Forbes, Colin

Colin Forbes is the pseudonym of the British author Raymond Harold Sawkins who was born in Hampstead, London. His first published novel, Snow on High Ground (1966), was followed by a string of novels of which some, like his first book, were published under his own name and others under the pseudonyms Richard Raine or Jay Bernard. He later denounced his early work and claims Tramp in Armour (1969), written under the alias Colin Forbes, as his first published book. Sawkins has also claimed that Colin Forbes was his real name and that books by Bernard, Raine and Sawkins were written by others. This information has never been taken seriously, and it is now established beyond doubt that his real name was Sawkins and that he is identical to Forbes, Raine and Bernard.