James Siegel Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

James Siegel is American thriller writer. He completed his university studies from the City University of New York in 1977 with B.A and lives in Manhattan & Edgewater, New Jersey. For many years, Siegel worked as an advertising executive in New York City, mainly writing credits from the “Yo, Yao” advertisement that aired during the Super Bowl XXXVII. Subsequently, he served as the chairman for the BBDO New York. Since his retirement from commercial advertising in 2006, Siegel has been accountable for many political adverts from Eliot Spitzer campaign in New York in 2006 and Hillary Clinton presidential campaign in 2008. The author continues working politics up to the present day.

Derailed, the author’s second book was adapted into a 2005 American crime thriller movie by the same name. The director of the film was Mikael Hafstrom and features popular movies stars such as Vincent Cassel, Clive Owen, David Morrissey, Jennifer Aniston, Giancarlo Esposito, Xzibit, and RZA. Apparently, it was the first ever film to be released by The Weinstein Company in the U.S. The movie is set in Chicago.

The same novel (Derailed) was adapted into a 2007 Tamil romantic thriller, Pachaikili Muthucharam. The film features Jyothika, R. Sarathkumar, Milind Soman, and Andrea Jeremiah.

James Siegel married Laura Miller in September 2013, and the couple is blessed with two sons, Zachary and Sander. The author’s first book is Epitaph (2001). Others books include Derailed (2003), Detour (2005), Deceit (2006), and Storyteller (2011).

Derailed

Charles Schine is another regular commuter who catches the 8.43 train to work. However the day he misses his train to work is the day that everything in his life takes a dramatic change. He then opts for the 9.05 train instead, but he cannot help but be drawn by the sight of the person sitting opposite. In his 18-years of marriage, he has never cheated on his life, but maybe it is because that he has never met anyone like Lucinda Harris.

Lucinda is a beautiful, charming and a good listener as well, she is married as well, but it appears that their feelings for each other are mutual. Their journeys to work eventually turn into lunch dates, cocktails and eventually lead them into a rented room in a dirty hotel. They both understand the risks that could befall them but can’t contemplate what could happen next not even in their worst nightmares. All of a sudden their romantic fantasies and their temptations turn sour while their illegal relationship becomes entangled into something big, dangerous, and brutally violent. Unable to talk to the police or his partner, Charles soon finds himself caught up in a world of psychological games and dark conspiracy. However, somehow, he must find a way to fight back, or his good life would be derailed forever.

Derailed is an amazing romantic thriller worth reading. Charles Schine the lead character works as an advertisement executive, his life is perfect until that fateful day when he misses his train. Charles loses the firm’s biggest account, but what sends his life out of balance is the beautiful woman he meets. While the book was adapted into a film, it is most certainly far much better than the movie. Overall, Derailed is a classic tale full of plot twists and suspense to keep the reader turning the pages. The author, James Siegel is a good writer, the book is well plotted and well-paced, and the characters are better drawn in the novel than in the film version.

Detour

Detour is the third book by USA Today and American bestselling author James Siegel. The book introduces Paul and Joanna Breibard, a couple that is childless who travel to Colombia to adopt a baby. However, their trip is cut short after they are captured by a left wing militia who give them an offer they cannot refuse. Paul must swallow thirty-six condoms all stuffed with cocaine and then deliver these condoms to a contact in New Jersey in 18 hours, and if he fails, his wife and the baby will be killed. However, when Paul arrives in New Jersey, he finds a burned-out shell of a house at the supposed contacts address.

He seeks help from Miles Goldstein, an Orthodox Jewish lawyer who made the adoption arrangement, however, when a further delivery turns out to be a gunfight, Miles, and Paul move on to a Russian mobster by name Moshe Skolnick, and later a DEA agents come in. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Joanna is held captive in a country house whose walls are covered in blood stains.

The author of Detour, James Siegel maintains high tensions throughout the book, sometimes by employing short chapters and paragraphs. He makes a good usage of colors, not only for the exotic Colombian settings but also of the unusual Russian and Brooklyn Jewish enclaves where Paul finds himself.

Epitaph

The retired Private Investigator William Riskin lives his remaining years cleaning out a Betting Office and only waiting to die in peace when he comes across the newspaper death announcement of his good old partner, Jean Goldblum, a survivor of the concentration camps and a war hero. Even though William has mixed feeling about his former partner Jean who heartlessly exposed his wife unfaithfulness and ruined his marriage, he pays his respects at the funeral and discovers that Jean was trying to solve the most important case of his life before his death.

While investigating a list of names that his friend left for safekeeping with one of his neighbors, William Riskin follows a trail of missing retirees who were supposedly relocated to Florida but never arrived there. In return, his investigations lead him to frightening crimes committed six decades earlier in occupied France. The first novel by the creative executive director of New York advertising agency carefully combines a thrilling crime story with well-crafted characters.

Epitaph by James Siegel is simply one of the finest thriller novels ever published. His books are an absolute page turner with a well-defined plot, a well-crafted character that are not only loveable but that you will compare them with your real life friends. If you love thriller novels that will send quivers down your veins, then give James Siegel books a try.