My parents slipped Stephen King’s Misery into my hands when I was thirteen. Shortly thereafter, they gave me a copy of Ian Fleming’s Moonraker. Both books were worlds removed from the Choose Your Own Adventures and other literary escapades that had, until that time, kept me turning pages. 

I quickly devoured all the King and Fleming I could get my hands on.  Even at that age, I was enthralled by King’s storytelling and fascinated with Fleming’s sleek writing style.

I soon decided I wanted to be an author and write thrillers.  Life, of course, doesn’t abide by plans.  I ended up becoming a newspaper reporter and discovered a passion for telling true stories—a passion I eventually channeled into writing nonfiction books.

From Wild West San Francisco’s Barbary Coast to the smoke-filled speakeasies of Prohibition-era New York City, the darkened streets of wartime London, and beyond, I enjoy mining stories from the past.

I've even been fortunate enough to have four of my books optioned for television/movies. After writing a few books with a military history theme, I've dived back into historic true crime. My latest book is Scotland Yard, a blood-soaked history of the infamous murder cases that established the Yard's reputation. It's out now from Pegasus Books in the U.S. and Headline Books in the U.K.

Want to chat? You can reach me at simon(at)simonreadwriting.com.