Born into a Marine family, the author spent his childhood trekking from Marine post to Marine Post. Upon graduation from Oregon State University and successful completion of the Platoon Leader’s Class (PLC), he was sworn in as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in December, 1964. He served as a platoon commander and assistant operations officer with the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. In January 1968 he left the Marine Corps with the rank of captain.

From 1969 until 1996, he served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma, Chicago, Illinois, and Monterey, and San Francisco, California. His career included assignments in general criminal matters, white-collar crime, foreign (Near East/North Africa) counter-terrorism and foreign (Soviet) counter intelligence.

After retiring from the FBI in March 1996, Buchanan and his partner Richard W. (Rick) Smith formed a firm in San Francisco called Cannon Street, Inc. that provides investigation services to corporations and law firms. Not as frequently as he would like, he pursues his passions for backcountry skiing, land navigation, bird hunting, ocean kayaking, hiking, photography, rock climbing, organic gardening, astronomy and writing. He lives in Mill Valley, California with his wife Claire, and Brittanys Joey and Brady.

In addition to the two books currently available for purchase on this web site, the author has written a number of essays on a variety of subjects including military history, raising dogs, ocean kayak adventures, canoeing, backcountry skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing, summer work with the forest service, military history, and the human/predator interface.