Rene Raymond, known throughout the world under the pseudonym James Hadley Chase, became famous in the genre of “hard-boiled” detective. He came from the family of a retired British officer, and his father intended Rene to become a scientist. But at the age of 18, the future writer left his studies and left his parents’ home forever. He constantly changed jobs and tried many professions before he became an agent and book distributor, having thoroughly studied the book business from the inside. Subsequently, he recalled with irony: “...I had to knock on no less than a hundred thousand doors, and behind each of them I could meet any of the characters from my future novels... And I had to get wet in the rain so much that now no one can force me to leave the house in wet weather..." Over the course of almost half a century of writing, Chase created about ninety novels that enjoyed constant success among readers in different countries, and about fifty of them were filmed.