Pete Crooks is an East Bay Bay-based journalist who covers lifestyle, entertainment, philanthropy, baseball and travel for a range of publications., He is also the author of the seminal investigative story about one of the Bay Area's most sensational crime and corruption stories in recent history. For the past 30 years, Crooks has been one of the editors of Diablo magazine, and was on assignment for the magazine when he broke the incredible crime scandal detailed in The Setup: A True Story of Soccer Moms, Dirty Cops, and Reality TV.

Crooks's reporting on this stranger than fiction story about reality show wannabes, duplicitous soccer moms, and a conspiracy involving corrupt cops and a sociopath private investigator received national acclaim, inspiring episodes of the award-winning radio program This American Life and 48 Hours on CBS news, for which Crooks served as an official consultant. The film and television right to the book have been optioned to an Academy Award-nominated producer.