Hey, I’m Luke,
About the author
Luke Richardson
“When you travel, you leave your feelings behind and open your heart and mind to the raw struggles of others. Whether that’s the people you meet or those you travel beside.”
I write books that take you on a journey to foreign and exotic places, blending history, adventure, and suspense into stories that are as much about the world as they are about the people in it. Whether you’re a history buff, a travel addict, or just looking for a little excitement in your reading life, come with me — the Pyramids of Giza, the glitzy skyscrapers of Hong Kong, the shady backstreets of Kathmandu are waiting!
When I’m not travelling, you’ll find me back home in Nottingham, UK. A former English teacher and nightclub DJ, ending up writing adventure thrillers for a living is not the most obvious career path — but then the best adventures rarely are.
The man behind the books...
Traveller First, Writer Second
I often say that I wouldn’t be a writer if I hadn’t seen and experienced a bit of the world first. From the pyramids that feature in The Giza Protocol, to the sweeping desert sands of The Sahara Event, and the shadowy Cold War relics of Berlin Underground — most of the locations in my books are ones I’ve stood in, breathed in, and felt the weight of. Travel isn’t research for me, it’s the whole point. The places come first, and the stories follow.
The same is true of the people. If we’ve ever shared noodles in a backstreet restaurant, watched the sun rise over somewhere extraordinary, or snapped open cans of beer on a rumbling overnight train — then you’re in my books somewhere.
I knew that I wanted to write when I visited Mumbai, India, for the first time. I still remember that first morning as vividly as if it were yesterday. I’d arrived at the airport at dawn after an overnight flight. As my taxi cut its way through the traffic, I watched the city unfold all around me, like a story. The freeway backed on to one of the city’s largest slum areas, and the life of the residents there spilled out on to the road. People washed from buckets and children played around piles of trash. A man stumbled out of his hut, yawned, stretched, and scratched his stomach as though we were sitting right in his living room.
Chickens pecked at the dust inches from the wheels of brightly painted trucks. A sports car waited patiently behind a cart pulled by a donkey. Goats picked their way through the fumes in search of a tuft of grass. And in the centre of it all, a small herd of cows wandered across the road, causing the traffic to brake and swerve at a moment’s notice. It was chaos — and I was completely transfixed by it.
Every time I write a new story, I go back to that taxi ride. I want you to feel what I did right then—that excitement, that intrigue, that fascination.
Despite that, it wasn’t until the end of 2017 that I started writing what would become Kathmandu Killers, my first novel. I was visiting Madrid, Spain, for a few days, and found myself with a plan-free afternoon.
I’m not entirely sure why that afternoon was different from any other. Something about being away from home, away from the classroom, away from the daily routine, created just enough space for something to shift. And then, without any great fanfare, the idea arrived — not a vague notion of maybe writing something someday, but a specific story, a specific place, a specific character. Leo, the protagonist of my International Detective Series, appeared right there and then.
Since then, I’ve written over fifteen books across various series. The International Detective Series came first, in which Leo and Allissa criss-cross the world tracking down missing people. Then I raised the stakes with the Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers where my feisty protagonist outwits secret societies, prevents ancient curses, and finds long-lost relics all in order to save the world.
Yes still, after all those books, each time I sit down at the keyboard I go back to that taxi ride—the chaos, the color, the sense of a world so vivid and alive.
In January 2024 I returned to Mumbai. A full-time author and working on my next book, I made the same journey from the airport I had thirteen years before. This social media post probably captures it best:
Last time I was in Mumbai, my life was so different. I was working as a high school teacher. The longest thing I’d written was the dissertation for my degree — and in total, three people read that. In fairness, it was really boring. Today, I’m re-familiarising myself with a city that feels very similar, except so much has changed.
10 Quick Facts
01. India is my favourite travel destination in the world
02. Former high school English teacher
03. I stared writing my first book in a café in Madrid
04. Jazz and techno music fan
05. Based in Nottingham, UK
06. I've been learning German for several years
07. Proud owner
… of a 2008 VW T5 campervan.
08. Fuelled by strong coffee (no instant)
09. Slightly obsessed...
10. Also, a former nightclub DJ
Luke's journey
Some key dates along my journey…
2011 / The trip to India that changed everything
You've heard the story — the sun rising over the Mumbai slums, the full contrast of life flashing past the taxi window. It's the feeling that started everything, and one I just keep coming back to.
2017 / Started writing the book that would become Kathmandu Killers
It all started in a café in Madrid. A head full of ideas, a strong coffee, and a few hours of furious typing.
2019 / Published Kathmandu Killers
4th May 2019 — I hit publish on my first book. The story follows Leo, an out-of-work journalist tasked with tracking down a missing woman in the exotic and mysterious streets of Kathmandu. There was no going back after that.
2020 / Left my job as a high school English teacher to write full time
I knew that needed to focus on writing and having a job (especially one like teaching) pulled at my attention every day.
2022 / Published The Ark Files.
This is the book most people know me for — a lost manuscript, a secret society, and a truth that people will kill to keep buried.
Where next?
Just like that taxi ride in 2011, I still have a head full of stories. As you read this, I'm probably working on several of them at once — and I wouldn't have it any other way. Make sure you join my Adventure Society Newsletter to stay up to date.
