As a child, A. J. Banner loved reading everything from Nancy Drew to Tolkien to her parents’ spy novels, borrowed from their bookshelves and hidden beneath her pillow. She wrote her first thriller, Mystery at Crane Corner, at the age of 11. She drew her own cover art and bound the pages with staples.
Born in India and raised in North America, A. J. graduated from high school in southern California and received degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She tried various professions after college, including a stint in law school and a memorable job at a veterinary clinic, since she loves animals, but eventually she returned to writing.
Chicago Book Review called her new novel, DREAMING OF WATER, “a beautifully written piece of fiction.” Publishers Weekly called IN ANOTHER LIGHT “gripping…The twisty plot builds to a satisfying resolution. Banner knows how to keep the reader guessing.” Bestselling author Lisa Gardner called the book “a riveting psychological thriller."
From Publishers Weekly on THE POISON GARDEN: “Impressive…Banner keeps the reader guessing to the end. Fans of domestic suspense will be rewarded.” Adam Woog of The Seattle Times wrote that THE POISON GARDEN is a “sharply written and taut psychological thriller.”
AFTER NIGHTFALL, which Publishers Weekly called a “gripping psychological thriller,” is also available in hardcover, paperback, audiobook and e-book formats.
THE TWILIGHT WIFE (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) became a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller. A new mass market paperback edition of THE TWILIGHT WIFE is available from Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books.
THE GOOD NEIGHBOR, A. J. Banner’s debut, was the #1 Kindle bestseller for 34 days, remained in the top five on the Kindle bestseller list throughout the book’s release month, and was in the top 50 in the Kindle store for 145 days in a row. THE GOOD NEIGHBOR was named by Harper’s Bazaar as a book that could be the next GONE GIRL.
A longtime fan of Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, A. J. feels at home writing stories with unexpected twists and turns. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five rescued cats.