CJ Lyons

I’m CJ Lyons, pediatric ER doc turned New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.

I grew up in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, the heart of the rust belt, and lived there until I left home at 17 to go to college in North Carolina. Then it was on to Florida for med school and back to Pennsylvania for my pediatric residency at Childrens’ Hospital of Pittsburgh.

That’s when everything changed.

You see, I’ve always been a storyteller. When I was young it made for a lot of time spent in time-outs because I had a hard time telling the difference between fiction and reality. It meant I was one of those kids in school–the ones who were constantly dreaming or drifting down the hall with their nose in a book, out of touch with what “regular” kids were doing.

Writing stories was my way of dealing with the “real” world. It was just who I was, I never thought about maybe someday publishing my stories or making a career out of it.
Until my internship year in Pittsburgh. The year everything changed.

As interns we worked and lived a life out of sync with the “normal” world. We were just kids but entrusted with life and death decisions–decisions that impacted children and their families, that had the power to change their worlds.

But then one of us was killed. Murdered in a horrific fashion.

The stuff of nightmares. But this wasn’t fiction. It was real.

As always, I turned to writing to help me fight through my shock and grief. 

And I kept on writing. Honestly, it’s an addiction. I’d need a 12 Step program to stop…maybe not even then.

I now have 18 books published. You can learn more at http://cjlyons.net

“Everything a great thriller should be—action packed, authentic, and intense.” ~Lee Child

“Compelling…I love how the characters come alive on every page.” ~Jeffery Deaver

“A pulse-pounding adrenaline rush.” ~Lisa Gardner