 His first published book was the 1962 crime novel "Too Many Murderers".His 1970 novel "The Steel Crocodile" was nominated for the Nebula Award, and his 1974 novel "The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe" was filmed as "Death Watch" by Bertrand Tavernier in 1979.The 1983 film "Brainstorm" was very similar in content to Compton's 1968 novel "Synthajoy".