Cody McFadyen was an international bestselling author known for his thrilling novels. He authored six thrillers, five of which are centered around FBI special agent Smoky Barrett, who hunts serial killers. In 2011, his stand-alone thriller Der Menschenmacher was published in Germany, but it has no English translation. Before releasing book five in the Smoky Barrett series in 2016, McFadyen took a four-year hiatus to care for his ailing parents. He was the father of a daughter and lived in Southern California.