Philip Arvense is a retired PhD research entomologist and an avid reader of thrillers, science fiction, history, and the biological sciences. His 100+ publications in the scientific literature span a long research career that focused on biological and integrated control of insect and weed pests in agricultural and natural settings, especially wetlands like the Everglades, where he spent decades wading through swamps, avoiding toothed reptiles, and donating pints of blood to insects. Shattercane and Sinker are his first two novels in a series. He lives in Florida with his wife and rescue poodle Ruby.