Trial by Fire: A Devastating Tragedy, 100 Lives Lost, and a 15-year Search for Truth
★ 2021 Top Prize - Contemporary Nonfiction
New England Society Book Awards
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Publishing Group
October 2020
In only 90 seconds, a fire in the Station nightclub left 100 people dead or dying and injured hundreds more. It would take 15 years for the whole story to emerge to find out why—and who was really at fault.
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Praise for Trial by Fire
★ Starred Review
“gripping, meticulously researched... James draws on his knowledge of the state’s politics and interviews with the principal players to present a complete, affecting picture of the tragedy’s terrible human cost. This is essential reading for true crime fans."
Publishers Weekly
“The author’s account is minutely detailed, its technical discussions punctuated by human-interest-story portraits of the victims...An unsettling history of horrific events whose memory is still fresh."
Kirkus Reviews
“When Scott James tells the tragedy of The Station nightclub fire, he does for Rhode Island what Truman Capote did for Kansas. With new evidence and interviews, he traces the horror that left 100 dead and hundreds more scarred for life, and in James’ new investigation, none are spared. From the judicial system to the media to the club owners and vendors, each is subjected to a reporter’s skepticism, and an insider’s unflinching compassion. This is journalism as it is meant to be."
Raj Patel, New York Times bestselling author of The Value of Nothing
“Trial by Fire sucks you in faster than flames racing across an oil-based ceiling before pulling you into the wrangling and untangling of the aftermath. Scott James’ investigative journalism reads like an Agatha Christie whodunit."
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Alex Storozynski, author of The Peasant Prince
“Trial by Fire is an incredible work of investigative writing and storytelling that thankfully never loses sight of the people at the heart of this awful tragedy. This is a story of community, of those that existed prior to the horrific events at The Station Nightclub and those that were born out of it. James brings the proper amount of compassion, skepticism and nuance to construct a narrative that is as engaging as it is, at times, alarming."
Academy Award winning filmmaker Daniel Lindsay, for best documentary “Undefeated”
Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19
Anthology by Writers Responding to the Pandemic, with
the essay “Ghost Town" by Scott James
★ 2021 Top Prize - General Nonfiction
Washington State Book Awards
Central Avenue Publishing
September 2020
A collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. Net profits donated to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community.
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Praise for Alone Together
★ Starred Review
“Among the first anthologies of its kind, this thoughtful and engaging compilation is recommended for readers seeking understanding and connection and a more empathetic and less materialistic post–COVID-19 world."
Library Journal
“compulsively readable...what good writing always does, giving us the sharp relief of recognition. But they also inform, with dramatic power."
The Washington Post
“A testament to the power of story in times of hardship and crisis."
Library Journal
“Anyone who has weathered the past few months will find something in here that speaks to them."
Publishers Weekly
“A heartening gathering of writers joining forces for community support."
Kirkus Reviews
“Alone Together connects writers, readers, and booksellers in a wonderfully imaginative way. It's a really good book for a really good cause."
Bestselling author James Patterson
“Alone Together showcases the human desire to grieve, explore, comfort, connect, and simply sit with the world as it weathers the pandemic."
Ann Patchett, Bestselling author
The Sower
Numina Press
September 1, 2009
A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller
The Da Vinci Code meets Sex and The City in this twisted, page-turning thriller about a virus that cures all diseases. By Kemble Scott, pen name for fiction of Scott James.
Praise for The Sower
“The Sower is a wildly imaginative romp...a perfect blend of satire, fantasy, and international thriller."
Kilian Melloy, EDGEBoston
“This page-turner is part potboiler (Vatican henchmen, an American president suddenly eager for "gay" sex), part parable (with its Biblical antecedents) and pure entertainment."
Book Marks by Richard Labonte
“You need to read this book. It's a roller coaster of a potboiler of a page-turner. From the very first page it picks you up by the scruff of the neck and takes you on a wild ride. But that's not why you need to read it. That's just a side benefit. The reason you need to read this book is that there are very important and dangerous ideas in it that need to penetrate deep in the consciousness of the world, and spread like a virus. The Sower is the Da Vinci Code as seen through the twisted eyes of John Waters and transcribed by the Marquis de Sade.”
David Henry Sterry, author of the bestseller Chicken
“Scott takes an ingenious premise and drives it full-tilt to the end of the line and way beyond. The Sower is a fascinating moral argument embedded in a wonderfully plotted thriller riven with outrageous comedy—or is it comic outrage? I laughed out loud at gems like, ‘Mon Dieu! You Americans are such puritans!’ But you’ll have to read the book to understand why that’s funny.”
Tamim Ansary, author of the bestsellers West of Kabul, East of New York and The Story of My Life
El Sembrador
Barracuda Publications
June 15, 2010
Spanish language edition of The Sower, by Kemble Scott, pen name for fiction of Scott James
The Sower 2.0
E-book only updated edition
October 2010
The updated outrageous and controversial San Francisco Chronicle bestseller by Kemble Scott, pen name for fiction of Scott James. In a remote corner of the world where the Armenian Genocide took place a scientist discovers a virus that could change the course of mankind. But unlocking the secret of the virus, and learning the surprising way the infection spreads, turns into an international chase – with powerful forces who will do anything to obtain the virus and its secret. Set in a “what if?” alternative version of the present day, The Sower is a page-turning thriller that’s also biting commentary on today’s culture wars. This 2.0 edition has been updated for 2010.
SoMa
Scott Kensington Publishing Corporation
February 1, 2007
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A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller
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#1 Bestseller Doubleday Book Club InSightOut Division
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Finalist, national Lambda Literary prize for debut fiction
To outsiders, San Francisco is all one big city. But to those in the know, there is SoMa, South of Market, where sleek eateries are squeezed between bail bonds storefronts and high-priced lofts look out over still rough edges. It's home to a generation of hipsters disillusioned by the dotcom bust, restless and searching for the next thrill, the next high, the next step too far. Sex, drugs, kink--you can find it anywhere in SoMa, if you know where to look. In this provocative, intense novel, Kemble Scott (pen name for fiction of Scott James) puts a new neighborhood on the literary map for good, in a tale that is disturbing, gritty, wholly original, and utterly unforgettable.
Praise for SoMa
“Scott provides us with an insider's look at a little known and gritty underground world. . .Shockingly, his raw and gritty account of this dark world is all true, which makes for an even more fun ride."
Andy Behrman, bestselling author of Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania
“I read the first page of SoMa and never put it down until I read the last page... I know people who are less real than these characters."
Joe Quirk, bestselling author of The Ultimate Rush
“SoMa tells. . .what's really happening in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. . .It's one man's story of a twisted journey and compromised redemption. San Francisco can be a city of extremes, and we see one here."
Craig Newmark, Creator of Craigslist