Alex Abella
Alex Abella | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1950 Cuba |
| Occupation(s) | Author, journalist |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Known for | Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire; Shadow Enemies: Hitler's Secret Terrorist Plot Against the United States |
Alex Abella (born 1950) is a United States-based author and journalist recognized for his nonfiction publications, including Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire (2008) and Shadow Enemies: Hitler's Secret Terrorist Plot Against the United States (2003), co-written with Scott Gordon.
Early life
Born in Cuba in 1950, Abella’s family emigrated to New York following the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. He pursued higher education at Columbia University on a Pulitzer scholarship and contributed to the Columbia Daily Spectator during his studies.
Career
Upon graduation, Abella relocated to California to join the San Francisco Chronicle, where he served as a reporter, writer, and producer covering both local and network news.
In the late 1980s, he settled in Los Angeles, dedicating seven years as a Spanish language interpreter for the Los Angeles Superior Court. His debut novel, The Killing of the Saints (1991), is a crime thriller set in Los Angeles that incorporates Santería practices as part of a murder defense strategy. This book and its follow-ups, Dead of Night (1998) and Final Acts (2000), revolve around a Cuban-American attorney and investigator.
Abella’s second novel, The Great American (1997), takes place in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution and imagines a story about a United States Marine who fights alongside Fidel Castro.
His nonfiction works include Shadow Enemies: Hitler's Secret Terrorist Plot Against the United States (2003), co-authored with Scott Gordon, a law professor and judge at Los Angeles Superior Court. The book investigates German-American operatives trained for sabotage missions in World War II.
His most recent nonfiction title, Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire (2008), offers the first detailed history of the RAND Corporation—a foreign policy think tank established by the United States Military with partial government funding. This book was longlisted for the National Book Award.
In addition to his books, Abella has written articles for the Los Angeles Times and currently contributes to the Huffington Post.
Awards
While working at KTVU-TV, Abella earned an Emmy Award nomination for "Best Breaking News Story." His first novel, The Killing of the Saints (1991), was recognized as a notable book by the New York Times.
Novels
- The Great American (Simon & Schuster, 1997)
- Shanghai (2009)
- More than a Woman (2013)
Charlie Morel series
- The Killing of the Saints (Crown Publishing Group, 1991)
- Dead of Night (Simon & Schuster, 1998)
- Final Acts (Simon & Schuster, 2000)
Non-fiction books
- The Total Banana (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979)
- Shadow Enemies: Hitler's Secret Terrorist Plot Against the United States (Lyons Press, 2003)
- Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire (Houghton Mifflin, 2008)
References
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Living people
- 1950 births
- American writers of Cuban descent
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- American male novelists
- American crime fiction writers
- Hispanic and Latino American novelists
- Hispanic and Latino American journalists
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- American male non-fiction writers
- Columbia College, Columbia University alumni
- Cuban emigrants to the United States
- 21st-century American male writers
- Date of birth missing (living people)