About Ross Carley
Ross Carley has been a military intelligence officer and an engineering professor. He is an artificial intelligence and machine learning consultant. He belongs to the Speed City Chapter of Sisters in Crime in Indianapolis. He and the love of his life Francie split their time between Indianapolis and Fort Walton Beach, FL, supervised by two black rescue cats, Max and Jake.
His first four novels feature Wolf Ruger, an Iraq vet with PTSD, a private investigator specializing in cybersecurity. Wolf solves murders and cybercrimes, undeterred by beautiful women and organized crime. Ross’ first two novels are Dead Drive (2016), a private investigator murder mystery, and Formula Murder (2017), set in the fast-paced formula racing industry.
His third is Cyberkill: Book One of the Cybercode Chronicles (2018), in which massive cyberattacks hit slot machines in mob-run Las Vegas casinos. Wolf joins a cabal of info security experts in the world of ransomware, bots, sinkholes and sandboxes. Meanwhile, he agrees to investigate seemingly unrelated murders at a medical clinic.
Cryptokill is Book Two of the Cybercode Chronicles (2019). International terrorism stakes go up, taking Wolf to Toronto to confront an international assassin. He navigates the dangerous and high stakes domains of international cybercriminals and mobsters while walking a fine line between law enforcement and organized crime. His hands are full maintaining steamy relationships with two women.
The Three-Legged Assassin (2022) introduces Lance Garrett, an Iraq War vet and computer hacker. It’s a different take on murder and mayhem in the world of international organized crime sex trafficking. An ex-special-ops sniper, Garrett has taken on a sideline as a hired killer to pay for his mounting debts, including the expensive drugs he takes to keep the pain away from his amputation. He juggles interactions with organized crime kingpins and the law as he plunges into the abyss of sex trafficking, where one misstep will cost him his life.
In The Pro Bono Assassin (2024), mob boss, daughter Kristen Russo joins forces with Lance Garrett to exact revenge for her father’s murder by a Romanian organized crime syndicate. They form a high-tech assassin team, and with the team’s cyber-experts, the assassins employ traditional and highly unconventional methods to track and whack their targets, all while working with the mob and maintaining a tenuous relationship with the FBI.
Ross is the editor of I Give You a Sunrise: My Triumph Over Insanity, written by Peggy French, Ross’ first cousin. In her own words, Peggy tells the true story of her years of horrific physical and mental abuse. In the book’s vignettes, we follow Peggy through her suicidal decade and years of psychotherapy, and celebrate with her as she emerges triumphant.
Ross also publishes short stories in anthologies. “Hacked for the Holidays” appears in Homicide for the Holidays (2018), “I See What You’re Sayin’” in Murder 2020 (2020), “The Curse of the Benjamin Mansion” co-authored with Karen Phillips, in Trick or Treats: Tales of All Hallows Eve (2021), and “Purple Murder” in Amber Waves of Graves (2023).
