James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins, is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California to be a full-time author. Rollins' experiences and expertise as an amateur spelunker and a certified scuba diver have provided content for some of his novels, which are often set in underground or underwater locations. Under the pen name James Clemens, he has also published fantasy novels, such as Wit'ch Fire, Wit'ch Storm, Wit'ch War, Wit'ch Gate, Wit'ch Star, Shadowfall (2005), and Hinterland (2006).
Biographical sketch
James Paul Czajkowski was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father worked for the Libby's canning plant and his mother was a housewife."An Evening with James Rollins", National Writers Series, public interview, Wednesday, January 27, 2016, City Opera House, Traverse City, Michigan, with Guest Host Michael Dow.
He graduated from Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri in 1979.Jaskowiak, Nell, "James Czajkowski makes a career of writing", Parkway West Pathfinder, September 5, 2017 issue. His undergraduate work focused on evolutionary biology and he graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1985 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (D. V. M). Soon afterward, he moved to Sacramento, California, where he established his veterinary practice.
In an August 16, 2012 interview, Rollins told SLM Jeannette Cooperman: For 20 years my paycheck was coming from my veterinary degree and my writing was my hobby, and I thought it would be really cool to flip that around. Veterinary medicine is much harder. It's a 14-, 16-, 18-hour-a-day job. I owned my own practice, had 24 employees. I couldn't get away, that was the biggest thing. In the 10 years I ran my own practice, I had three weeks of vacation total. I started writing during my lunch hour at the clinic—dogs barking, cats meowing—so now I can write anywhere.
Influences Rollins found the authors of the Doc Savage series inspirational as a youth and acquired an extensive collection of the popular 1930s and 1940s pulp magazine stories. Rollins was fascinated by stories of the exploits of Howard Carter and his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (King Tut); this true-life tale later inspired Rollins' 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. He also enjoyed L. Frank Baum's Oz series, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, and C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Additionally, he was inspired by 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, Wit'ch Fire (1999), under the pen name 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, in which James had entered a manuscript he had recently completed.
Action-adventure novels
Subterranean (1999) 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. 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 (2000) The story is set in Peru, low in the Andes, where 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 this perilous journey ends—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 (2001) 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. 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 of an ancient civilization. And it will forever alter a world that's already racing toward its own destruction.
Amazonia (2002) Four years ago, all contact with a U.S. medical-scientific expedition in the wilderness of the Amazon basin suddenly ceased; the 30-man team was declared lost and likely dead. Now, one of its members staggers into a Christian mission but dies within hours. He carries identification: he is Gerald Clark, ex-Special Forces. Two years before the expedition, while in Iraq, the CIA operative's left arm was amputated at the shoulder. Photographs of the corpse and fingerprints reveal that the arm has grown back perfectly. Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the United States CIA establishes a special team to return to this impenetrable secret world of unforeseen perils and to follow the dead man's trail. On arrival, they enlist Nathan Rand, the son of the lost researchers' team leader. A mysterious plague, that threatens the Earth's entire population, leads back to Gerald Clark. This means the lost expedition's destination, which holds the key to the cure, must be discovered at any cost. But the nightmare that awaits Rand and his team of scientists and seasoned U.S. Army Rangers dwarfs any danger they may have anticipated.
Ice Hunt (2003) 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 research base on the Arctic ice. The base was set up following the discovery by advanced ice-penetrating 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 approaches, ostensibly to retrieve the bodies found by the Americans. Both sides know 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, while in the midst of terror, unexpected allies, and betrayals, neither side can afford to lose.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) In 2008, Random House commissioned Rollins to write the novelization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), the eponymous, American adventure science fiction film. This is the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. The novelization won the Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel (General) in 2009.
Altar of Eden (2009) The story starts outside the Baghdad Zoo immediately after the Battle of Baghdad (2003). 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 is part of a black market smuggling racket. Then she discovers disturbing deformities that make no sense. Also, the animals 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.
Trust No One (2026)
Sigma Force series
Sigma Force is a fictional division of the U.S. DARPA program. Their chief operatives combine highly trained military skills with specialized scientific knowledge. Their purpose is to investigate sensitive scientific matters that could pose a threat to the United States. Its functions include counter-terrorism, research, and covert operations. Following the events of the first book, Sandstorm, Sigma Force moves its headquarters into a sub-basement of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Book 1: Sandstorm (2004) Originally published as a stand-alone novel, Sandstorm became the first book in the Sigma Force series. Commander Painter Crowe attempts to thwart a computer hacker who is putting the United States in danger. Meanwhile, in the British Museum, a private collection is destroyed and the cause cannot be explained. Sigma Force's quest takes them into the Arabian Desert and to a long-buried threat that may bring about the end of the balance of power.
This novel introduces Sigma Force and a mysterious opposing group, the Guild, who appear in several of Rollins' future Sigma Force novels.
Book 2: Map of Bones (2005) 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.
Book 3: Black Order (2006) Sigma Force team members risk their lives to get to the heart of one of mankind's greatest mysteries: the origins of life itself. This novel features Dr. Lisa Cummings, who was first introduced in Deep Fathom.
Book 4: The Judas Strain (2007) Sigma Force members seek to prevent an outbreak that could threaten the entire planet. The outbreak's source and the key to the cure are based on the Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat. The book also features the apparent death of Dr. Monk Kokkalis and introduction to Sigma Force of Joe Kowalski, who first appeared in Ice Hunt.
Book 5: The Last Oracle (2008) Sigma Force battle a group of rogue scientists who have unleashed a bio-engineering project that could bring about the extinction of humankind. An international think-tank of scientists discover a way to bio-engineer autistic children who show savant talents, in the hope of creating a world prophet who can be manipulated to create a new era of global peace on their terms.
Book 6: The Doomsday Key (2009)