Early life and education Sullivan was born in
Los Angeles and grew up in
North Bend, Oregon. When he was a teenager, his family moved to
Portland, Oregon, where he attended
Sunset High School. detailing the corruption and criminal activities of the
Billionaire Boys Club; the article “exposed the whole fascinating mess and briefly made Sullivan the brightest light in town [Los Angeles].” awards and four
Emmys, it was considered "factually inaccurate" and did not stay true to the source material. The
Price of Experience received positive reviews from the
Los Angeles Times;
The New Yorker; and
The Boston Globe, among others. However, the release of the book was not without controversy; Sullivan received an anonymous death threat before a scheduled public book reading (which was subsequently cancelled); it is speculated that the threat could have came from someone affiliated with former members of the BBC.
LAbyrinth In 2002, Sullivan published ''LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal.'' The book was met with controversy and acclaim, for it connected (former)
Death Row Records CEO
Suge Knight and the
Los Angeles Police Department with the deaths of prominent rap artists
Tupac Shakur and
Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls). The book was based largely on Sullivan's interviews with retired LAPD detective
Russell Poole, who was “convinced that Death Row Records impresario Suge Knight orchestrated the killing of both” but he continued to investigate the murders as a private detective. The FBI opened an investigation into the murder of Biggie in March 2003, in part spurred on by Poole's theory, but the FBI closed the investigation eighteen months later. In 2005, a key informant in the investigation "admitted hearsay... casting doubt" on the LAPDs involvement in covering up the murders. Poole was preparing to re-open the investigation with the LAPD in 2015, but he died suddenly from a heart attack. In 2016 it was announced that a film based on the book was in production.
City of Lies, starring
Johnny Depp and
Forest Whitaker, was scheduled to be released in September 2018 but was later pushed back. In 2019, Sullivan publish a follow-up book titled
Dead Wrong: The Continuing Story of City of Lies, Corruption and Cover-Up in the Notorious B.I.G. Murder Investigation.
The Miracle Detective In April 2004, Sullivan published
The Miracle Detective, his book about his investigation into the apparition of '
Our Lady of Medjugorje' which is claimed to have appeared before six children in
Medjugorgje,
Bosnia, in 1981. His book was not only an investigation into the history of the apparition—and how other villagers and visitors since, have had similar visions at Medjugorgje—but also about his personal experience there, where he claims he experienced a miracle. The book has been called a "conversion narrative" by some, and met with skeptical criticism by others, however, it has also received positive reviews, where it remains a top seller (currently ranked in the top 150 books on
Amazon for the category
Mariology).
Untouchable Published in November 2012, was Sullivan's book on the life and death of pop star
Michael Jackson:
Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson. The book was met with some controversy, mainly because Sullivan argued that Jackson was not a "child molester" and rather, that he was "pre-sexual" having never engaged in sexual intercourse at all. The book also detailed much of Jackson's drug abuse in his later years, money trouble, and "spending habits"—which upset many of Jackson's diehard fans. Some fans started an online campaign against the book's sale on Amazon. However, as
Guardian columnist Deborah Orr points out: many of Jackson's more fanatic followers tend to criticize
any negative press about Jackson's life, regardless of evidence or argument. Others called into question Sullivan's source material, and though Sullivan "does an adequate job of chronicling Jackson’s over-the-top fame," he relies on too few verifiable sources to draw his conclusions. Nonetheless, Jackson's long time attorney,
Tom Mesereau, who was also one of Sullivan's main sources for his research on Jackson, came to Sullivan's defense and praised the book for its insight and accuracy. and
The New Yorker praised the book's in-depth research, viz., for bringing to light the "financial profligacy and wrongheadedness" of Jackson's life and business choices.
Film/Television Sullivan is a long time member of the
Writers Guild of America. He was co-writer on the made-for-TV movie,
A Friend to Die For (based on Sullivan's article, "Death of a Cheerleader"). As a producer, he co-produced the documentary
Reckless Indifference, and he was an executive producer on the
Oprah Winfrey Network mini-series,
Miracle Detectives. Sullivan also appears on the
History Channel reality-TV show,
The Curse of Oak Island. He produced the film,
City of Lies starring
Johnny Depp and
Forest Whitaker.
Personal life Sullivan lives in Portland, Oregon. This experience was influential to his research, writing, and co-hosting of the
Oprah Winfrey Network show,
Miracle Detectives. == Bibliography ==