Marc Olden

Marc Olden (1933 – 2003) was an American author of mystery and suspense. He is perhaps best remembered for his mystery Poe Must Die, in which 19th-century American author Edgar Allan Poe appears as a protagonist. He was a prolific author, publishing forty books: two non-fiction and thirty-eight fiction.

He was nominated for an Edgar Award for They've Killed Anna, from his popular "Harker File" series about an investigative reporter. In 2000, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association presented Olden with the Literary Fiction Honor Award for his New York crime novel The Ghost.

Early life
Olden was born to African-American parents in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was graphic designer Georg Olden, his mother was actress and model Courtenaye Olden. After Georg was hired as art director for CBS, the Oldens moved to New York City. Olden graduated from Queens College.

Career
Marc Olden started his writing career with two works of non-fiction — a biography of Angela Davis and a study of cocaine in 1970s New York — before turning to the fiction genres of thriller and suspense. Under the pen name Robert Hawkes, Olden began writing the Narc series, which follows a policeman on a counterdrug task force. During those early years, Olden also produced the novel Black Samurai, which became a film starring Jim Kelly. Olden's novel follows the exploits of Robert Sand, a martial arts expert and the only non-Japanese trained by a Japanese samurai master; it became the first in a successful series. Many of Olden’s eastern-influenced books, such as Giri, Dai-Sho, Gaijin, Oni, Te, Kisaeng, and Krait reflect his lifelong study of the martial arts. At his death, he held advanced degree black belts in aikido and karate.

Several of his books were optioned for film rights.

Narc novels
(As Robert Hawkes)
 * 1) Narc (1973)
 * 2) Death of a Courier (1974)
 * 3) Death List (1974)
 * 4) The Delgado Killings (1974)
 * 5) Kill the Dragon (1974)
 * 6) The Beauty Kill (1975)
 * 7) Corsican Death (1975)
 * 8) Death Song (1975)
 * 9) Kill for It (1975)

Black Samurai novels

 * 1) Black Samurai (1974)
 * 2) The Golden Kill (1974)
 * 3) Killer Warrior (1974)
 * 4) The Deadly Pearl (1974)
 * 5) The Inquisition (1974)
 * 6) The Warlock (1975)
 * 7) Sword of Allah (1975)
 * 8) The Katana (1975)

The Harker File novels

 * 1) The Harker File (1976)
 * 2) Dead and Paid For (1976)
 * 3) They’ve Killed Anna (1977)
 * 4) Kill the Reporter (1978)

Other novels

 * Wellington's (1977)
 * The Informant (1978)
 * Poe Must Die (1978)
 * Gossip (1979)
 * Book of Shadows (1980)
 * Choices (1980) (As Leslie Crafford)
 * A Dangerous Glamour (1982)
 * Giri (1982)
 * The Unvanquished (1983) (As Terry Nelsen Bonner)
 * Dai-sho (1983)
 * Gaijin (1986)
 * Oni (1987)
 * Sword of Vengeance (1990)
 * Kisaeng (1991)
 * Krait (1992)
 * Fear's Justice (1996)
 * The Ghost (1999)

Non-fiction

 * Angela Davis (1973)
 * Cocaine (1973)