author
William P. McGivern
1921–1982
A sharp, fast-moving crime writer, he helped shape mid-century noir with hardboiled novels that often landed on the screen as well as the page. His stories mix police detail, tension, and a bleak sense of how quickly ordinary lives can go wrong.
2 Audiobooks
Death Makes a Mistake
by William P. McGivern
The Chameleon Man
by William P. McGivern
About the author
Born in Chicago on December 6, 1918, William P. McGivern became known as an American novelist and television scriptwriter. He wrote more than twenty novels, mainly mysteries and crime thrillers, and sometimes used the pseudonym Bill Peters.
Before moving deeper into fiction and screen work, he worked in journalism in Philadelphia and later served in the U.S. Army during World War II. That reporting background helped give his crime writing its tough, convincing edge, and several of his novels were adapted for film, including The Big Heat and Odds Against Tomorrow.
Later in his career, he moved into Hollywood writing for television and film. He died on November 18, 1982, in Palm Desert, California, but his reputation has lasted thanks to lean, atmospheric noir novels that still feel brisk and unsentimental.