughly absorbing". It's ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Girl in Disguise

    Try:
    The Last Flight
    by Julie Clark

  • Sara Donati

    Sara Donati

    Rosina Lippi is a former academic and tenured university professor. Since 2000 she spends her time haunting the intersection where history and storytelling meet, wallowing in 19th century newspapers, magazines, street maps, ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Girl in Disguise

    Try:
    Where the Light Enters
    by Sara Donati

We recommend 9 similar authors

View all 9 Read-Alikes

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Top Picks

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Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
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