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About the Author
A St. Louis, Missouri native, Luke Adler was the product of a dysfunctional home environment, eventually becoming a ward of the state and living in foster care under the purview of the juvenile justice system. He left home at the age of fourteen and traveled two seasons with the carnival from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. After returning to St. Louis, Luke hit the road again at the age sixteen and hitchhiked from St. Louis to Key West FL, Boston MA, back to Key West, then on to New York City NY and back to St. Louis prior to enlisting in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) in 1975 at the age of seventeen. While in the Marines, Luke attended the U S Navy Dive School in San Diego CA and the U S Army Airborne School in Fort Benning GA (1976). He was awarded Navy/Marine Gold Parachute wings in 1977. Luke was honorably discharged from the USMC in 1979 and began working as a professional diver on inland river ways such as the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio Rivers while attending college in St. Louis. Luke Started his federal civilian service in 1982 and transferred to the United States Marshals Service (USMS) in 1984. He graduated with top honors at the USMS Basic Training; awarded Distinguished Honor Graduate; Top Shooter, the 500 Club (Physical Fitness Award); Academic Excellence, earned the highest combined score in the history of the USMS academy at that time. During his career, Luke has been involved in the apprehension of several USMS Top 15 Most Wanted fugitives and major cases. Luke has made over 3000 felony arrests. Luke was also a member of the USMS Special Operations Group “Swat Team” for seven years, participating in numerous high profile national/international events such as “Operation Just Cause” the Panama raids to seize military dictator Manuel Noriega, the prison riots at USP Atlanta Georgia, Los Angeles City riots, Ruby Ridge militant stand-off, special detail in Puerto Rico involving the “Los Macheteros” terrorist organization, supervised a dive operation involving an international drug cartel. He has supervised, organized and provided protection for federal judges and international dignitaries. From July 2002 until his retirement in 2011, Luke was a member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in St. Louis, specializing in Balkans terrorist and organized crime groups and intelligence operations in other high-risk communities. Luke currently lives in St. Louis MO with his wife Tracy.