Eric Van Lustbader (he dropped his middle name Van for several years due to a confusion about his last name) was born and raised in Greenwich Village. He is the author of more than twenty-seven best-selling novels, including The Ninja, in which he introduced Nicholas Linnear, one of modern fiction's most beloved and enduring heroes. The Ninja was sold to 20th Century Fox to be made into a major motion picture.

His novels have been translated into over twenty languages; his books are best-sellers worldwide and are so popular whole sections of bookstores from Bangkok to Dublin are devoted to them.

In 2004, Mr. Lustbader was chosen by the estate of the late Robert Ludlum to continue the Jason Bourne novels. The first, The Bourne Legacy, was published in 2005. It garnered rave reviews and was an instant international bestseller. The second, The Bourne Betrayal, spent 13 weeks on the N.Y. Times Bestseller list. His current novel, The Bourne Sanction, was published in June, 2008.

In September of 2008, his latest novel, First Daughter, will be published by Tor/Forge.

Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business, where he worked for Elektra Records and CBS Records, among other companies. He was the first writer in the US to write about Elton John, and to predict his success. As a consequence, he and Elton and Bernie Taupin, Elton's lyricist, became friends. Writing in Cash Box Magazine, he also predicted the successes of such bands as Santana, Roxy Music, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, David Bowie, and The Who, among others.