Hello, from Canada's West Coast. I’m Ken MacQueen, an award-winning magazine and newspaper journalist turned thriller writer.

I’ve travelled to every corner of Canada, and reported from major events throughout the U.S. and around the world. I’ve covered nine Olympic Games, reported on politics at every level, covered crimes and trials of every sort as well as terror attacks, riots and oil spills.  

I crossed Canada with Pope John Paul II, with the Queen (we’re not close) and assorted royalty, reported from London on the death and funeral of Princess Diana, and the wedding of William and Kate. 

I “slept” in a Ford Pinto in the middle of an evacuated forest fire zone, and froze my ass off in a tent on an ice camp near the North Pole. I chartered a jet to reach the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Before the wheels fell off the business, journalism was as much fun as a barrel full of company credit cards.

I was never sued, shot at or accused of reporting false news. So there.

I've assembled for this site an eclectic mix of stories from my reporting days. It was quite a trip down memory lane.

Now I make stuff up, unapologetically and enthusiastically. Writing thrillers is both liberating and humbling.

My years in journalism offer plenty of fodder, but to the surprise of no author ever, mastering the craft of fiction is a whole ‘nuther skill set. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of lifetimes to get it right.

My debut thriller HERO HATERS is published by Wild Rose Press of New York.

It's set partly in Washington State, in the gritty port city of Aberdeen. 

It's the one-time home of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and, a century before, of an infamous serial killer named Billy. Both rate passing mention in my story.

My guy, Jake Ockham, is a weekly newspaper editor with a side gig investigating deserving recipients of the prestigious Sedgewick Sacrifice Medallion, America's highest award for civilian heroism.

Thing is, not everyone loves a hero—and someone really hates Jake.

The heroes Jake vetted are being kidnapped and forced into  deadly tests of valor on the Dark Web. 

To save them, and himself, he'll have to exhume his long-buried inner hero. His last attempt at heroics left him physically and mentally scarred, can he find the courage to try again?