John Gordon Davis was born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and educated in South Africa. He earned a BA in Political Science, paying his way through university by working as a deckhand on British merchant ships and on the Dutch whaling fleet at the Antarctic. He went on to take an LL.B. degree whilst serving as a judge¿s clerk in Rhodesia.

Called to the Bar, he was appointed an assistant public prosecutor in the Magistrate¿s Courts during the troubled years leading up to Rhodesiäs Unilateral Declaration of Independence, before becoming Crown Counsel in the Attorney General¿s Chambers. He was later appointed to the same position in Hong Kong.

He quit this post to become a full-time writer when his first book, "Hold My Hand I¿m Dying" became an instant best-seller. Other bestselling novels followed.

A veteran seaman; he and his Australian born wife, Rosemary, sailed round most of the world in a succession of yachts. Upon retirement, they travelled widely and from their home in a lovely old Spanish farmhouse in Andalucia, Spain, he also ran highly successful writing courses for both aspiring and published authors.

John Gordon Davis sadly died in 2014 leaving behind a rich literary heritage, including several unpublished novels he had worked on even as he supposedly slowed the pace.