A New York Times Notable Book author, EMMY-nominated TV reporter and screenwriter, Alex Abella was born in Cuba and grew up in New York City. At age 16, Alex won a Pulitzer Scholarship to Columbia University, one of only two such scholarships awarded nationwide every year. Later moving to California, Abella joined The San Francisco Chronicle as a general assignment reporter. He later joined KTVU-TV, Channel 2 News where he was a producer, writer and reporter and was nominated for an EMMY for Best Breaking News Story.
Abella pursued a writing career in Los Angeles where his day jobs included assistant to a private investigator and interpreter for the Los Angeles Superior Court. His experiences inspired him to write a legal thriller, THE KILLING OF THE SAINTS, featuring a Cuban-American hero. The novel was a New York Times Notable Book. Paramount Pictures optioned THE KILLING OF THE SAINTS and commissioned Alex to write the screenplay. The sequels, DEAD OF NIGHT and FINAL ACTS, were published in quick succession. Abella's second novel, THE GREAT AMERICAN recounts the true adventures of William Morgan, a U.S. Marine who fought in the mountains of Cuba with Fidel Castro.
Abella's newest book is SOLDIERS OF REASON, a history of the RAND Corporation, the world’s preeminent think tank formed after World War II. His previous book, SHADOW ENEMIES, written with Scott Gordon, is a nonfiction account of the plot by Adolf Hitler to unleash a wave of terror in the United States. Abella is currently at work on 90 MILES about the relationship between Cuba and the United States.
Kirkus Reviews: "A crisp history of the world's most influential think tank, which the Soviet publication Pravda once called the "academy of science and death. As good a look as we're likely to get about an organization where keeping secrets is second nature."
History News Network: "Insightfull... Abella has written an outstanding book on the history of the RAND Corporation."
Winneped Free Press: "[A] gripping history of the American RAND Corporation. Abella was able to make full use of internal documents (with the exception of classified material) and was also granted extensive interviews. The results are illuminating and, at times, horrifying. "
Internet Review of Books: "Remarkable... SOLDIERS OF REASON is a very human story about men who didn’t trust humanity."
Publishers Weekly: "By painting these somewhat reluctant and occasionally bumbling terrorist in such vivid detail, the authors have re-created a timely and compelling series of events with an immediacy that hits close to home."--
Booklist: "In spite of its spy-novel-turned-courtroom-drama sensationalism, this is a fascinating and timely look at terrorism and wartime justice, especially gripping because it's true."
Booklist: "Abella continues the adventures of attorney and cult expert Charlie Morell, who starred in The New York Times Notable Book The Killing of the Saints(1997) and Dead of Night (1998)... Thick in cult interest and suspense."
Kirkus Reviews: A dark, bubbling cauldron of gross-out horror and Cuban-American folklore."
Michael Connelly, author of BLOOD WORK: "One thing guaranteed about an Alex Abella novel is that you will find yourself in a strange and fascinating new world everytime out. DEAD OF NIGHT is another powerful meditation on the intermingling of good and evil from a first-rate writer. You won't be disappointed."
