Matthew Reilly wrote his first novel, Contest, at the age of 19 while studying law. Following rejections from all the major publishers, Matthew self-published Contest in 1996, printing 1,000 copies. Those original self-published editions of Contest have now become much sought-after collectors’ items. Matthew is now the internationally bestselling author of the Scarecrow series, the Jack West series and numerous standalone novels. His books are published in over 20 languages with worldwide sales of over 7 million copies. He has optioned the film rights to many of his novels to various major movie studios including Disney, Paramount, Sony and Fox. Matthew currently resides in Los Angeles.