Winner of numerous awards, including "Best Thriller," bestselling author James Houston Turner is known for his Aleksandr Talanov series of spy novels. A native of Kansas, James Houston Turner has been writing since he was ten. He attended high school in Kansas before graduating from Baker University with a bachelor's degree. He then moved to Texas, where he earned his master's degree from the University of Houston (Clear Lake).

James worked as a smuggler into Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe, where he transported tons of food, clothing, Bibles, and medical supplies, to needy hospitals and churches. While there, he interviewed many heroes of death camps, gulags, Siberian exile, persecution, illness, hardship, and torture, including assassination squads.

James is also a cancer survivor after doctors in Australia removed a tumor the size of an orange from his face. "I was told if I lived eighteen months I would probably live to be one hundred. That was in 1991, so I am happy to report I am well on my way toward that goal. These experiences influenced my storytelling, whether in magazines, novels, or, now, in film. My stories are 'overcomer stories,' because that's what I've had to do, and is why I want my stories to leave people with the same hope and faith that strengthened me."

He has written several screenplays, and produced his first feature film, Square Pegs, in 2022. After nearly twenty years in Australia, James and his wife, Wendy, now live in Austin, Texas.