James W. Hall (b. 1947), a native of Kentucky, has lived most of his life in Florida, where he established himself as one of the foremost authors of crime in the Sunshine State. Originally a poet, he began writing crime fiction in the mid-1980s, publishing his first novel, Under Cover of Daylight, in 1986. A murder mystery starring a Key West fisherman named Thorn, it was a well-received beginning to a series that has, to date, yielded twelve books, most recently Dead Last. Besides the Thorn books, Hall has written stories and novels of life in South Florida, as well Hot Damn!, a collection of essays. He teaches writing at Florida International University and lives with his wife Evelyn. They divide their time between the Florida Keys and the mountains of North Carolina.

Qarie Marshall has narrated over thirty series for the Discovery Channel and the BBC. He has also been a guest voice on Comedy Central's Drawn Together and has recorded BBC radio plays, the in-flight programming for Virgin Atlantic Airlines, over eighty video games for the PlayStation and Xbox, and numerous audiobooks. In 2007, he was made an Associate Artist of The Purple Rose Theatre.