Robert Hilliard

Award-winning author Robert Hilliard has written on sports, history, and the outdoors for over three decades. Rob started his professional career as a marine biologist - in fact, his first paid publication was in Florida Oceanographic Magazine and he once held a baby manatee in his arms. After moving back home to western Pennsylvania, Rob worked as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and wrote for other outlets such as Upland Almanac, Pennsylvania Wildlife, and Pittsburgh History Magazine.

In 2000, Rob was asked to contribute to his first book project, a history anthology entitled 'Rivers of Destiny.' His first individual book, 'A Season on the Allegheny,' was published in 2012. It quickly hit the Top 10 in two Amazon categories and garnered national attention.

Rob's first novel, the multiple award-winning historical espionage thriller 'In Freedom's Shadow,' is based on the true story of slave John Scobell, who escaped to the North during the Civil War, only to return to the Confederacy as a clandestine Union spy. 'In Freedom's Shadow' was published in November 2023 and became a #1 Bestseller in multiple Amazon categories in its first week of publication. Shortly after its release, 'In Freedom's Shadow' won a 2024 International Firebird Book Award for African American Fiction, a Spring 2024 PenCraft Book Award for Historical Fiction, and a Readers' Favorite Bronze Award for Southern Fiction.