Born in Jersey in 1946, John Hanley trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before teaching in London, Jersey and Cornwall. After a master's degree at Bath University, he returned to Jersey as deputy head of his old school. His first novel, Against The Tide, was published in 2012 and the second, The Last Boat in 2013. He now lives with his wife and family in Cornwall.

In a BBC radio interview, he explained why he wrote Against The Tide and The Last Boat.
'I grew up in Jersey surrounded by the artefacts of the German Occupation. My mother lived through it and every adult I knew had a story to tell. Through extreme good fortune, my mother avoided the fate of several islanders when the Germans bombed and strafed the harbour on Friday 28th June 1940.
During the summer evenings, she always walked with her mother and a married couple from across the road to the harbour after their tea. That evening she had a stomach ache and only the married couple went. The husband was killed and, as the four of them usually kept together, it is more than possible that my mother and grandmother might not have survived.
Because of this I've always had a strong affinity with that period and an urge to relive it through the eyes of a young man who would have been my mother's age at the time. I wanted to experience what it must have been like to cope with all that was thrown at the hapless islanders after the British government abandoned them to the less than tender mercies of the Germans.
I'd already written The Last Boat before Against The Tide was published and have planned a series which follows the main characters through the war years. It's taken somewhat longer than planned to write this third novel mainly because the characters insisted on dragging me into uncharted waters then stranding me in unresearched territory. It's been a fascinating journey and I'm now proud to present Diamonds For The Wolf before I settle down at the keyboard to discovered what they plan for me next!