William J. (William James) Flynn

Born in New York City in 1867, William J. Flynn worked as a plasterer before joining the U.S. Secret Service in the 1890s. He became known for investigating major cases, including counterfeiting operations and the Black Tom explosion, and later served as director of the Bureau of Investigation from 1919 to 1921.

Flynn also wrote popular nonfiction and memoir-style crime books drawn from his law-enforcement career. Titles associated with him include The Eagle's Eye, and his writing helped bring federal investigations to a wide general audience at a time when readers were fascinated by detectives, spies, and modern policing.

He died in 1928, but his work still offers a vivid window into the early federal pursuit of crime in the United States. For listeners interested in true crime history, his books blend firsthand experience with the dramatic pace of adventure stories.