Rebecca Jean Downey is an award-winning writer with a journalism degree from Indiana University. During Rebecca’s first job as a newspaper reporter in Indiana, she was assigned to cover law enforcement agencies and the courts. With tutoring from two county judges, Rebecca gained the respect of the law enforcement community, including the prosecutor’s office and local attorneys for her accuracy. Since then, Rebecca has free-lanced for local and national publications on issues of criminal justice and other subjects. In 2002, she was fortunate to interview Harley Lappin, the warden of the U.S. Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana during Timothy McVeigh’s execution. The inspiration for her first novel, The Middle Eye, came from getting to know the late El Paso County, Texas Sheriff Leo Samaniego, who allowed her to tour both county jails and interview him and his deputies. This experience opened her eyes to the unique law enforcement challenges along the U.S.-Mexico border. Rebecca's latest novel, Devil Eye, focuses on gun trafficking along the border. Rebecca and her husband, Mike, live in El Paso, Texas where she works as Assistant Director of Institutional Advancement at The University of Texas at El Paso.