Author of forty published books, most in the suspense-thriller category, Marc Olden was recognized since the beginning of his career as a masterful crime novelist. His first work of fiction, NARC, was a series of nine novels about a federal narcotics agent. During his prolific early years Olden also produced the BLACK SAMURAI series which followed the exploits of Robert Sand, a martial arts expert and the only non-Japanese trained by a Japanese samurai master. It was later made into a film, starring Jim Kelly. Many of Olden's books, such as the eastern-influenced GIRI, DAI-SHO, GAIJIN, ONI, TE, KISAENG and KRAIT, reflect his twin passions for justice and eastern culture and philosophy. Olden's interests covered a broad spectrum. His study of the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe resulted in one of his most well known and highly regarded novels, POE MUST DIE, a haunting mystery in which Poe teams with Pierce James Figg, an English bare knuckle fighter and teacher of sword and knife fighting. The book is considered by many to be the definitive novel on Edgar Allan Poe.