Brian Callison

Brian Callison (born 1934) is a UK novelist known for his best-selling thrillers and sea stories. Born in Manchester, England in 1934, he was educated at the High School of Dundee, and went to sea at the age of 16 as a midshipman with the Blue Funnel Line, sailing aboard cargo ships between ports in Europe and East Asia. Callison subsequently left the sea, studied at Dundee College of Art in Scotland, and went into business. His first published novel, A Flock of Ships, appeared in 1970 to widespread critical and popular acclaim. It became an international bestseller, and established Callison's reputation as a leading writer of sea stories. In 2008 he completed a three-year appointment as a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund at the University of Dundee, mentoring staff and students in all aspects of practical writing.

Currently Brian continues to work with private clients as a literary consultant, career adviser and mentor at http://www.writermentoring.co.uk [1].

Virtually all of Callison's novels are set on or near the sea, but they vary widely in plot, character, and tone. The following categorization, though hardly definitive, illustrates the diversity of his work.

A Plague of Sailors and its sequel A Frenzy of Merchantmen, along with A Web of Salvage and Spearfish, are straightforward present-day thrillers similar to the work of Desmond Bagley and Hammond Innes. They pit a tough, competent hero against more-numerous and better-equipped enemies that only he can stop.

A Flock of Ships, The Sextant, and The Stollenberg Legacy, like several works by Duncan Kyle, are driven by a present-day hero's attempt to make sense of shadowy events that unfolded during World War II. Though characterized by violence, danger, and the uncovering of secrets, they are as much mysteries as thrillers.

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