Mack Maloney grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston and was taught to read and write by the nuns at St. Ann's School. His father was a veteran of World War II and he used to read military books all the time. As a child, Mack started reading them too, along with a lot of science fiction. He received a BS in journalism and a graduate degree in filmmaking from Emerson College. He was a sports reporter for two years after college before joining corporate America as a publicist for General Electric Company. Mack started writing books in 1984, and have been doing it full time since 1987, penning over 30 books.