New York Times bestseller Gayle Lynds is the award-winning author of ten international espionage novels, including The Assassins, The Book of Spies, and The Last Spymaster. Publishers Weekly lists her book Masquerade among the top ten spy novels of all time. The London Observer calls her a kick-ass thriller writer. Library Journal says she’s “the reigning queen of espionage fiction”

Gayle began her writing career as a reporter for The Arizona Republic, where her investigative reporting made such an impact that it led to changes in state legislation. Later she was an editor with rare Top Secret security clearance at a government think tank, where assorted shadowy figures passed through. She was intrigued and inspired. Soon she began writing literary short stories, which were published in literary journals, and at the same time in what some considered to be surely schizophrenic, she also wrote male pulp adventure novels set around the world in the Nick Carter and Mack Bolan series.

Her first Gayle Lynds novel, Masquerade, was a New York Times bestseller and a People magazine "Page-Turner of the Week." The Last Spymaster won Best Novel from both the American Authors Association and the Military Writers Society of America. The Coil won Best Contemporary Novel from Affaire de Coeur. Mosaic was RT Thriller of the Year. Mesmerized was a Daphne du Maurier Award best novel finalist. About her work, reviewers have written: "superb," Chicago Tribune; "immensely satisfying," Wall Street Journal; "a potent storyteller," Denver Post; "teeth-grinding suspense," Publishers Weekly; "roller-coaster thrills," Los Angeles Times; "terrific," Cosmopolitan magazine; and "authentic," Chicago Sun-Times.

With Robert Ludlum, she created the Covert-One Series and wrote three of the novels. The first one, The Hades Factor, was a CBS miniseries. Another, The Paris Option, was a People magazine "Beach Read of the Week."

A member of the Association for Former Intelligence Officers, she cofounded International Thriller Writers with David Morrell and was copresident for several years. ITW's annual convention is ThrillerFest, which is held in New York in July. She lives in Maine with her husband, John C. Sheldon, three computers, and two opinionated cats.