J. Luke Bennecke

Bennecke was born on May 20, 1971, in Fontana, California, United States. He studied civil engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, graduating in 1996. In 2001, he received his master’s in business management degree from California State University, San Bernardino – College of Business and Administration.

Bennecke started his career in 1991 working as a student assistant at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he designed an ADA ramp and hydraulic fountain/recirculation system for Manzanita Lake. He worked for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) between 1992 and 1995 before getting laid off as part of Governor Pete Wilson’s Reduction In Force program. Bennecke worked for the County of San Bernardino Transportation Department between 1996 and 1998 before getting hired back at Caltrans in 1998, where he worked as a Project Engineer until 2003, having designed the Ayala Interchange as part of Segment 9 of the new I-210 freeway in Rialto, California. After passing the California Real Estate Broker’s exam in 2002, Bennecke started his own real estate company, where he helped homeowners buy, sell, and finance residential properties. Bennecke left Caltrans in March 2003 and built up the real estate company until selling it in December 2006. During the Great Recession, Bennecke went back to work in civil engineering and started at a new company, Southstar Engineering & Consulting, in 2008 where he worked as executive vice president while working as a full-time consultant Project Manager at Caltrans District 8 until 2014. Concurrently, he and his wife founded Red Apple Reading in January 2011, and became the chief executive officer, and helped over 65,000 children in 38 different countries. In addition, Bennecke awards scholarships annually to high school seniors at his alma mater, San Gorgonio High School.

In 2015, Bennecke started writing as a thriller novelist and has completed several other books and screenplays. He released his first Jake Bendel novel, “Civil Terror: Gridlock”, in March 2018, which earned the title of Amazon bestseller. Bennecke also collaborated with writer/director John Wesley Norton on the screenplay for “Civil Terror: Gridlock”. On April 22, 2021, his second book, “Waterborne,” was published by Black Rose Writing, and also reached bestseller status on Amazon. Later, Bennecke became a member of the International Thriller Writers. As of 2023, Bennecke is pitching the third Jake Bendel thriller and is editing his fifth novel.

In 2022, Bennecke received the American Fiction Award and was a finalist in the Thriller: Techno category, for his book, “Waterborne”. Later, his book took first place as Best Medical Thriller in the 2022 BestThrillers.com Book Awards, and third place in Technothrillers in the 2022 BookFest Awards.

Bennecke is a principal at a Riverside-based engineering firm and holds a private pilot's license. He has two grown daughters, and three pets (cats) and resides in Southern California with his wife.

• Civil Terror: Gridlock. Jaytech. 2018. ISBN 9780965771528.
• Civil Terror: Waterborne. J. Luke Bennecke. 2019. ISBN 9780965771542.
• Echo from a Bayou. Jaytech Publishing. 2023. ISBN 9780965771573.
• Blackout. 2024.

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