T. Jefferson Parker is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

ist. Parker's books are police procedurals set in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

.

Early life and career

Parker was born in 1953 in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, and he has lived his entire life in Southern California. He was educated in public schools and received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Irvine

University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...

 in English

English studies

English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...

. He began his writing career as a journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 for The Newport Ensign. Parker later switched jobs to the Daily Pilot, winning three Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 Press Club Awards. It was at this time that he began writing his first novel, Laguna Heat. He received the Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 for Best Novel in 2002 for Silent Joe and again in 2005 for California Girl.

Writing style

Parker's stories usually have one protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

, and occasionally part of the story will be shown from the antagonist's

Antagonist

An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

 point of view. His stories usually build suspense as the protagonist tries to prevent further crimes. The crimes depicted in the story are usually gruesome acts, which cause much unrest in the town where the story is set. Parker is renowned for use of California settings and depicting the effects of crime on a community. He draws on his experience as a lifelong California resident. Although most of his work is set in Orange County and Los Angeles County, he has relocated to San Diego and some of his more recent writing is set there.

Life

Parker lives in Southern California, where he writes and spends time with his family. His hobbies include hiking, hunting, fishing, and playing tennis.

Novels

Stand Alone Novels

• Laguna Heat (1985)
• Little Saigon (1987)
• Pacific Beat (1991)
• Summer of Fear (1993)
• The Triggerman's Dance (1996)
• Where Serpents Lie (1998)
• Silent Joe (2001)
• Cold Pursuit (2003)
• California Girl (2004)
• The Fallen (2006)
• Storm Runners (2007)

Charlie Hood series

• L.A. Outlaws (2008)
• The Renegades (2009)
• Iron River (2010)
• The Border Lords (2011)

Merci Rayborn series

• The Blue Hour (1999)
• Red Light (2000)
• Black Water (2002)

External links

• T. Jefferson Parker's Official Website
• Interview with T. Jefferson Parker
• 1988 audio interview with T. Jefferson Parker at Wired for Books.org by Don Swaim
  Don Swaim
  Don Swaim is an American journalist and broadcaster.Born in Kansas, Swaim earned a degree in broadcast journalism from Ohio University and worked as editor, writer, producer, reporter and anchor at WCBS in New York and CBS in Baltimore....
  
  
• T. Jefferson Parker Fansite