Dennis Wheatley (Dennis Yates Wheatley) Biography

British writer of popular adventure tales, romances, science fiction, fantasy, and detective stories, born in London. From the publication of The Forbidden Territory (1933) and Such Power Is Dangerous (1933), until well after the Second World War, he captured a vast readership who enjoyed the large gestures of action in surroundings whose ultimate security was never in doubt. They Found Atlantis (1936) and The Man Who Missed the War (1945) are essays in the science fiction of geography, where sunken islands and lost races are found in the world's recesses. Murder off Miami (1936) experiments intriguingly with its dossier format. His novels of black magic include The Devil Rides Out (1935), The Haunting of Toby Jugg (1948), The Ka of Gifford Hillary (1956), and The Irish Witch (1973). He also wrote numerous historical adventures, after the model of Baroness Orczy.