Russell James

Paleontologist Grant Coleman and environmentalist Janaina Silva, lost in the Amazon rain forest, discover an isolated logging camp, and the chance to hitch a ride back to civilization. But the workers uncover a fossil of a giant snake, almost fifteen meters long. Grant is thrilled, but the superstitious workers believe they have let loose a demon. That night, the world begins to unravel. A mysterious creature attacks the camp, kills several men, and sinks the only boat that can get them home. Soon Grant and the others are in a battle against colossal spiders and a descendant of that great fossilized snake. The key to survival might lie in the lost pyramid of the Aztec Viper King, hidden deep in the rain forest. But they need to get there alive, and one member of the crew has an agenda that doesn't include Grant and Janaina ever getting home. Will anyone survive the curse of the Viper King?

South-east London gangland meets the alternative lifestyle of a travelling fair. Jet Heywood is a fairground boxer past his prime and his brother Scott is a security van driver who has long wanted out of his dead-end life. When Scott's van disappears with a two million pound payload Jet doesn't know whether his brother was a victim or a thief. But Scott's old gang knows - and they reckon Jet knows where he is. They decide to pressurise him and, if that fails, to take his daughter. But Jet's no pushover. He is chased by an evil crew - Gottfleisch, a gargantuan and sinister fence; Ray Lyons, a vicious thug out for revenge; and little Ticky, a paedophile with his own malevolent aims. When Jet decides to take his eight year old daughter with him on the road the travelling fair provides no hiding place. Hounded by press, police and intrusive social workers - and by his brother's determined gang - Jet has to fight both in and outside the ring. This is a dark yet moving thriller from 'one of Britain's most stylish and uncompromising writers', moving from the hard streets of south east London to the last fairground boxing booth in Britain. 'His best in ages. Relish the darkness.' - Time Out'James has created an entirely loathsome and creepy pair of criminals (bringing to mind Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in their roles in the Maltese Falcon) who balance the plucky and admirable father-and-daughter team of Jet and Stella.' - Publishers Weekly'Deftly combines chilling suspense and insightful characterization, leaving us both breathless and satisfied after a heart-stopping finale.' - Peter Handel in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Paleontologist Grant Coleman and activist Janaina Silva are recruited by Thana Katsoros for a top secret expedition, one in search of a live Apatosaurus on a plateau deep in the Amazonian rain forest. But their plane crashes short of their destination, and the entire group faces a terrifying fight for survival. This isolated area hosts unknown animals more fearsome than they'd expected, including giant ants and flesh-eating pterosaurs. Even worse, Katsoros' agenda has more to it than meets the eye, and Grant soon fears that it doesn't include all of them getting back alive. Will any expedition members survive to be rescued, or will they be devoured by the creatures indigenous peoples call the monsters in the clouds?

Millions long to break out of quarantine. One man needs to break in. The paleovirus has swept Long Island, turning residents into psychotic killers. A government quarantine traps Patrick in Connecticut, separated from his mother and pregnant sister on what all now call Q Island. When he loses contact with them, he fears the worst. His only chance to get back is to infiltrate the island as a guide for an illegal safari hunting the infected. But he arrives to find he's more slave than guide, and the infected are fiercer than ever. His sister Kim gives birth to Charlotte in the midst Q Island's living hell, and begins a struggle to survive attacks by the infected and betrayal by family and friends. Kim's love for her daughter gives her the strength to fight on, but if her brother doesn't arrive soon, she won't keep beating the odds. But there's something special about Charlotte, and others born under the contagion's dark cloud. Will children like her prove to be the salvation the islanders pray for, or the last pieces in the puzzle of infected domination?

A dark comedy about hypocrisy. For Ruth's 100th birthday the family gathers in a remote hotel. They deplore her scandalous past - but might they have worse secrets of their own? Ruth worked at the Windmill in her youth and behind her back is criticised by the family as an ex-stripper notorious for her complicated love-life. They say that in the war she drove her first husband to kill himself, and that she married her second husband only to provide a father for her young son. Her four children now range in age from 60 to 75 and their working lives are virtually over. The eldest, Freddie, born to Ruth's first husband, has in the last ten years put on a lot of weight. His son and daughter are there, but he no longer talks to his son. His sister Lucy stands aloof, nursing her drinks, while Charles, five years younger and the richest in the room, has come with his new wife, a Lithuanian half his age - much the same age as his two sons. Noticeably missing is Ruth's even more successful youngest son, Jack, now Lord Jack, considered an outsider by the others and assumed not to be their father's son. As the rain teems down outside and the hotel staff keep serving drinks it seems the guest of honour may never arrive. She doesn't appear until some two thirds of the way through the book, during which time her children and their own children reveal family secrets. Well plied with drink they do not hold back from the reader and are more garrulous than they ought to be. By the time Ruth does arrive we have learnt that their true histories are not as they would have us believe. Not only that, they are not always as they believe themselves to be. So can we believe what they say about Ruth? The matriarch of the family is not as we were led to expect - and when the guests finally begin their meal, the party does not go to plan. The unexpected happens. This is a novel written entirely in dialogue. The format resembles that of a play script, in which characters make their cases (or excuses) in a series of short but revealing dramatic monologues. From time to time they interrupt each other or break off into cross-dialogue. It's an unusual format, but perfect for this extraordinary book.

Six thrilling stories of life at the galaxy's edge including an Eddie Kane adventure.- Alien telepaths join with humans in a desperate battle against an encroaching empire.- A teen schemes to join her mother at an orbiting artists' colony.- The security officer on a remote space station must solve a murder before the killer strikes again, but he has no suspects.- Castaway kids on an unknown planet fight for survival against a fatal disease.- Eddie Kane and his wife Allison get more than they bargain for when they agree to a salvage mission aboard an abandoned warship. Power up your ion drive and prepare to explore the Outer Rim.

Acclaimed author Russell James delivers nine fantastic time travel short stories: -A psychologist tries to cure an agoraphobic patient of his belief that passing through doorways accelerates time. Can he do it before a construction project brings the house down on both of them? -Charlie, a lab technician, gets caught in a failed warp bubble experiment, which completely alters his perception of time. -Jet lag takes on a whole new meaning when Josh Mullins' solar panel experiment lands him at the feet of Chronos, the Roman god of Time. -A couple discovers that their blind date years ago was orchestrated by a man claiming to be from the future. Was he really? These and five more thrilling tales await you, including three adventures from the Bridenbaugh Time Institute, where historians travel back in time to solve the world's greatest mysteries.

Epidemic An ancient virus has surfaced on Long Island, NY, turning its victims into black-veined, infectious, psychopathic killers. Chaos and madness rule. In desperation, the military quarantines the island, trapping Melanie Bailey and her autistic son Aiden. Somehow Aiden survives infection. He could be the key to a cure...if Melanie can get him to the mainland. She must get him past the growing legions of the infected, through the military quarantine, and out of the hands of Jimmy Wade, a criminal gang leader who has his own plans for what to do with a boy who might be a cure. Escape may be impossible from Q Island.

What secrets lurk in her battered trunk of theatrical souvenirs? We're on the eve of the Second World War but you're snug in a room with Maggie King as she prepares a celebrity memoir. From her theatrical trunk she'll show you sketches from her shows, along with programmes, handbills, letters and photos, both from her own career and that of her parents - Albert and Annie King ('the Royal Family' of Music Hall and Variety). She'll share with you the ups and downs of her rackety life, the hits and flops, the romance and tragedy, the men who mattered and the one who caused the scandal that blighted her career. Brought on stage as a babe-in-arms, she went on to become a child performer, pierrot, actress, soubrette and singer. Though she made her first gramophone records in the early years of pre-electric acoustic 78 rpm records (before microphones ) she found more fame in the Twenties and Thirties as a crooner with Britain's top dance bands. Then came the scandal. As she shares her vivid memories she tells what really happened, as opposed to what you'd find in a show-biz biography. These, then, are the stories she can't tell. Read - and enjoy the pictures too

An up-to-the-minute tragicomedy narrated into an iPhone by Crosby Ravensworth, a 35-year-old executive too busy to scatter his father's ashes, or to sort out the dysfunctional family he has left behind, or even to decide which of the four women in his life he should connect to. His father has committed suicide and the funeral is the first time for five years that Crosby meets any of his uneasy family - his stepmother (who never accepted him), his stepbrother (a priest), his half-sister (a businesswoman always on the phone like Crosby) and his youngest half-brother (out of work). Crosby leaves with a sealed box of his father's papers, a last letter and the knowledge that, as executor, he is to scatter his father's ashes at a quiet location in the Lake District. When he has time. But what with his girlfriend thinking marriage, an ex-girlfriend thinking they should try again, a potential new love in America and his frantic business trips around Britain, as well as to Venice, Philadelphia and California, it seems everything conspires against him - or does it? Because, with any luck, even the darkest clouds have silver linings and this could be the beginning of a new life.

Updated and revised for 2023 including new tax law changes. Designed for fundraisers or financial advisors seeking to expand their knowledge about charitable gift planning, this introductory book addresses all of the major topics in planned giving law and taxation. Over 1,000 illustrations and images guide the reader through complex concepts in a visual and intuitive way. Distilled from years of teaching Charitable Gift Planning at the graduate level, professor James makes this topic accessible and enjoyable for the busy professional.

Tenure Hacks: The 12 Secrets of Making TenureA brutally Machiavellian guidebook on how to make tenure for the current or aspiring assistant professor, this irreverent treasure trove of tips and tricks pulls back the curtain on the tenure game and how to win it. Chapters1. It's a (money) game: Follow the money, know the game2. Winning doesn't always matter: It's the CV, stupid3. Why you won't be told the truth: Conflicting interests4. Focus, focus, focus: DON'T follow your passion 5. It's all about timing: The clock is 3 years, not 66. The right publishing mindset: It's fishing, not baseball7. The right publishing practices: Watch the clock8. Suck at teaching: Escape the time sink 9. Win the student evaluation game: Gaming the system10. The real purpose of conferences: Not what you think11. The potential poison of early grants: Not all that glitters is good (for you)12. Politics & service: Join the silent minorityBonus section: The job hunt - Getting to the tenure track in the first place

Russell James returns with a second collection of thirteen horrific short stories.-A mysterious pinball machine arrives at the mansion of an aging porn king. He finds that this gift has itself a gift to give. Accepting both may be his last mistake.-In rural Alabama, Crystal Caverns, an old roadside attraction, gives new meaning to being billed as a family experience.-A Central Pacific Railroad executive sets out to San Francisco through newly finished Tunnel Number Six, where an entombing, catastrophic avalanche is just the start of his nightmare. -Timmy Wayne, a magnet for good fortune, is living large on a stream of Las Vegas winnings, but it looks like his luck has finally run out.-One couple tests the limits of what they'll do to care for their pet dog.-Someone is desecrating the graves of World War II veterans as they die, veterans who discovered something unholy outside the gates of Dachau. These and seven other tales document Russell's descent Deeper into Darkness.

In this magic shop the magic is real. And the trick is on you. Citrus Glade is a dying town that needs new businesses, but the one that just opened is doing much more harm than good. Stranger Lyle Miller's magic shop seems to only stock what its select customers desire. When four outcast boys buy common party tricks, only Lyle knows what those tricks can really do. As subtle changes occur around town, a few residents realize that something is amiss...and getting worse. But it may already be too late. Lyle's black magic has empowered more townspeople to help him execute his Grand Adventure, a plan that will reduce the town, and half the state, to rubble.