Joseph Hayes (August 2, 1918 – September 11, 2006) grew up writing novels and plays in his native Indianapolis, Indiana. His most successful work, The Desperate Hours, was turned into a novel, a Tony Award-winning Broadway play, and a film, which in 1956 won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1962 he wrote another Broadway success, Caluclated Risk, and proceeded to pen over a dozen novels. Mr. Hayes died of Alzheimer's disease in 2006.