Mike Lane was a wholesale sales rep for over twenty-five years, but his love of books began before he could even read. His mother would read to him and his sister for hours at a time and he couldn't wait to be able to read on his own. A child of the fifties, he was influenced by the writings of Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson and Edgar Rice Burroughs as well as Superman, the Lone Ranger and John Wayne movies. After graduating college with a BA degree in Sociology and a minor in Biology and Psychology (except for one pesky course in statistics) he worked at a variety of jobs, finally settling on a career in sales. In the last few years, his favorite authors have been Tom Clancy, Mario Puzo, Robert Ludlum, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, john Grisham, Michael Connelly, Lee Child and Vince Flynn. He began work on The Shopkeeper in 2013, a book dedicated to the men and women of our armed forces and our first responders -- those who protect the principles and freedoms of our fragile Constitutional Republic with their lives. He lives in Blue Springs, Missouri with his wife, Arlene, who is also an avid reader and has helped him broaden his world view infecting him with her love of travel. Wherever they go, books accompany them.