T. Jefferson Parker was born in Los Angeles and has lived all of his 46 years in Southern California. Parker was educated in public schools in Orange County, and took a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Irvine, in 1976. He was honored in 1992 as the Distinguished Alumnus.

His writing career began in 1978, as a cub reporter on the weekly newspaper, The Newport Ensign. After covering police, city hall and cultural stories for the Ensign, Parker moved on to the Daily Pilot newspaper, where he won three Orange County Press Club awards for his articles. All the while he was tucking away stories and information that he would use in his first book.

LAGUNA HEAT, written on evenings and weekends while he worked as a journalist, was published to rave reviews and made into an HBO movie starring Harry Hamlin, Jason Robards and Rip Torn. The paperback made the New York Times Bestseller list in 1986.

Parker's next seven books—all dealing with crime, life and death in sunny Southern California—were published to uniformly good reviews and appeared on various regional bestseller lists. His writing has been called "potent and irresistible" (L.A. Times) and "resonant, literate and powerful" (Kirkus). The New York Times wrote that "T. Jefferson Parker is a powerhouse writer." Writing in the Washington Post, reviewer Carolyn See called THE TRIGGERMAN'S DANCE "a masterpiece." WHERE SERPENTS LIE and THE BLUE HOUR appeared for five weeks on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. RED LIGHT was number one on that list in May of 2000. As was his next novel, SILENT JOE, in May 2001.

When not working on his books, Parker spends his time with his family, hiking, hunting and fishing, and haunting the public tennis courts. He enjoys diving, snorkeling, and travel. He escapes to a trailer in the desert in the spring and fall, to hike the country and not answer telephones.

For more information, please visit his official web site by clicking the link below.