About

Vincent H. O’Neil brings a wealth of life experience to his writing. Over the years he has served as a paratrooper, a risk manager, and an advertiser. He holds a bachelor's degree from West Point and a master's degree from The Fletcher School. He also graduated from The Defense Language Institute's Mandarin Chinese program, and has lived overseas.

In 2005 he won the St. Martin’s Press "Malice Domestic" Writing Competition. His debut novel, Murder in Exile, received a glowing review from Marilyn Stasio in The Sunday New York Times. It introduced the background-checker Frank Cole, and was followed by Reduced Circumstances, Exile Trust, and Contest of Wills.

His mystery novel Death Troupe is the first book in a theater-based mystery series featuring playwright Jack Glynn and the unusual members of the Jerome Barron Players theater troupe.

In 2013 he turned his hand to horror, with a suspense novel set in Providence, Rhode Island named Interlands. It follows graduate student Angela Morse as she searches the local woods for a lost stone obelisk once worshiped by a colonial-era cult that perished at its feet. In 2015 he released the sequel to Interlands, a book called Denizens.

In 2014 HarperCollins released the first book in his military science fiction Sim War series, Glory Main, written as Henry V. O'Neil. That was followed by Orphan Brigade, Dire Steps, and CHOP Line. The fifth and final book in the series, Live Echoes, was released in 2017.

His short work has appeared in Mystery Tribune, Bourbon Penn, Mystery Weekly, Scene4, and other magazines. His futuristic fiction short story "In-Body" was performed in the Escape Pod podcast, and his TV crime drama pilot script "Handler Hank" was selected for the 2019 Austin Revolution Film Festival. He has also authored three professional articles released by Risk Management Magazine, and has been interviewed in The Economist and Jane's Defense Weekly.

Most recently, he released two new books in an innovative series that pairs a futuristic fiction novel (A Pause in the Perpetual Rotation) with a non-fiction self-help manual (The Unused Path) that is featured in that novel.

His website is www.vincenthoneil.com

Other Works

  • "They Don't Need the Light" in Andromeda Spaceways Magazine

    2024
  • "Marjorie's Last Run" in The Saturday Evening Post

    2024
  • Coronavirus Solitary, a one-scene play in Esoterica Magazine

    2023
  • A Pause in the Perpetual Rotation

    2021
  • The Unused Path

    2021
  • Live Echoes: Book Five of the Sim War Series

    2017
  • CHOP Line: Book Four of the Sim War Series

    2016
  • Denizens: Interlands Book Two

    2015
  • Dire Steps: Book Three of the Sim War Series

    2015
  • Orphan Brigade: Book Two of the Sim War Series

    2015
  • Interlands

    2013
  • Crime Capsules: Tales of Death, Desire, and Deception

    2012
  • Death Troupe

    2011
  • Contest of Wills

    2010
  • Exile Trust

    2008
  • Reduced Circumstances

    2007
  • Murder in Exile

    2006

Awards and Recognition

  • 2005 Winner, St. Martin's Press Malice Domestic Award
  • Official selection to the 2019 Austin Revolution Film Festival: TV crime drama pilot script "Handler Hank"