Patrick Alexander

Patrick Alexander (1926 – 1997 or 2003 and was filmed in 1981 as Le Professionnel starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. Stephen Hunter admits that Alexander's novel inspired his own novel Dead Zero and questions where the inspiration ends and the theft of Alexander's idea begins.

Alexander was a chess fanatic; people in his novels often share his enthusiasm for the game. Death of a Thin-Skinned Animal features a "considerable description of a tournament" that chess player Stewart Reuben had organised.