John Hart was born in Durham, North Carolina in 1965, the son of a young surgeon and French teacher who quit teaching to raise her children. Eventually, He moved to Rowan County, where The King of Lies and Down River are both set, and on which the fictional Raven County is loosely based. His favorite memory of childhood is a five hundred acre farm that has since fallen to the sweeping tide of development that is slowly devouring much of North Carolina. He attended Davidson College, a marvelous school just north of Charlotte, where he studied French literature. He has also spent long days sanding teak on the Carolina coast, working on helicopters in Alaska and drawing pints in a London pub.