About the Author

Charles Ray has been writing fiction since his teens, winning a Sunday school magazine short story contest for his first publication. His first full-length work was a book on leadership, but with Die Sinner, the first in his Al Pennyback mystery series, he returned to his first love, fiction. He has worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines in Asia and the U.S., and wrote essays, poetry, and editorials for media in Africa and Europe as well. In addition to writing, he is an accomplished photographer and artist. He was editorial cartoonist for the Spring Lake (NC) News during the 1970s and regularly published cartoons in a number of publications such as Ebony, Eagle and Swan, and Essence. A frequent contributor to Yahoo!, he also writes for a number of other online news sites. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, retiring in 1982 and joining the U.S. Foreign Service, where he served for 30 years before retiring in 2012. He's worked and traveled throughout the world. A native of Texas, he now calls Maryland home, when he's not globetrotting looking for new mountains to climb or new adventures to document. Visit his web site at http: //charlesaray.blogspot.com, his blog at http: //charlieray45.wordpress.com, or his author's Facebook page at http: //www.facebook.com/charlieray45.