Harry “King of the Paperbacks” Whittington (1915-1989) - who was born in the north Florida town of Ocala - is today best known for the noir novels he wrote between 1950 and 1960, including classics such as Fires That Destroy, You’ll Die Next! and Web of Murder. He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II, and worked as an editor and freelance writer before he continued to write full-time.
After selling his first short story to United Features in 1943, Whittington went on to write more than 170 noir, suspense, western and romance novels, using nearly 20 different names, over the next thirty years.