Richard was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the scion of a traditional Italian-American family, which means he learned two things very early in life. One: ravioli tastes much better than baby formula. Two: if you don't get to the table on time, there IS no ravioli. After an undistinguished academic career in junior high and high school, culminating in an undistinguished five-year career as an English major at Case Western Reserve University, Richard traveled Europe extensively, living in London for a time, where he sold men's clothing on Oxford Street, and foreign language encyclopedias door-to-door in Hampstead Heath.Needless to say, he hawked a few more ties than tomes. So, abandoning his dream (that being to become the next Bryan Ferry) he returned to the States and joined his family's construction firm.Five years and a hundred smashed thumbs later, he decided that writing might be a better job.After working as a freelance writer for years, during which time he was published in more than two hundred publications, Richard wrote three pages of what was to become the first chapter of Deviant Way. He was immediately signed to a New York agency. When he finished the book, Michael Korda signed him to a two-book deal at Simon & Schuster. Deviant Way was published in hardcover in 1995. Richard went on to publish The Violet Hour in 1998, Kiss of Evil in 2001, The Rosary Girls in 2005, and The Skin Gods in 2006. His books have now been published in more than a dozen countries.His next novel of suspense, Merciless, will be published by Ballantine Books in spring 2007.