James Carlos Blake is one of America's most highly regarded living authors of historical crime fiction. He was born in Mexico to a family that moved regularly when he was a child, living in various towns along the border and coast before finally settling in Texas. After a stint in the army, Blake attended the University of South Florida and received a Master's degree from Bowling Green State University, both universities where he would later teach. In 1997 he left teaching to write full-time. Blake has written thirteen other novels and one collection of stories, most of which dealt with real-life characters from the American west. He lives and works in Arizona.