Brian Freemantle was born in Southampton, England on June 10, 1936. He became a journalist and worked for four national newspapers. While the foreign editor of the Daily Mail in 1975, he organized the rescue mission to airlift 100 orphans from Saigon days before it fell to the communist north. Soon afterward, he left journalism to become a full-time author. He has written over 80 books including the Charlie Muffin series, the Cowley and Danilov Thriller series, and 5 non-fiction books. He has also written under the pen names of John Maxwell, Jonathan Evans, Jack Winchester and Harry Asher.