Alistair MacNeill was born in Scotland in 1960. His family moved to South Africa when he was six years old, where he showed a growing interest in writing. He returned to Britian in 1985 to pursue a full-time writing career.

Alistair MacLean, the son of a minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a teacher. Two and a half years spent aboard a wartime cruiser gave him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.