Williams was born in Texas and lived there and in New Mexico, where he worked as a merchant marine before joining the navy during the war. The sea and sailing played a large part in his life and appeared in several of his 22 novels. He is a writer who, despite considerable success with his books and subsequent film adaptations, is now criminally neglected. His first novel, the mildly salacious Hill Girl, was published by famous paperback house Gold Medal in 1950, selling more than 1,200,000 copies, and was followed, unsurprisingly, by Big City Girl and River Girl. Several of his novels were filmed, and sometimes scripted by Williams himself, and many of them, if not set at sea, such as Dead Calm, were in small towns, usually overheated, humid places on the Gulf Coast and south Florida. Some were extremely funny, but the majority featured either sympathetic characters who courageously prevail when caught up in evil situations, or opportunistic, sneaky types lured by duplicitous beauties and the promise of riches. Williams wrote brilliantly and consistently for over two decades, but after the death of his wife in the early 1970s and the waning popularity of his kind of fiction, he committed suicide in 1975.

Dead Calm begins peacefully, with honeymoon couple John and Rae Ingram alone on their yacht in the Pacific Ocean, when they see on the horizon a ship sinking slowly. They rescue the ship's remaining passenger, who claims that the others on board have died from food poisoning. Ingram is suspicious and rows over to see for himself, before realizing that he is marooned on a death ship, leaving his wife in the hands of a deadly lunatic. The lyrical descriptions of aquatic tranquility only serve to highlight the suspense and tension of this tautly written, perfectly titled book.

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on Custom Reports at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to Custom Reports and other relevant topics.