
J. Luke Bennecke is an Amazon #1 bestselling thriller author who writes about what happens when technology gets smarter—and people don’t.
A former civil engineer and longtime executive, he spent decades designing real-world systems in California before turning to fictional ones that fail far more spectacularly. His novels explore artificial intelligence, surveillance, memory manipulation, and the dangerous gap between innovation and ethics. He is currently at work on his tenth novel.
Luke resides in Southern California with his wife of 35 years and four spunky cats. When not writing, he enjoys philanthropy, consulting as an engineering expert witness, traveling, playing golf, creating videos, and voiceover acting.
This marks Luke’s 11th year attending ThrillerFest, and he’s excited to be back among the thriller community.
He’ll be moderating The Power of POV panel on Friday, May 8 at 8 a.m., and will also unveil the cover of his latest book, Blackout.

“The CSUSB MBA created a foundation of business knowledge that has allowed me to be successful at multiple businesses I’ve started, owned, managed and sold over the years," said Jason Bennecke ’01, a CSUSB alumnus who is a civil engineer, entrepreneur and author of multiple best-selling books.
J. LUKE BENNECKE
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