Roppongi by James Cox

Before Al Qaeda, before ISIS, there was the Aum Cult.

“Shoko Asahara founded Aum Shinrikyo in 1987. The doctrines of Aum Shinrikyo are based on ancient yoga and primitive Buddhism, and require worshipping the Hindu God Siva, believed to preside over both destruction and creation. The sect has tried to build its own “kingdom” within its controlled compound facilities by establishing ministries and agencies under Asahara, its paramount leader. Among these, the sect “Science and Technology Agency” consists of scientists who graduated from prestigious universities in Japan. It is divided into several teams specialized in chemistry, biology, physics, and medicine. This organization provided the technical information required to synthesize the Sarin.” —The Japan Times, 1992

A broken-down Navy Intelligence operative swimming in a sea of alcohol. The Japanese girl who loves him despite the tragic price she may have to pay. The “Old Salt” with a dark past, who nonetheless tries to save them both. All coming together to face a madman more dangerous than Hitler himself, with the very survival of civilization itself on the line.

Fresh from his critically acclaimed psychological thriller, Silver or Lead, James Cox brings us Roppongi, a ripped-from-the-headlines page-turner about an all-too-real terrorist group that many had never heard of but after this read will never forget.
James Cox is an acclaimed author, playwright, and actor who was born on Long Island, New York. He is a retired U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Gulf War aboard three ships.

His solo show, “Love, Madness, and Somewhere in Between”, was praised by critics and audiences alike at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival, while his debut novel, Silver or Lead, a psychological thriller, published in April 2022, is receiving rave reviews. Roppongi is his second novel, published by Black Rose Writing. The book is based on an actual incident involving the Aum Cult, a Japanese terrorist group that was active in the 1990s. James was present on the day of the terrorist attack, which took place at a train station in Tokyo, Japan. His familiarity with Tokyo and his service in the United States Navy bring genuine authenticity to this novel of love and redemption set against a background of global terrorism in 1990s Japan. James currently splits his time between the Philippines and Thailand, where he is working on his next novel.

From Tickhill, 1348 by Pamela Taylor

“People often ask me,” says Pamela Taylor, historical fiction novelist from Flower Mound, “why you chose the 14th century for your stories.”

Her answer might surprise you. “I’m not sure I chose it as much as it chose me. Some of the best places to weave stories are the nooks and crannies of history – the gaps and contradictions that beg to be explored. That period is just such a time. Much is known, but there’s ample open space – lost records, unreliable chronicles, and historical figures appearing briefly and disappearing just as quickly.

“Discovering Jeanne de Flandre and her pivotal role in the Hundred Years War was one of those ‘aha!’ moments for me. People remember Joan of Arc – a woman warrior who helped bring an end to that same war – but little is known about the woman warrior in the thick of things when it all got started. Intelligent, politically astute, caring as much about the people of her duchy as about her family, she was perhaps even more formidable than the other Joan. But rather than being lionized, she was relegated by powerful men to the back pages of history.”

Pamela’s novel about Jeanne, From Tickhill, 1348, was released in December 2024 to critical acclaim. Kirkus Reviews compared it to the fiction of Bernard Cornwell and Philippa Gregory, both New York Times bestselling authors many times over, and said, “Our verdict: Get it!”

When Jeanne’s husband is named Duke of Brittany, not everyone is happy. His scheming niece captures the ear of the king of France, who throws the duke in jail, leaving Jeanne responsible for the family fortunes. But can she prevail against the might of the French army?

A self-professed history geek, Pamela says her “trip of a lifetime” may have been touching a 700-year-old book and examining the account rolls for the construction of a Gothic cathedral. She shares her home with two Pembroke Welsh Corgis, who frequently remind her that a dog walk is the best inspiration for that next chapter.

Her novels routinely appear in Amazon’s Top 50 for Medieval Historical Fiction, alongside such renowned authors as Cornwell, Gregory, Ken Follett, Alison Weir, and Elizabeth Chadwick.

You can watch the trailer for From Tickhill, 1348 at https://youtu.be/ZMZk27Eea4k rel=”nofollow”
Visit Pamela’s website at https://pamela-taylor.com.rel=”nofollow”
Subscribe to her newsletter & follow her on Instagram (@pjtAuthor).

Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing by Sarah L. Bloom

Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing is my memoir of being an operating room nurse at the 12th Evacuation Hospital, Cu Chi, Vietnam, during the height of the fighting in the Ho Bo Woods beside the Iron Triangle. As a reader, you are taken right into the turmoil of mass casualties, with severely wounded soldiers arriving in various conditions, including monsoons and during mortar attacks. You will meet Johnny, hit by American Artillery, and Jim, a baseball pitcher with multiple wounds, including to his pitching hand.

You will experience Warrior Nurse, Sarah, with her terror on the tarmac at Bien Hoa airbase on the day she left, her culture shock, emerging PTSD symptoms, assaults by protestors, being head nurse of the orthopedic ward at Madigan General Hospital, and her growing awareness of the effects of the war, on herself and others who served in Vietnam.

Warrior Nurse, Sarah, became a nurse psychotherapist after searching for help to deal with her own PTSD. She then dedicated her 34-year career to healing trauma in others. The fruits of those years are in this book.

Learn what takes place in the brain and body with PTSD, and discover the essentials to healing from it. Explore some tools and adjuncts to therapy that ensure anyone with PTSD has the best healing outcome.

People and veterans with PTSD need to know someone who has been through it and come out whole on the other side. They need to believe they can heal and be better than they are when in the throes of their symptoms. They need hope and guidance. Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing gives them both.

The author, Sarah Blum is a vibrant 85- year -old who has been active all her life including as a rower with her own rowing shell, playing pickleball, an African Drummer who was part of the Rhythm Crew ensemble for many years now playing with MusicWorks4Vets and at music jams at Path With Art in Seattle. Sarah obtained her black belt in Aikido in 2009 and achieved third-degree black belt before Covid shut everything down. Sarah wrote her first book, Women Under Fire: Abuse in the Military, about the culture of abuse in our military after interviewing fifty-eight women veterans from WWII up to and including Iraq and Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012. Both books are available on www.womenunderfire.net.rel=”nofollow”

This post is a sponsored collaboration with Black Rose Writing.