About the Author

Kathleen Kelley Reardon's newest book, the mystery thriller SHADOW CAMPUS, is her debut novel.

Author of 10 books, she is a professor at USC's Marshall School of Business, a featured political blogger at The Huffington Post since 2005, and the recipient of the 2013 Humanitarian Award from the UConn Alumni Association.

Her first book, PERSUASION IN PRACTICE, (revised edition retitled) , was called by Public Opinion Quarterly "a landmark contribution to the field" of research and theory in persuasion.

Her first trade book, THEY DON'T GET IT, DO THEY? , was based on her Harvard Business Review article "The Memo Every Woman Keeps in Her Desk," which became an HBR reprint best seller. Her latest HBR article is "Courage as a Skill."

THE SECRET HANDSHAKE (2000) , an Amazon business and nonfiction bestseller, provides a rare and perceptive inside look at the politics of business. IT'S ALL POLITICS (2005) provides a deeper analysis of workplace politics. Other Kathleen Kelley Reardon books for professional people include THE SKILLED NEGOTIATOR (2004) and COMEBACKS AT WORK: USING CONVERSATION TO MASTER CONFRONTATION (2010) .

Professor Reardon also wrote CHILDHOOD DENIED: ENDING THE NIGHTMARE OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (2008) an investigation into the legal, political and societal treatment of foster children in the U.S. The concept she introduced in that book of creating university-based academies to prepare foster children for college (of whom only approximately 3% graduate) has already resulted in the creation of four such academies at major universities, with more on the way. At First Star, the nonprofit with which initiates and develops those academies, she was a co-founding board member is the its Distinguished Research Fellow

Her breakthrough INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS GIFT-GIVING: A GUIDE FOR AMERICAN EXECUTIVES was used by the White House Office of Protocol as a primary reference for many years as well as by chiefs of protocol for nations and businesses around the world.

At USC, Dr. Reardon also served on the Preventive Medicine Faculty for over 15 years and was earlier a professor of Communication Sciences at UCONN. She earned her Ph.D., at UMass Amherst, where she graduated with distinction and won the NCA national dissertation of the year award. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Mortar Board. She has consulted for many individuals, and companies large and small around the world on topics related to communication, persuasion, negotiation and politics at work.

She has appeared on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News and Good Morning America. Her research and writings have been covered in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and broadcast news segments.

In SHADOW CAMPUS, she has taken her knowledge of politics in the workplace to fiction and shows us how eve