Valerio Ventura is a multi-award-winning artist and copywriter. Recipient of the 2014 Prime-Time Emmy award for individual achievement as a designer for the Walt Disney Studios. With more than thirty years of experience in the film industry, Valerio has been writing professionally since 2001.

 

Born in Rome, Italy, Valerio grew up on the stressed-out and crime-ridden streets of the Quadraro neighborhood, near the Cinecitta Film Studios where Fellini and Sergio Leone made cinematic history.

 

As a teen, Valerio dreamed of coming to the US. After moving to California and becoming a US citizen, he devoted himself to art directing animated shows, and writing and directing television commercials and music videos. Now he’s decided to write and publish his own books.

 

In this first novel in the Akira series, Valerio explores the world of assassins with razor-sharp action, hyperviolence, dark humor, and urban poetry.

 

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