Alan Carter was born in Sunderland, United Kingdom. He immigrated to Australia in 1991 and now lives just south of Hobart. He sometimes works as a television documentary director. In his spare time, he plunges into the icy Tasmanian waters for fun. He is the author of five Cato Kwong novels - Prime Cut, Getting Warmer, Bad Seed, Heaven Sent and Crocodile Tears - and the Nick Chester novels Marlborough Man and Doom Creek, set in New Zealand.