James E. Mack Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

James E Mack
James E. Mack was born in Scotland, however he spent a lot of his childhood abroad, where he gained a love of the outdoors, nature, and wildlife. He became a Commando during the late 80s and a member of a Special Operations unit, with a 22 year long career serving in many of the world’s most troubled hotspots.

James subsequently specialized as a Counter-Terrorism adviser and assisted in capacity building operations supporting US and UK Government initiatives. His passion for wildlife saw James develop Counter-Poaching programs for conservation organizations in West Africa.

This passion remains to this day and whether he’s photographing mountain gorillas in Uganda, tracking pumas in Patagonia, or observing Amur tigers in Northern China, wildlife retains its hold. He lives in Northern Scotland where the nearby mountains and sea give him the chance to leave his desk occasionally to surf or strap on his Telemark skis.

James became an author in the year 2014 when his first novel was represented by a literary agent in America. Capitalizing on his extensive experience in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, he prides himself in the realism that he provides to keep readers happy.

James’ love of reading came at a very young age and continues with him all of his life. He loves books and the natural extension was to one day write books of his own. So he did. And he loves it. James takes great satisfaction from the creative process, seeing his months of work come together in a manuscript.

He never gets writers’ block. The closest he comes to it is when he’ll be chewing over a plot link or how to portray a certain scene. Usually, if the answer doesn’t come to him fast enough he’ll write what’s in his head and take a look at it later. At this point something always presents itself and he’ll alter the narrative accordingly. In his case at least, the action of writing something down appears to engage whatever elements of the old gray matter that he needs to fire up in order to properly deal with the issue.

The original premise for “Only the Dead” was inspired by this incident some colleagues of James’ once faced. It was this horrible situation that, unfortunately had tragic repercussions and the entire scenario has always stuck around in his mind. The protagonist’s flight to the wild, however, is a bit of James’ own self-indulgence.

“Only the Dead” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2017. Commando Finn Douglas, in today’s war-torn Libya, is forced to commit a rather appalling act in order to save the lives of all his men. Haunted by his actions, he suffers a further blow when he learns that his family has just been killed in a terrorist attack in London. Traumatized by guilt and numb with grief, he turns his back on the world of killing and conflict and escapes to an island wilderness in order to heal.

With the country crippled by terrorist bombings and cyber attacks in the cities, a team of Military Police get tasked with bringing Finn to justice. For one of the cops, this manhunt is a much more personal issue; it’s a chance to redress a wrong at the hands of marines some years prior.

Finn intervenes in a life and death situation, his sanctuary gets shattered and the net on him tightens. This manhunt becomes a race against the clock between forces of law and order and one psychotic criminal determined to exact his revenge on Finn for thwarting his plans.

For Finn, the world of conflict and killing returns with a vengeance on the blizzard swept mountains of this island. This time around he has no place left to run.

“Fear of the Dark” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2018. A small team of rural Police Officers. An idyllic Scottish village. A violent stranger that won’t talk.

Not only does Police Constable Tess Cameron love the coastal village of St. Cyrus, she also loves her job. With her Sergeant due to retire, she has her sights set on making detective. So life is good. When she arrests this violent stranger that refuses to provide any details of his identity, she suspects that all is not exactly what it appears.

Electricity and communications to the village get cut, and it’s just blamed on the severe snow storm. But Tess feels that there could be another, much more nefarious reason for their getting isolated. Because this stranger has some friends, and they want this guy back. Whatever the cost.

Tess and her fellow Police Officers, in the darkest night of winter, find themselves facing an elite team of killers that are bound and determined to rescue their leader. And Tess knows that if she’s to survive through this night, she’s only got one choice: Fight.

“The Killing Agent” is the third stand alone novel and was released in 2019. Edinburgh. London. Cardiff. The worst terrorist attacks the UK has ever seen. A government in disarray, a country in turmoil. Intelligence agencies without suspects or leads.

Lovat Reid, a veteran covert operator with the Special Intelligence Group, gets tasked with tracking down the mastermind behind these attacks. With Nadia, his partner and an officer from the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, they quickly realize that they are dealing with an individual the likes of which they’ve not seen before.

Another atrocity gets carried out, and the whole weight of the Intelligence agencies and Special Forces gets thrown behind the efforts to find the terrorist that is responsible. However for Lovat, something is not quite right. Suspecting there is a dangerous power-play going on between the agencies, he digs just a little deeper into the terrorist suspect’s background. And he’s pretty shocked by what he finds.

Lovat and Nadia, with a race against the clock to halt the next attack from happening, find themselves fighting a two-front war while striving to uncover the depth of deception as they hunt down the master terrorist. From the back streets of London to the killing fields of Kandahar, the repercussions of a secret assassination program are savagely leveled against an unsuspecting British public.