We’re pleased to welcome best-selling and award-winning thriller author Allen Eskens to Skylark on the day after Thanksgiving. (If you don’t enjoy battling retail-crazy mobs on Black Friday, this might be a good alternative.) We’re especially excited because while Allen has made his name writing novels set in Minnesota, his latest book, Nothing More Dangerous, is set in the fictional town of Jessup, Missouri. (And some of us really like novels set in fictional Missouri towns.)

Allen is the author of The Life We Bury, The Guise of Another, The Heavens May Fall, The Deep Dark Descending, and The Shadows We Hide. He is the recipient of the Barry Award, Minnesota Book Award, Rosebud Award (Left Coast Crime), and Silver Falchion Award and has been a finalist for the Edgar Award, Thriller Award, and Anthony Award. His books have been translated into 26 languages and his novel, The Life We Bury, is in development for a feature film.

Allen grew up in Jefferson City, graduating from Helias High School. After that, he headed north to go to college, eventually getting a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from Hamline University. He now lives in Greater Minnesota with his wife and their rescue dogs.