JOHN GORDON DAVIS was born in Zimbabwe, then called Rhodesia, of English parents, and was educated in South Africa. He became a member of the Seamen’s Union, spending his university vacations at sea with the Dutch whaling fleet in the Antarctic, and on British merchantmen. He took degrees in political science and law, and joined the Rhodesian Civil Service as a public prosecutor, before becoming Crown Counsel. He was then appointed to the same position in Hong Kong. The success of Hold My Hand I’m Dying, his first novel, allowed him to take up writing full time. He and his wife Rosemary live in southern Spain.