Alex Kava (born Sharon M. Kava on June 7, 1960, in Silver Creek, Nebraska) is an American author of psychological suspense novels.
Growing up in the country outside of Silver Creek, Nebraska, Sharon Kava fantasized about becoming a writer. Her parents, although they understood the value of education, had a tremendous work ethic. Reading was seen as frivolous unless required as schoolwork. As a teenager, Kava wrote short stories on the backs of calendars, sharing them only with her younger brother and hiding them in a shoe box under her bed.
Kava earned an art scholarship to attend college. To pay living expenses, she worked in a nearby hospital's central supply department collecting and sterilizing all of the basins, instruments, and equipment from surgery, pathology, and the morgue. In 1982 she graduated magna cum laude from College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska, with a B.A. in art and English.