Ovid Demaris (6 September 1919 – 12 March 1998 as Ovide E. Desmarais) was a native of Biddeford, Maine and an author of books and detective stories. A former United Press correspondent and newspaper reporter, he wrote more than thirty books and hundreds of newspaper articles. He graduated from College of Idaho in 1948 and Boston University in 1950. Previous to that, he had served in the United States Army Air Forces.
His most important works were of a historical or biographical nature about the Mafia and other gangland characters. He is most noted for The Last Mafioso, his biography of Jimmy Fratianno, and for The Green Felt Jungle, his expose on Mafia operations in Las Vegas.
1960: Lucky Luciano, Monarch Books1961: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, Monarch1961: The Dillinger Story1964: The Green Felt Jungle, Pocket Books, Montreal 1964; written with Ed Reid1965: The Toughest Customers1967: Jack Ruby, Da Capo Press, written with Garry Wills1969: Captive City: Chicago in Chains, Sphere Books Limited1970: Poso del Mundo: Inside the Mexican–American border, from Tijuana to Matamoros ISBN 0-671-78066-21970: America the Violent, Cowles Book Co.1974: The Lucky Luciano story (The Godfather series), Belmont Tower Books1974: Dirty Business: The Corporate-Political Money-Power Game, Harper's Magazine Press1975: The Director. An Oral Biography of J. Edgar Hoover1977: Brothers in Blood, The International Terrorist Network ISBN 0-684-15192-81978: Judith Exner: My Story, Grove Press, with Judith Exner1980: The Last Mafioso, The Treacherous World of Jimmy Fratianno. Bantam Books ISBN 0-553-25474-X1986: The Boardwalk Jungle, Bantam Books1994: J. Edgar Hoover: As They Knew Him, Avalon Publishing Group1957: Ride The Gold Mare1957: The Hoods Take Over1958: The Lusting Drive1959: The Long Night1959: The Slasher1960: The Extortioners1960: The Enforcer1960: The Gold-Plated Sewer1961: Candyleg (Alternative Title: Machine Gun McCain)1963: The Parasite1965: The Organization (Alternative Title: The Contract)1966: Fatal Mistake1971: Mason’s Women1972: The Overlord1973: Legs Diamond1983: The Vegas Legacy1988: Ricochet1958: Gang War - based on the novel The Hoods Take Over1969: Machine Gun McCain - based on the novel Candyleg 