When G. J. was eight, his mom told him the story of Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants and a great army. He asked her what happened to Hannibal after that. Mom didn't know, but he was hooked, had to find out, had to write about it.

G. J. spent much of his young life on the road and at sea, even working as a crew member on a tramp steamer. Wherever his travels took him, old walls, canals, storage holes deep in the ground, made him wonder about how they got there, about the people who built them, how they lived and got along. The award-winning "South of Burnt Rocks--West of The Moon" and the second historical, "Four Nails", bring to modern readers the lives and times of Hannibal, history's greatest elephant, and much more.

For decades G. J. worked trial lawyer shepherding many cases through the court system. That naturally led to his most recent creation, the legal thriller "Chasing Justice." One author reviewer says of it, “With Chasing Justice, accomplished historical novelist G.J. Berger makes an impressive debut in the conspiracy thriller genre. In a league with the best of Grisham and Baldacci.”

When not writing, G. J. tries to roam around the places he writes about, likes to sit and soak up the times back then and bring them to life in his stories. G. J. is convinced that for all the changes in last 2000 years, people loved and hated, suffered and rejoiced, destroyed and built out of the same urges then as today.

G. J. says, "I write historical fiction because the genre gives the reader an added 'take away' as only historical fiction can. Nothing else sweeps the reader into great tides of the past, into the lives of people who lived and loved, fought and suffered, laughed and rejoiced just as we do today--but differently too." He says of his legal thriller, "Only the American legal system, when done right, can bring justice to victims of any kind. It separates us from the rest of the world--in a good way."

Both "Four Nails" and "South of Burnt Rocks" won recognition as the best published historical fiction of 2012 and 2015-16, respectively, from the San Diego Book Awards. "Publishers Weekly", Kirkus Reviews, and the "Huffington Post" have praised G. J.'s novels.

G. J. lives in San Diego with his favorite grammarian and English Professor and tango dancing partner. They visit their two sons and grandsons as often as the kids will have them.