Bio

Since Tom Becker learned to hold a pen, he wanted to become a writer. In fact, when he was 5 years old, he wrote in a notebook that it was his dream was to be an author. At the age of 25, Tom has realized that dream with publication of his award-winning debut Darkside, which was published January 2007 in the United Kingdom.

Tom's early enthusiasm for books and reading was encouraged by his parents, who were voracious readers. Their family home was cluttered with bookcases and piles of novels. Tom spent most of his childhood curled up in an armchair reading fantasy novels by Brian Jacques, and later graduated to grown-up novels by David Eddings and Guy Gavriel Kay.

Tom studied History at Oxford University and was struck by the otherworldly atmosphere of this academic institution. He used to spend long days studying and reading in the University library and always felt intrigued by the atmosphere there - perhaps that is why a library is such an important setting in Darkside.

Lifeblood is Tom Becker's second book.  It continues the adventures of Jonathan Starling in a secret borough of London filled with macabre creatures and ne'er do-wells. A fan of 19^th-century mystery stories such as Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone and Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Lifeblood is Tom's attempt to write a murder mystery involving the Rippers, the malevolent first family of Darkside.

Tom lives in London, England, which remains his favourite city in the world. He's now in his late 20s, and reluctantly coming to terms with the fact that he's officially an adult. He spends most of his time mooching around his flat, and is still hopeful that someone will suggest a new hobby for him to take up. His favourite ways of putting off writing involve listening to bands like The Night Marchers and watching old DVDs of The West Wing. Though not at the same time, obviously. Nighttrap, the third book in the Darkside series, was published in the UK in June 2008.