Bill Syken

I am the author of the novel HANGMAN’S GAME, which Booklist has called “the very best sports-themed mystery in years.”

I worked at Sports Illustrated as a reporter and editor from 2002-2009. I began my journalism career in newspapers, reporting on news and features at the Centre Daily Times in State College Pa., and the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. I then moved to New York City, where I worked at Art & Antiques and a technology publication called On, before joining Sports Illustrated.

Because I was one of the few reporters at Sports Illustrated who did not come from a traditional sports background, many of my early stories were found on the fringes. I wrote about such topics the rise of women's collegiate bowling (because it's a cheap way to comply with Title IX), the tailgaiting scene at a Jackson State-Southern game (easily the day in my life in which I ate the most), and high school football in American Samoa, which was fascinating in more ways than I can enumerate. Suffice to say it was the only time in my journalism career that I was interviewed someone, noticed a sudden breeze, and looked up to see the subject's teenage daughter fanning me with a giant palm frond.

In 2007 I wrote a profile about Colts receiver Anthony Gonzalez for SI's Spanish language publication, and that story had an unexpected influence on me. I was at Colts minicamp and saw a quarterback I didn't recognize throwing passes to linebackers during an interception drill. I looked down on my roster and saw this quarterback was actually the team's punter, and became to ruminate about how much free time he had on his hands. The character of Nick "Hangman" Gallow began to take form in my imagination, if not quite yet on the page.

At the end of 2009 I moved to Philadelphia and began to work on HANGMAN'S GAME in earnest, while continuing to work for SI on special projects, mostly books. I hope you enjoy the finished product.