Frank Bigott’s life reads like the backstory for a crime thriller protagonist. Born and raised in New York City, he navigated a childhood marked by three stepfathers, poverty, and street survival. His toughest stepfather, Tex Black, a 6’3″ carpenter from Texas, ruled through fear and basement beatings. When Tex went to prison for ten years, and his mother Goldie kicked the family out, Frank spent weeks riding the subway at night in midwinter, caring for his younger siblings while his mother worked.

His second stepfather, Joey Odorisio, a gangster from Carroll Gardens, brought stability and taught him different lessons about power and loyalty. During those years, Frank lived double lives: Boy Scout working toward Eagle rank, Boys Club athlete competing in boxing and gymnastics, and teenage burglar breaking into bars with his friend Richie. The burglary career ended at 14 when a retired cop caught them, leading to his final arrest before straightening out.

At 17, facing serious legal trouble, he volunteered for the Marines. That decision changed his trajectory from likely prison time to military discipline. After discharge, he worked various jobs in New York before attending Kingsborough Community College and later Baruch College, supporting himself as a HUD cop and building superintendent.

Marriage brought him west to New Mexico, then El Paso, before a company transfer landed him in Los Angeles in 1989. At 44, he nearly lost everything to an investment scammer claiming 100 million in offshore funds. Facing eviction and planning to move back in with his mother, he was saved by a real estate broker who fell for him and supported him until he found work again. Within ten years, he built multimillion dollar success on his own terms.

Now retired from business, Frank trades stocks and writes, channeling decades of observing human nature at its extremes into thriller fiction that refuses to romanticize violence, heroism, or redemption.