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Hardcover Deploys September 13, 2026

The first shot is never
where the war begins.

Whispers of War, Book One in the James Cuthbert Thriller Series, launches in hardcover September 13, 2026. Kindle follows October 11, with paperback deploying for the 2026 holiday season.

Scroll to brief
01Mission ReadyPrepared for the fight
02Rules of EngagementDiscipline under pressure
03End StateComplete the objective
Whispers of War on a scarred wooden table with loose rifle rounds and a partially loaded magazine

Hardcover · September 13

James Cuthbert Series / Book One

The assignment was routine.
The war behind it was not.

James Cuthbert left Army Special Operations believing the hardest battles were behind him. Now he takes the contracts nobody else will touch, alongside a team of former soldiers and intelligence officers who know exactly what violence costs.

When a security assignment in East Africa reveals signs of deliberate destabilization, Cuthbert begins pulling at a thread that reaches far beyond the battlefield. Somewhere beyond the smoke, Abshir Hassan is turning wars into opportunities - and human lives into pieces on a board only he can see.

“By the time conflict begins, the outcome was decided long ago.”
$29.99Hardcover · Sep. 13
$4.99Kindle · Oct. 11
$19.99Paperback · Holiday 2026
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One fight reveals
the next.

The conflict expands from the streets of East Africa into an increasingly dangerous web of espionage, political power, hidden programs, and wars engineered before anyone realizes the pieces are moving.

02
A James Cuthbert ThrillerClassifiedBook Two

Book Two

Classified

Title, mission details, and operational scope remain classified pending authorization for public release.

Early 2027
03
A James Cuthbert ThrillerClassifiedBook Three

Book Three

Classified

Title, mission details, and operational scope remain classified pending authorization for public release.

Late 2027
04
A James Cuthbert ThrillerClassifiedBook Four

Book Four

Classified

Mission details, operational scope, and release intelligence remain classified.

Access restricted

Before James Cuthbert

The wars that shaped the bloodline.

The Cuthbert story did not begin in East Africa. Across generations, men bearing the name were drawn into secret wars, buried operations, and conflicts whose consequences refused to remain in the past.

Top secret SHAEF and OSS mission dossierClassified

Legacy File 001 / Access Restricted

Classified

Title and mission designation withheld.

Operational period, personnel, location, and mission details remain classified. Authorization for public disclosure has not been granted.

File remains sealed
Top secret MACV-SOG field operations dossierClassified

Legacy File 002 / Access Restricted

Classified

Title and mission designation withheld.

Operational period, personnel, location, and mission details remain classified. Authorization for public disclosure has not been granted.

File remains sealed
Life Among the Grain and the Gallows paperback lying in a field of ripe golden grain

A Standalone Post-Collapse Novella

Life Among the Grain
& the Gallows

Three years after earthquakes shattered the Pacific Rim and crippled the global order, Northern Kentucky survives beneath martial law, military conscription, and the shadow of public executions.

Against that brutal landscape, railroad worker Owen and freight manager Claire struggle to build something human in a country learning how to live after everything familiar has fallen apart.

“In a broken world, hope is worth fighting for.”
Get release intelligence →

Nobody fights alone

Stay in the fight.
We need you here.

The Stay In The Fight Initiative is Fire Mission Press's commitment to standing with people in their hardest moments. It is rooted in the veteran and first-responder communities, but its message is for everyone: your life has value, your fight matters, and asking for help is an act of strength.

Watch the people beside you. Reach out when the weight gets heavy. Make the call, send the text, or sit with someone until help arrives.

Visit Stay in the Fight Supply Co. →
01Stay connectedIsolation makes the fight harder.
02Watch your sixCheck on the people beside you.
03Reach for supportStrength includes accepting help.

Support is available now

We've got your six.

If you or someone you know is struggling, trained crisis counselors are available 24/7. Fire Mission Press is not a crisis-response service.

If there is immediate danger, call 911.

Adam W. Smith, author and U.S. Army veteran

About the author

Adam W. Smith

Adam W. Smith is a U.S. Army veteran who writes military and political thrillers grounded in authentic tactics, human consequence, and the choices ordinary people make when institutions fail.

His James Cuthbert novels follow veterans, intelligence officers, and professionals who are not invincible. They bleed, fail, carry their dead, and keep moving because someone has to stand between organized evil and the people it intends to destroy.

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