According to John Schembra, "I was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and retired from the Pleasant Hill Police Department as a Sergeant after 30 years of service.  I have been married for 33 years and have two grown children.  I earned a B.A. in Administration of Justice, and an M.A. in Public Administration (Management). I spend my retirement time writing (one of my favorite pastimes, along with fishing) as well as teaching other police officers emergency vehicle operations/pursuit driving through the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department and Academy.  I also am a Driving Simulator Instructor, and  have been recognized  as a Subject Matter Expert in Emergency Vehicle Operations by the State of California.

I am fortunate to have had several trade articles published in law enforcement magazines such as Law and Order, Police Officer's Quarterly, and The Back-up. I was honored to have a short story, "Sweet Sixteen", published in True Blue: Police Stories by Those Who Have Lived Them a collection of stories written by police officers.  Prior to joining the police force, I was a Military Policeman with the 557th MP Company, assigned to Long Binh Post, South Vietnam, where I had several "adventures" that provided the basis for my first book "M.P., A Novel of Vietnam” Though it is based on some personal experiences, it is a work of fiction about a young man who finds himself caught up in the quagmire of the Vietnam War."  John Schembra is the author of MP and Retribution.

According to the book description of Retribution, “follow San Francisco homicide detective Vince Torelli as he tries to outwit and capture an elusive, murdering vigilante in this award winning mystery novel.”

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According to the book description of MP, “June 1967 As Vincent Torelli stepped off the plane at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, he was almost overwhelmed by the stench in the hot, humid air. He still had a hard time realizing he was in Vietnam. Drafted into the armed forces five months earlier, he ended up becoming a Military Policeman, assigned to the 557th MP Co. at Long Binh Post just outside Bien Hoa City. His year tour of duty in Vietnam changes him from a somewhat naïve young man to a battle hardened veteran. Through unlucky chance, Vince becomes involved in the ferocious '68 Tet offensive, barely surviving the night. He sees and experiences things he could never have imagined before Vietnam. This is Vince's story, of how he survived that year in Vietnam, how he coped with the hell he faced, of the friendships he formed, and of the sorrow of lives lost.”