T. Jefferson Parker

T. Jefferson Parker is an American novelist born in 1953 in Los Angeles, where he has spent most of his life. He began as a journalist for The Newport Ensign and the Daily Pilot, winning three Orange County Press Club Awards before turning to fiction, and is known for crime novels set largely in Southern California. His Charlie Hood series follows a law-enforcement officer through six novels, including Iron River, The Border Lords, and The Famous and the Dead, tackling organized crime and border violence; he has also written the Merci Rayborn and Roland Ford series. Parker has won the Edgar Award for Best Novel twice, for Silent Joe (2002) and California Girl (2005), and a third Edgar for the short story "Skinhead Central" (2008), along with a 2018 Shamus Award for The Room of White Fire.