“Tony O’Neill writes like a man with his tongue in a light socket and his toe in a puddle of spilled blood.”

– Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight)

“Tony O’Neill works his LA people the way Elmore “Dutch” Leonard had his hands down the pants of every degenerate in his great Detroit novels.”

– Barry Gifford, Wild At Heart, Lost Highway

Tony O’Neill is a writer, born in Blackburn and living in the USA. In a previous life he was a musician, playing with acts like Marc Almond, Kenickie, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Kelli Ali. His debut novel, Digging the Vein, was published in 2005 via Contemporary Press in the US and Wrecking Ball Press in the UK.

His subsequent novels Down and Out on Murder Mile, Sick City and Black Neon were published via Harper Collins and Bluemoose Press, and have been translated into several languages. A television adaptation of Sick City is in development, with the involvement of Bret Easton Ellis.

His debut graphic novel, La Vie Sauvage / The Savage Life (with illustrations by David Brulhart) was published in Europe via Helice Helas in 2016. Other books include the short story collections Notre Dame du Vide, Dirty Hits, and Seizure Wet Dreams. Notre Dame du Vide was first published in France by 13e Note Editions, with noted French writer Patrice Carrer in the role of translator. It was the beginning of a long relationship with the fledgling French press who would go on to translate all of Tony’s work up until Black Neon, earning him a sizable Francophone fanbase.

A successful writer of non-fiction, Tony has co-authored several memoirs most notably Hero of the Underground with Jason Peter (A New York Times bestseller) and Neon Angel – Memoir of a Runaway, with Cherie Currie (which became the source material for the 2010 movie The Runaways.)

As a screenwriter, he has collaborated with Jim Uhls (Fight Club, Jumper), Jayson Rothwell (Polar, Silent Night) and is currently working on an adaptation of the “Bruno Dante” novels of his literary mentor, Dan Fante.

His journalism has appeared in such esteemed publications as The Guardian, Dazed and Confused, The Fix, Black Book Substance and Vice. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughter.