Kevin O'Brien (2013)

Before his thrillers landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list, Kevin O’Brien was a railroad inspector. He quit his job in 1997, when his novel, Only Son, was picked up by Readers Digest and also optioned for film, thanks to interest from Tom Hanks. He has been writing full time ever since. The author of 14 internationally-published thrillers, he won the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery (The Last Victim). He is a core member of Seattle 7 Writers.