Alan is a novelist, playwright and film director following a 42-year career as a distinguished trial lawyer and co-founder in 1986 of the revered publishing company, Soho Press, of which he is still Chairman.
As a trial lawyer, Alan litigated news-making cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. His clients included international corporations, media moguls, cabinet members, government bodies, prominent citizens and charitable institutions, among many others. Handling both civil and criminal litigation, he won or otherwise favorably disposed of more than four hundred cases. Alan has worked on private or pro bono matters with six U.S. presidents and as many Counsels to the President, Attorneys General and presidential aides. In 1981, he was tapped by then-Governor Hugh Carey to serve as a Commissioner of the New York State Executive Advisory Commission on the Administration of Criminal Justice. Additionally, Alan has served as president or chairman of various professional and community institutions.
Alan’s first novel, "Borrowed Time" (Doubleday, 1985) is his sally into science fiction based on the futuristic domains he assimilated while representing various high-tech clients. Alan’s novels "Wrong Man Running" (Severn House, 2011, Thomas & Mercer, 2012) and "It Happened at Two in the Morning" (Prospect Park Books, 2017) were elevated by critics to the stratospheric regions of the legal thriller and mystery genres: “As good as the best offerings of Turow, Grisham, and other legal-thriller hitmakers” (Booklist); “like some excellent Hitchcock – 39 Steps, North by Northwest” (Kirkus); “this dark, spiraling Kafkaesque nightmare might be the best psychological suspense you’ll read this year – or this decade” (Lee Child); “Mr. Hruska – himself a former lawyer – is at his thriller-writing best” (Wall Street Journal). The audiobook version of "Wrong Man Running", "It Happened at Two in the Morning", and "Pardon the Ravens" are narrated by ward-winning actor Graeme Malcolm, and available through Amazon, iTunes and Audible, and audio versions of his other novels are now in production.
Additional legal thrillers of Alan’s creation are inspired by prominent trials in his career. "Pardon the Ravens" (PPB, 2016) is based on three such cases: one involving giant pharma, another concerning the fake autobiography of a notorious public figure, and the third arising from a famous Mafia swindle (“Vividly real and quite compelling – Hruska really knows how to write” - Booklist). In "The Inglorious Arts" (PPB, 2019), litigation erupts in the worlds of public utilities, turbine generator manufacturers, and the burgeoning market of computers (“A lively follow-up to Pardon the Ravens . . . amps up [the] mix of legal and Mafia shenanigans . . . fast pacing” - Publisher’s Weekly).
Alan’s film work is also extensive. He wrote and directed "Nola", starring Emmy Rossum (her first starring role, in fact), which opened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2003. The Festival director declared, “This movie turns the romantic comed yon its head.” It received a special TFF-Vanity Fair Award, the Best of Tribeca, and was sent for presentation to American troops stationed in Kuwait and Qatar. Initially released by Samuel Goldwyn for theatrical distribution in the United States, it was thereafter exhibited internationally in theaters and television, before airing for years on Showtime, and steaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime (where, among other streaming platforms, the film may still be seen). "Nola" has now been viewed world-wide by some twenty million people. Alan’s legal thriller, "The Warrior Class", which premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival (2005), the film, Reunion, and the existential comedy, “The Man on Her Mind”, soon followed. "The Warrior Class" ran for years on Showtime, and all three films, after theatrical distribution, remain available for streaming on Amazon Prime and other internet sources. Additionally, Alan was Associate Executive Producer of the documentary, "Trumbo", about the legendary blacklisted screenwriter; Co-Producer of the drama, Handsome Harry; and Executive Producer of the comedy, "Tiger Lily Road".
In 2005, Alan made his theatrical debut directing the Off-Broadway revival of "Waiting for Godot". The New York Times called Hruska’s Godot “a pleasure,” and The New York Post, “an admirable production” with “just the right mixture of pathos and bluster.” Alan's own play, "New House under Construction", which he also directed, ran at the 59 E 59 Theaters in 2008-09. His stage version of "The Man on Her Mind" was produced in 2012 at the Charing Cross Theatre in London. Alan's next play, "Laugh It Up, Stare It Down" (2016), was described as follows by The New York Times: "If an existentialist philosopher ever attempted a light romantic comedy, it might sound a little like ‘Laugh It Up, Stare It Down,’ Alan Hruska's quaintly absurdist play at the Cherry Lane Theater.” Alan’s 2017 play, "Ring Twice for Miranda", was produced at New York City Center. According to Theatre Scene, it combined clashing worlds of “classism and apocalyptic darkness...spinning it skillfully.”
Finally, Alan has served as a director of the Lark Play Development Center in New York and is a member of the Actors Studio, Playwrights and Directors Unit. For more about Alan Hruska, visit www.alanhruska.com
