J. A. Kerley worked in advertising and teaching before becoming a full-time novelist. He lives in Newport, Kentucky, but also spends a good deal of time in Southern Alabama, the setting for his Carson Ryder novels. His love of the suspense genre was sparked at age thirteen, when his father gave him a collection of Saint stories by Leslie Charteris. When not writing, J. A. Kerley likes to relax in the mountains with his fishing rod.