James Sallis is an American crime writer, poet and musician, best known for his series of novels featuring the character Lew Griffin and for his 2005 novel Drive, which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same name.

“He existed a step or two to one side of the common world, largely out of sight, a shadow, all but invisible. Whatever he owned, either he could hoist it on his back and lug it along or he could walk away from it. Anonymity was the thing he loved most about the city, being a part of it and apart from it at the same time.”

— John Sallis, Drive