Книга: James Rollins, Rebecca Cantrell «Innocent Blood»

• For the American baseball player, see Jim Czajkowski
• For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins

James Rollins is the pen name of American veterinarian James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961). He is a writer of best-selling, action-packed, adventure-thriller novels, and has sold his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California to be a full-time author.

James is an amateur spelunker and a certified scuba diver. These pastimes have provided content for some of his earlier novels, which are often set in underground or underwater locations.

Among those who have inspired him, James cites the authors of the Doc Savage series. Whilst a youth, James had acquired an extensive collection of the popular 1930's and 1940's pulp magazine stories, but, he says, he remained oblivious to their influence on him as a novelist until one of his fans brought this matter to his attention.

Under the nom de plume James Clemens, James also has published fantasy novels, including Wit'ch Fire, Wit'ch Storm, Wit'ch War, Wit'ch Gate, Wit'ch Star, Shadowfall (2005), and Hinterland (2006) .

In 2007, he was commissioned to write a novel based on the script of Stephen Spielberg's 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Biographical sketch

Born in Chicago, Illinois, his undergraduate work focused on evolutionary biology. He graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri in 1985 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (D.V.M). Soon after, he moved to Sacramento, California where he established his veterinary practice.

Influences

As a boy, James was fascinated by stories of the exploits of Howard Carter and his discovery of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, King Tutankhamun (King Tut). This true-life tale later inspired James' novel, Excavation, in which the main character, archaeologist Henry Conklin, and his nephew Sam discover a lost Inca city in the mountains of the Andean jungle that contains a treasure—and a curse.

As a youth, James also enjoyed Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. In general, James was also inspired by such authors as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, whose works he used as a springboard for creating similar contemporary novels filled with what he refers to as "the three M's of fiction: magic, mayhem, and monsters."

First novel

Czajkowski sold his first novel, Witch Fire (1999), under the pen name of James Clemens through Terry Brooks' publisher. Brooks had been one of the judges for a writing contest at the Maui Writers' Conference in Maui, Hawaii ^[2], in which James had entered a manuscript he had recently completed.

Action-adventure novels

Subterranean

Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders—and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds. But they are not the first to venture here—and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than humanity, and revelations that could change the world. But there are also things that should not be disturbed—and a devastating truth that could doom Ashley and the expedition: they are not alone. For the caverns are inhabited by an entire subterranean ecosystem of primitive mammals—some intelligent, others savage, all beyond the reach of today's knowledge.

Excavation

In Peru, high in the Andes, Dr. Henry Conklin discovers a 500-year-old mummy that should not be there. While deep in the South American jungle, Conklin’s nephew, Sam, stumbles upon a remarkable site nestled between two towering peaks, a place hidden from human eyes for thousands of years. Ingenious traps have been laid to ensnare the careless and unsuspecting, and wealth beyond imagining could be the reward for those with the courage to face the terrible unknown. But where does this perilous journey end—in the cold, shrouded heart of a breathtaking necropolis—something else is waiting for Sam Conklin and his exploratory party. A thing created by Man, yet not humanly possible. Something wondrous...something terrifying...a mysterious metal known only as el Sangre del Diablo (or Devil's Blood), known only to the most ancient of Incas and a secret sect of Dominican friars who have already killed and died to protect its secrets.

Deep Fathom

Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find the Earth burning. Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earthquakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America’s president on board. Now, with the U.S. being on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean’s surface. There devastating secrets await him—and a power an ancient civilization could not contain has been cast out into modern day. And it will forever alter a world that’s already racing toward its own destruction.

Amazonia

Four years ago, all contact with a U.S. medical expedition in the wilderness of the Amazon basin was lost. The 30-man team were declared lost and likely dead. Now one of its members, Gerald Clark, ex-Special Forces, staggers into a mission but within hours dies. He carries identification and is also a CIA operative. Two years before he went missing in Brazil, he had his left arm amputated at the shoulder whilst in Iraq. Photographs of the corpse and finger prints reveal that the arm has grown back perfectly. Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the United States CIA organises a special team to return to this impenetrable secret world of undreamed-of perils and to follow the trail of the dead man. On arrival, they enlist Nathan Rand, the son of the leader of lost researchers. A mysterious plague, that threatens the Earth's entire population, leads back to Gerald Clark. This means that the route to the expedition's destination must be discovered at any cost. The nightmare that awaits Nate and the team of scientists and seasoned U.S. Army Rangers dwarfs any danger they may have anticipated. Unique power and ancient, unspoken terror—a power beyond human imagining—that can forever either save or threaten the world, exists beyond the dark, lethal confines of the Amazon rainforest.

Ice Hunt

After an Alaskan game warden rescues a man from a crashed plane and saves him from subsequent attack by foreign soldiers, his ex-wife's piloting skills take them all to the man's intended destination, a US base on the Arctic ice, set up following the discovery by advanced sonar of a derelict Russian scientific base buried within a massive iceberg, Ice Station Grendel, where the personnel all died decades earlier. A Russian submarine carrying the son of the station's former commander also approaches, ostensibly for a handover of the bodies found by the Americans. Both sides know that the station contains vastly important scientific secrets, worth fighting for, but neither side knows quite how the other will fight, or how Grendel itself will complicate matters. In an atmosphere of mistrust and fear, the Alaskans, and the scientist overseeing the sonar project, have unexpected roles to play.

Altar of Eden

The story starts outside Baghdad Zoo immediately after the Battle of Baghdad. After being decimated during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the floodgates have been opened for the smuggling of hundreds of exotic birds, mammals, and reptiles to Western nations. However, this crime hides a deeper secret. Years later, a Louisiana state veterinarian, Lorna Polk, is flown to a wrecked fishing trawler in the Mississippi River delta basin by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The crew is missing, but the boat holds a live cargo: a caged group of exotic animals. Initially, Polk assumes it to be part of a black market smuggling racket. Then she discovers disturbing deformities that make no sense. Also, they all share disturbingly heightened intelligence. To uncover the truth about the origin of this strange cargo and the threat it poses, Polk must team up with a man who shares a dark and bloody past with her, now an agent with the CBP.

SIGMA Force Series

The SIGMA Force is a fictional division of the U.S. DARPA program. James Rollins has developed unique characters operating in an official top-secret capacity. The chief operatives in SIGMA combine highly-trained military skills with specialist scientific knowledge. The Force's purpose is to investigate and to secure sensitive information that could be a threat to the United States. It is a combination of Counter-terrorism, research, and covert operations. Following the first book, the SIGMA Force headquarters moves into the sub-basement of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. Rollins mixes science, religion, and theory throughout the Sigma Force series. From finding the tombs of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo to discovering lost Nazi war secrets contained in the Family Bible of Charles Darwin, Rollins has created intelligent yarns involving a covert, well-equipped group of United States "black ops" scientist/soldiers. James Rollins has written seven novels in the series and are best enjoyed in chronological order.

The first book of the SIGMA Force series, Sandstorm, published in 2004, starts with Commander Painter Crowe and Cassandra Sanchez attempting to thwart a computer hacker who is putting the United States into danger. Meanwhile in the British Museum, a private museum is destroyed. The cause can not be explained. DARPA director, Vice Admiral Anthony Rector instructs SIGMA to send a small team to investigate. Their quest takes them into the Arabian desert, through a nightmarish world of mysticism and legend, to a long-buried threat that may bring about the end of the balance of power. This novel introduces SIGMA Force and, also, a mysterious opposing group, referred to as the Guild, who appear in some of Rollins' future SIGMA novels. The main character, Painter Crowe, is intelligent, fearless, resourceful and romantic. In this story, Crowe battles not only with the Guild but also his former SIGMA partner and potential love interest, Cassandra Sanchez. Cassandra is acting under the orders of the Guild. Crowe's mission is to locate the lost city of Ubar with the multi-millionaire Lady Kara Kensington and her adoptive sister, Safia Al-Mazz. At Ubar, Crowe's team, chased by Cassandra, finds a lake of anti-matter which could provide unlimited power. In spite of being forced to cooperate with Cassandra because she holds Safia's life in the balance, Painter defeats the Guild. Ubar collapses into the lake. Later, using a clue he got from Cassandra, she refers to "The Minister", and salvaging her laptop, Crowe realises that DARPA director, Admiral Tony "The Tiger" Rector, is part of the echelon that run the Guild. Rector commits suicide before he can be arrested and Doctor Sean McKnight, the Director of SIGMA, is selected to replace him. Painter Crowe is promoted into the position of the director of SIGMA.

The magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child; their bones may bring destruction to the world, if they are allowed to remain in the hands of the thieves who stole them, for these bones may not be bones at all. They may be something much more terrible and deadly, as Map of Bones, his second SIGMA Force novel published in 2005, suggests.

In Black Order, published June 2006, SIGMA Force team members risk their lives to get to the heart of one of humankind's greatest mysteries: the origins of life itself.

James' next novel was The Judas Strain, published July 2007. The members of SIGMA Force seek to prevent an outbreak that could threaten the entire planet. It is based on the Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat. The book also marks the death of Dr. Monk Kokkalis and the introduction to Sigma Force of the character Joe Kowalski, who appeared in "Ice Hunt". He acts as Gray Pierce's sidekick in this and following stories. Gray's parents are captured and held hostage by sadistic Guild operative, Annishen, and Amen Nasser.

The fifth SIGMA Force novel is The Last Oracle published 2008. It involves an ambitious, young Russian politician's desire to use autistic savant children to develop a new world order. James weaves an exquisite plot linking the Greek Oracle of Delphi, the toxic ruins of Russia, the Roma people (gypsies who fled India in the 11th century), and the ancient Harappan culture of India into a tense, modern-day thriller. It is revealed that Monk did not die as understood previously in "The Judas Strain", but was, for reasons central to the plot of this book, picked up by a Russian sub and ended up in the hands of the bad guys with amnesia due to experiments done on him. He is rescued by three of the children and together they escape and attempt to thwart the plot. With help from Gray and the Gypsies, he and the children succeed although he still has possibly permanent amnesia due to the brain surgery experiments. If the plans hadn't been stopped, many world-leaders would have been killed due to radiation exposure at Chernobyl and millions of people would have died worldwide due to radiation being flooded into the world from the highly-radioactive Lake Karachay.

The sixth book in the Sigma Force series, The Doomsday Key, published June 2009, starts with three murders on three different continents. Each shares a puzzling, hideous disfigurement but, otherwise, no other obvious connection. A clue links the father of one victim, an influential U.S. senator, with a Norwegian corporation. Painter Crowe takes part of the team to Oslo, whilst an unexpected phonecall from a traumatised Rachel Verona has Grayson rushing to Rome. From the Colosseum, Gray goes to the Lake District in England, then on down the Lleyn Peninsular to Bardsey Island in Wales and ends up in a high-security prison in France. Painter and his team fly over the Arctic Circle to Spitzbergen. Ultimately, it is revealed that the characters are dealing with an ancient, fungal parasite that was discovered and used first by the Egyptians and then, later, by eleventh century ancient Celts and Druids as a bioweapon. Had it been used in an attempt at genocide? Viatus International has been infiltrated by the Guild. Together, and with the assistance of Senator Sebastian Gorman, they have put a major part of the U.S. population at risk of contracting an appalling fatal plague. Firstly, by obtaining the fungus, and secondly, by combining it with genetically modified corn. A counteragent must be found. Ultimately, an ancient embalming compound is revealed to be the cure. A surprise twist at the end indicates that perhaps the SIGMA team had been traveling with one of the Guild. Director Painter Crowe plays a major role in this excellent drama, and a tantalising teaser leaves the reader clamouring for the next book.

The seventh in the series is The Devil Colony, published June 21, 2011. In this novel, Sigma Force deals with a mysterious nanotechnology that was mastered by an ancient Native American tribe thought to be possibly descended from Manasseh, a lost tribe of Israel. Gray Pierce and his team are tracking down a lost map, journeying to Fort Knox, and the grave of Meriwether Lewis. Rollins refers to secret codes used by Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis. A coded message from Lewis leads Painter Crowe to John Trumbull's painting depicting the presentation of the Declaration of Independence.

Fantasy novels

The Banned and the Banished

The Banned and the Banished series is about a girl named Elena "who ripens into the heritage of lost power." She goes on a journey to defeat the Dark Lord and to find herself.

Godslayer

The Godslayer series is James Clemens' newest series.

• Book One: Shadowfall

For 4,000 years, the people of the Nine Lands have lived peacefully under the guidance of their hundred gods. When the goddess Meeryn is murdered, the peace is shattered, and Tylar de Noche, a defrocked knight who, as sole witness, is now sole suspect, must find the killer and prove himself innocent. Tylar turns to Delia, a priestess and love interest, and to Rogger, a thief wise to the ways of the criminal underworld. Slogging hither and yon for scraps of clues, the three begin to suspect that the supposedly pacific gods are in fact engaged in an ongoing struggle for power and control. The self-absorption of the gods and the apathetic ignorance of the people form stumbling blocks on Tylar's quest.^[3]

• Book Two: Hinterland

Failed Shadowknight Tylar witnessed the death of a god, whose blood healed his deformities but branded him a Godslayer and a hunted criminal. In this second volume, Tylar's struggle for the truth is vindicated when he is officially reinstated as a Shadowknight. Yet this is a trap, revealed as Sithryn forces flow from the Ice Eyrie to wage a deadly siege, trapping Tylar and his friends. But even Tylar's skill and magic cannot save the Citadel of Tashijan, ancient Shadowknight headquarters, for something foul lies at the heart of their Order. The Cabal has infiltrated the inner council and Tylar and his allies must flee for now there can be no refuge from evil.

Bibliography

As James Rollins

Stand-alone adventure novels

• Subterranean (1999)
• Excavation (2000)
• Deep Fathom (2001)
• Amazonia (2002)
• Ice Hunt (2003)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
• Altar of Eden (2010)

SIGMA Force series

1. Sandstorm (2004)
2. Map of Bones (2005)
3. Black Order (2006)
4. The Judas Strain (2007)
5. The Last Oracle (2008)
6. The Doomsday Key (2009)
7. The Devil Colony (2011)

Kids & Adult series

1. Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (2009)
2. Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx (2011)

As James Clemens

The Banned and the Banished series

1. Wit'ch Fire (1998)
2. Wit'ch Storm (1999)
3. Wit'ch War (2000)
4. Wit'ch Gate (2001)
5. Wit'ch Star (2002)

Godslayer series

1. Shadowfall
2. Hinterland

References

External links

• "James Rollins" official website
• "James Clemens" official website
• An interview with James Rollins on the BookBanter podcast (2011)
• An interview with James Rollins on the BookBanter podcast (June 1, 2009)
• A Conversation with James Clemens
• James Rollins chapter excerpts and essay about Sandstorm (Official HarperCollins Web Page)
• Web de James Clemens en español Web de Proscritos y Desterrados (Entra en el Universo de James Clemens)
• Reviews of James Clemens' works at FantasyLiterature.net
• James Clemens at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database