Prolific French spy novelist Gerard De Villiers, the creator of the top-selling SAS series often described as France's answer to James Bond, has died aged 83 in Paris, his lawyer said on Friday.
De Villiers died on Thursday "after a long illness," said Eric Morain, his longtime attorney.
Never a darling of the critics, De Villiers was nonetheless a publishing phenomenon, with his publishers claiming his books had sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since he began writing in 1964.
The 200th book in the series – "SAS: The Kremlin's Revenge" – was released last month.
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