John Case

John Case was the working name of Jim and Carolyn Hougan, a husband and wife who wrote six thrillers together, and they took it from Carolyn's grandfather John F. Case, himself a journalist. The Genesis Code, the first of the six, was published in 1997: an American lawyer looks into his sister's death in Italy and finds a trail running through a fertility clinic and into the Vatican. Jim Hougan came to it as an investigative reporter with books on the intelligence services behind him, including a revisionist account of Watergate; Carolyn had four novels of her own, among them The Romeo Flag. Five more appeared under the shared name, ending with Ghost Dancer in 2006. Carolyn Hougan died in February 2007, and the partnership with her.