Alex Ryan is an American author who has a diverse background, having grown up several places in the United States and around the world. He is former member of the US Army infantry and holds post-graduate degrees in engineering. He is also a licensed pilot. He is the author of a series of detective action thriller books featuring ace detective Bruce Highland. His fascination with the detective espionage military action genre stems from both his military experience and his childhood passion for reading novels from influential authors such as Robert Ludlum and Ken Follett.