[2] Born and raised in upstate New York and a graduate of Williams College, he worked in publishing and medical sales for nearly fifteen years before turning to writing in the late 1990s.
His series of six Frank Pavlicek novels features a former New York City police detective who also spends much of his time flying various hawks to help inspire him to solve criminal cases.
Straka's inaugural non-series novel, Record of Wrongs, was labelled "a first-rate thriller" by Mystery Scene magazine in 2008.
Straka also has written a short story, Directions For Disassembly Of An Old Set Of Swings, and he recently reworked his first novel, A Witness Above, into an edition for teenagers, including a falconry primer.
Straka's interests range from parenting and basketball (he was co-captain of his college team) to English and predatory birds (he is a licensed falconer).