John F. Morken lives in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he won the NCAA D1 National Championship playing rugby for the Golden Bears. While at Cal, Mr. Morken studied Political Science, Economics, and History. After graduating from Cal, Mr. Morken attended the University of San Francisco law school. He also studied International Law at Oxford University, England. He continued playing rugby worldwide after completing his formal education and becoming a trial attorney in San Francisco.
His books cover a broad range of subject matter and genres. The Golden Hinde Conspiracy introduces attorney Conrad Olsen as the protagonist, who represents one of the heirs of Sir Francis Drake’s Marauders in search of his hidden treasure. The hunt for the lost treasure takes place against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential election (where murder is afoot). It reveals the existence of a secret society that has been steering all Western civilization for the past six hundred years.
In Godfree Beelzebub’s Masquerade, Mr. Morken ventured into a suspenseful, multilayered examination of the human condition as seen through the fallen angel Beelzebub’s eyes and the lives of the people he touches. To send Beelzebub to purgatory, the protagonist must rely on a mysterious Jesuit priest and the power of love.
Reveille In Markleeville Station is a whodunit with layers of personal conflicts between the many colorful personalities living in a remote Sierra Nevada Mountain town. Mr. Morken’s love of fly fishing and the high country of California was a substantial motivating factor that helped drive the story and its complex characters.
Mr. Morken’s most recent novel, Grace on 395 – A Gray Wolf’s Tale, tells the story of the Mammoth wolf pack—a sprawling, epic adventure filled with danger, heartbreak, and sacrifice. Narrated by the alpha female, Freya, the story takes the reader on a harrowing journey from Oregon to California. The wolf pack must fight to survive in the wild and coexist with humans (both kind and evil) while searching for a new home.
Mr. Morken is working on his next project, When Worlds Collide, the prequel to The Golden Hinde Conspiracy. The book introduces the series protagonist, Conrad Olsen, as he races against time to save his mysterious client’s property and his life.