Before becoming a lawyer, Vachss held many front-line positions in child protection. He was a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, and a New York City social-services caseworker. He worked in Biafra, entering the war zone just before the fall of the country. There he worked to find a land route to bring donated food and medical supplies across the border after the seaports were blocked and Red Cross airlifts banned by the Nigerian government; however, all attempts ultimately failed, resulting in rampant starvation.After he returned and recovered from his injuries, Vachss studied community organizing in 1970 under Saul Alinsky. He worked as a labor organizer and ran a self-help center for urban migrants in Chicago. He then managed a re-entry program for ex-convicts in Massachusetts, and finally directed a maximum-security prison for violent juvenile offenders.

As an attorney, Vachss represents only children and adolescents. In addition to his private practice, he serves as a law guardian in New York state. In every child abuse or neglect case, state law requires the appointment of a law guardian, a lawyer who represents the child's interests during the legal proceedings.

Andrew Vachss is the author of 23 novels and two collections of short stories, as well as poetry, song lyrics, and graphic novels.As a novelist, he is perhaps best known for his Burke series of hardboiled mysteries: Another Life constituted the finale to the series and was released in the U.S. in 2008.

Since the end of the Burke series, Vachss has focused on stand-alone works. His 2009 novel, Haiku, focuses on the troubled lives of a band of homeless men in New York City. Two Vachss books will be published in 2010. His next novel, The Weight, a noir romance about a professional thief and a young widow in hiding, will be released on November 9, 2010. Heart Transplant, an illustrated novel in an experimental design, is a story about an abused and bullied young boy who finds his inner strength with the help of an unexpected mentor. It will be released on October 19, 2010.

Vachss has also written non-fiction, including numerous articles and essays on child protection and a book on juvenile criminology. His books have been translated into 20 languages, and his shorter works have appeared in many publications, including Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, and the New York Times. Vachss' literary awards include the Grand Prix de Littérature Policiére, for Strega [as La Sorcière de Brooklyn]; the Falcon Award, Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, for Strega; the Deutsche Krimi Preis for Flood [as Kata]; and the Raymond Chandler Award for his body of work.

Andrew Vachss is a member of PEN and the Writers Guild of America. His autobiographical essay was added by invitation to Contemporary Authors in 2003.

Child Protection

Many Vachss novels feature the shadowy, unlicensed investigator Burke, an ex-con, career criminal, and deeply conflicted character. About his protagonist, Vachss says: Vachss coined the phrase "Children of the Secret," which refers to abused children, of whatever age, who were victimized without ever experiencing justice, much less love and protection. In the Burke novels, some of these Children of the Secret have banded together as adults into what Vachss calls a "family of choice". Their connection is not biological, and their bond goes well beyond mere loyalty. Most are career criminals; none allows the law to come before the duty to family.

Dogs

Another important theme that pervades Vachss' work is his love of dogs, particularly breeds considered "dangerous," such as Doberman pinschers, rottweilers, and especially pit bulls. Throughout his writings, Vachss asserts that with dogs, just as with humans, "you get what you raise."

He is a passionate advocate against animal abuse such as dog-fighting, and against breed-specific legislative bans. With fellow crime writer James Colbert, Vachss has trained dogs to serve as therapy dogs for abused children. The dogs have a calming effect on traumatized children. Vachss notes that using these particular breeds further increases the victims' feelings of security; their "dangerous" appearance, in combination with the extensive therapy training, makes them excellent protection against human threats. During her time as chief prosecutor, Alice Vachss regularly brought one such trained dog, Sheba, to work with abused children being interviewed at the Special Victims Bureau.

Vachss' wife, Alice, was a sex crimes prosecutor, and later became Chief of the Special Victims Bureau in Queens, NY. She is the author of the non-fiction book Sex Crimes: Ten Years on the Front Lines Prosecuting Rapists and Confronting Their Collaborators, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

The Burke series

1. Flood (1985)
2. Strega (1987)
3. Blue Belle (1988)
4. Hard Candy (1989)
5. Blossom (1990)
6. Sacrifice (1991)
7. Down in the Zero (1994)
8. Footsteps of the Hawk (1995)
9. False Allegations (1996)
10. Safe House (1998)
11. Choice of Evil (1999)
12. Dead and Gone (2000)
13. Pain Management (2001)
14. Only Child (2002)
15. Down Here (2004)
16. Mask Market (2006)
17. Terminal (2007)
18. Another Life (2008)

Other novels

1. A Bomb Built in Hell (1973)
2. Shella (1993)
3. The Ultimate Evil (1995)
4. The Getaway Man (2003)
5. Two Trains Running (2005)
6. Haiku (2009)
7. The Weight (November 9, 2010)

Short story collections

1. Born Bad (1994)
2. Everybody Pays (1999)
3. Proving It (2001) Audiobook collection.
4. Dog Stories Online collection.

Graphic novels and series

1. Hard Looks (1992-93) Ten-volume series.
2. Batman: The Ultimate Evil (1995) Two-volume graphic novel.
3. Cross (1995) Seven-volume series with James Colbert.
4. Predator: Race War (1993) Five-volume series; (1995) Single-volume graphic novel, collection of 1993 series.
5. Alamaailma (1997) Finnish graphic novel, illustrating two of the "Underground" short stories from Born Bad.
6. Hard Looks (1996, 2002) Single-volume trade paperback.
7. Another Chance To Get It Right: A Children's Book for Adults (1993, 1995) (Reprinted with additional material, 2003)
8. Heart Transplant (October 19, 2010)

Plays

1. Placebo (in Antaeus, 1991)
2. Warlord (in Born Bad, 1994)
3. Replay (in Born Bad, 1994)

Non-fiction

1. The Life-Style Violent Juvenile: The Secure Treatment Approach (Lexington, 1979)
2. The Child Abuse-Delinquency Connection ... A Lawyer's View (Lexington, 1989)
3. PARADE Magazine Articles (1985-2006)
4. Other Articles and Essays