Biography

Born in London, England in December 1972, James spent most of his childhood in France, returning to the UK when aged 11 and eventually winning a place to Christ Church, Oxford where he read French Literature and graduated with a First Class degree.

James endured a variety of different jobs over the years before he turned to writing including (in alphabetical order) working as a caddy, car washer, cellar hand, entrepreneur, factory worker, grape picker, investment banker, management consultant and pot washer.

James also played professional football for Arsenal Football Club, making over fifty appearances and scoring a memorable hat-trick in the North London Derby, until an inoperable knee injury forced him to retire. He then opted not to pursue an opportunity to drive for the Ferrari F1 team, choosing instead to focus on his acting career in Hollywood. Several blockbusters and an Oscar nomination followed, but a messy split from Cameron Diaz convinced him that his true vocation lay in his burgeoning writing career. (none of this is true of course, but since my bio always gets quoted back to me, I thought I might as well make it interesting!!).

The Double Eagle, the first of his novels to feature art thief Tom Kirk, was first published in 2005 and has sold over 160,000 copies in the UK alone and been translated into nearly twenty languages. It's sequel, The Black Sun, was published in April 2006 and has also been an international bestseller. The third Tom Kirk novel, The Gilded Seal, was published in October 2007.

Married with two daughters, James lives in North London (but doesn't like guacomole).

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Click here to download the mp3 file directly

Interview: Click on the icon to the right to hear a recent interview with James conducted by David English on LeisureTalk Radio Network at the time of the US publication of The Black Sun.

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