Robert Rhode

Robert Rhode grew up in the cattle country of West Texas in the presence of mesquite trees and rattlesnakes where Saturday matinees at the movie theater featured the struggles of the cowboy good guys against the villainous bad guys in the hostile setting of the Old West. The values of independence, self-sufficiency, and the drive for survival depicted in those movies provided the inspiration for the primary characters in his western novel, Sandstone.

He lived in Memphis, Tennessee for several years, where he taught at Christian Brothers University and vacationed occasionally in Biloxi, Mississippi, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Grand Cayman Island, places from which he gleaned material for his suspense novel, Substantial Penalty.

He now lives in Lubbock, Texas where he and his wife, Stephanie, raised two sons and a daughter. He was a summer volunteer at the Lubbock Lake archaeological dig site, all of which provided material for his murder mystery, Digging Up Buck.

Beginning with mowing lawns for spending money as a teenager, Rhode has worked as a ditch digger, pipe layer, math teacher, Capitol Hill reporter, editor, associate professor, construction company president, stock market day trader, real estate investor, and writer, his current avocation.

His favorite pastime is playing with his grandson.