John Gardner

John Edmund Gardner (20 November 1926 – 3 August 2007) was an English spy and thriller novelist, best known for his James Bond continuation novels, but also for his series of Boysie Oakes books and three continuation novels containing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional villain, Professor Moriarty. Gardner, an ex-Royal Marine commando, was for a period an Anglican priest, but he lost his faith and left the church after a short time. After a battle with alcohol addiction, he wrote his first book, the autobiographical Spin the Bottle, published in 1964. Gardner went on to write over fifty works of fiction, including fourteen original James Bond novels, and the novel versions of two Bond films. He died from suspected heart failure on 3 August 2007.