Merle Temple is the author of the Michael Parker series: Deputy: Once Upon A Time in Mississippi, A Ghostly Shade of Pale, A Rented World, and The Redeemed: A Leap of Faith.

The novels are written as fiction but drawn from his experiences as a deputy sheriff, a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agent and captain in the first drug wars, a manager in the corporate world, and a campaign chairman.

Drug dealers plotted where to bury his body, hit men tried to kill him, and treachery led all the way to the White House, as he confronted the unholy trinity of politics, crime, and business.

Merle signed books for the casts of Criminal Minds and Major Crimes in Hollywood and dined with Morgan Freeman. X-G Productions has now taken an option on the books for a proposed TV series based on a life story that epitomizes the saying: "Truth is stranger than fiction."

His books are used in many middle and high school English classes, and are required reading at one college. Ghostly is the all-time bestselling novel at the Barnes and Noble store in Tupelo, and his books are favorites in many church libraries, including the 30,000 member Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. His books are in shelters and prisons in California, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Merle signs books across America, and speaks to churches, schools, civic clubs, book clubs, and library groups. He has interviewed on radio and TV stations across the country and around the world to warn of the dangers and darkness of this rented world and to tell of his journey to the peace and purpose of Jesus Christ.