Tod Goldberg is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including Only Way Out, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the acclaimed Gangsterland quartet — Gangsterland, Gangster Nation, The Low Desert: Gangster Stories and Gangsters Don’t Die — which have been published in a dozen countries and have won or have been a finalist for the Hammett Prize, the Southwest Book of the Year, the Strand Critics Award, the Reading the West Award, the International Thriller of the Year and many more. His previous books include Living Dead Girl, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The House of Secrets, which he wrote with Brad Meltzer, and the anthology Eight Very Bad Nights, a finalist for the Anthony Award. His short fiction appears widely and has twice been honored with selection in Best American Mystery & Suspense (2022 & 2025), while his nonfiction has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Alta, and USA Today, among countless others, and have been selected for Best American Essays, awarded five Nevada Press Association Awards, and received distinction from the American Society of Journalists & Authors (2026). Tod is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside where he founded and directs the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts. His next book, The Salton Sea, will be published by Counterpoint Press.