RODERIC JEFFRIES was born in London in 1926. He went to sea in 1943 with the New Zealand Shipping Company after passing out from the Department of Navigation, University of Southampton. Having gained his Second Mate's Certificate and sailed as Third Officer he came ashore in 1949 and began to read for the Bar and to write. He was called to the Bar in 1953 but gave up law as an active profession a year later to become a full-time writer. His books, currently 152 of them, have been published in many different countries and have been adapted for film, television, and radio. He and his wife live in Mallorca, and have two children.