ST. AUSTIN'S PRESS

Lawrence De Maria
 Lawrence De Maria writes a regular column ("The Write Stuff") at the Washington Independent Review of Books. He also provides reviews and features. Born in New York City, De Maria graduated from Villanova University, and then served in the U.S. Marines.  After leaving the Corps, he won an Associated Press award for crime reporting at the Staten Island Advance.  Later, at The New York Times, De Maria was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his financial articles.  After the Times, he joined Forbes as the Executive Director of its exclusive financial newsletter,  writing many of the stock reports.  De Maria also co-authored the college-level Forbes Stock Market Report and helped manage the Forbes pension plans.  He has interviewed many corporate and political leaders, and also covered some of the nation's most-notorious criminals in government, the Mob and Wall Street.  He was widely quoted by the international media for his efforts in exposing the multi-billion-dollar Stanford Ponzi scheme.  His many thrillers and mysteries, starting with Amazon best-seller SOUND OF BLOOD, are grounded in real-life experience.  De Maria is strongly influenced by Colin Dexter, Ian Fleming, Robert B. Parker, Ed McBain, Michael Connelly, and John D. MacDonald.  His novels have been praised for their grit, humor and plotting.  They often have an international flavor, and occasionally delve into high technology and science.  Recurring characters, complex villains, humor, and love stories are also hallmarks of De Maria's work.