James Marshall Smith is a writer and scientist, whose novels are informed--and sometimes inspired!--by his varied research career, from space satellites to molecular biophysics. He was Chief of Radiation Studies for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for over a decade and has served in consulting or advisory roles on nuclear-threat countermeasures for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the G7 Global Health Security Action Group in Berlin, London and Paris, and for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

His debut novel—Silent Source—was one of three international finalists for the 2015 Clive Cussler Grand Master Award. His other novel—Hybrid, another suspense/thriller—was a short-list finalist in the William Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition and a finalist in the annual Colorado Gold Novel Contest. James lives and writes in Georgia with his wife June and their bossy Maltese.