My latest novel, Violet Eyes, is now available as a complete audiobook for just $4.99!
You can now pre-order my next True Crime book, A Cruise to Nowhere: My Search for Amy Lynn Bradley. On shelves July, 2026!
Gripping, suspenseful, and layered with insight, this is the first full account of the infamous disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley while onboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean—from the acclaimed author of True Crime Addict.
In March 1998, the Bradley family—Ron, Iva, and their children, Amy and Brad—boarded the Rhapsody of the Seas for a week-long Caribbean cruise. The trip was a chance to celebrate Ron’s success at work and Amy’s college graduation.
In the early hours of March 24, Amy Bradley—a pretty, athletic 23-year-old—returned to the family’s stateroom with Brad after dancing at the ship’s nightclub. Amy grabbed a blanket and went out to sleep on the balcony. A few hours later, her father awoke to find her gone. What happened to her remains a mystery.
Did Amy fall or jump into the water? Did she leave the boat voluntarily when it docked at Curaçao that morning? Was she smuggled off against her will and trafficked in one of the island’s brothels? In a baffling case filled with false leads, rumors, and conflicting witness reports, the only certainty is that, nearly three decades later, the Bradleys are still looking for Amy.
Now, acclaimed investigative journalist James Renner provides the first definitive account of Amy’s disappearance, enriched with his own personal narrative that explores themes of identity, loss, and the deeply human need to find meaning in tragedy.
With empathy and a keen eye, Renner interviews witnesses who speak on record for the first time, offering fascinating new theories, and explores a little-known side of Amy’s life that may explain everything about her fate.
October 17 – Vermilion, Ohio – Elementary, My Dear Ritter: The Science of Forensics. I’ll be speaking about investigating true crime and using genetic genealogy to catch killers at 3:30 p.m.
October 22 – Willowick, Ohio – Willowick Public Library (7 p.m.). “The True History of the Boy Scouts of America”
October 30 – Kingsville, Ohio – Kingsville Public Library (6 p.m.) Local true crimes.
November 1 – Wooster, Ohio – Buckeye Book Fair
November 15 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Books by the Banks
My new horror novel, Violet Eyes, is being released as a serialized audiobook for the fall season! Get your pumpkin spice latte, pull up a chair by the fire, and give it a listen.
On the edge of the University of Akron campus is a beautiful Victorian mansion, former home to the Humboldt family, once the city’s wealthiest patrons. Years ago, Stella Humboldt gifted the house to the university under two conditions – that two young women would live there for free during the school year and that they never, ever bring men inside after dark.
Humboldt House is also the sight of an old local mystery – eighty years ago, young Blaire Humboldt disappeared along with the son of the family’s servant. The police believed they were murdered, possibly by Blaire’s eccentric uncle, but he claimed they left so that they could live together in sin. No bodies were ever found.
Enter our protagonist, a young woman finishing college, who has just moved to Akron. She is nameless, like the narrator of Rebecca. And mysterious in other ways – she has violet eyes and one of them is glass. When she accepts a position to live at Humboldt House, she thinks she has lucked into a wonderful arrangement – free room and board inside a giant mansion. But then the piano begins to play at night and round marks appear along the walls of the kitchen, leading to the locked basement door and she begins to suspect she should have stayed in the dorms.
There are ghosts here, and not all are human.
Listen to Violet Eyes, by James Renner wherever you get your podcasts!
June 29th – Medina, Ohio – Big Ohio Book Con (3 p.m.)
August 2 – Bremerton, Washington – West Sound Crime Con (7 p.m.)
September 5 – 7 – Denver, Colorado – CrimeCon 2025
I’ve joined Substack, where I will be sharing regular essays on life as a writer. I’ll also be releasing new, serialized fiction on the platform soon. Subscribe here.
March 22 – North Canton, Ohio Barnes & Noble – Book Signing, 1 – 3 p.m.
April 12 – Stark Library Local Author Fair – Book Signing, 2 – 4
April 17 – Crete, Illinois – Author Presentation and Signing , 6 p.m.
June 7th and 8th – London, England – CrimeCon UK
June 28 and 29th – Medina, Ohio – Signings and Fireside Chat, Big Ohio Book Con
My newest true crime book, Scout Camp: Sex, Death, and Secret Societies Inside the Boy Scouts of America is finally here! Find it at your local bookstore or online here.
If you live in Cleveland and would like a signed copy, drop by Loganberry Books or order directly from them here.
In this timely and deeply personal true crime memoir, acclaimed journalist, author, creator of the True Crime This Week podcast, and former Boy Scout James Renner, explores the dark side of an American institution, its pervasive culture of sexual abuse, and the traumatic—even deadly—repercussions of its long-buried secrets.
In the summer of 1995, at the largest Boy Scout camp in Ohio, a night of sexual violence ended with one counselor dead and another hospitalized. The death was ruled “accidental.” It wouldn’t be the last death associated with Seven Ranges Reservation.
James Renner, too, was a counselor at Seven Ranges that year. He was always sure there must be more to the story of Mike Klingler’s death, because Renner also knew firsthand that the 900-acre camp was not the safe getaway it was portrayed to be. On Friday nights the boys were ushered into the woods for a frightening ceremony in which they learned the rules for becoming good young men—and, above all, that keeping secrets was a scout’s duty. No matter how dark the secrets were.
Determined to face his demons, Renner embarks on a journey back to that tumultuous summer and exposes a clandestine society that left indelible scars on the scouts and the staff who were there. For Renner himself, it meant opening up about his twisted upbringing, his issues with trust and sexuality, and a lifetime of self-medication. The result is a deeply personal, no-holds-barred, and vitally important true crime memoir.
I’m traveling around the Midwest and signing copies of my new true crime book, Scout Camp soon. Come see me!
Also, you can order or pick up signed copies from Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights, Ohio whenever you’d like!
Friday, February 28: Official Book Launch at Barnes & Noble, Fairlawn, Ohio. 7 p.m.
March 1 & 2: The Loveland Frogman Festival.
Tuesday, March 4: Signing at the Jordan Creek Barnes & Noble in Des Moines, Iowa. 6 – 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 6: Reading & Signing at Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri. 6 p.m.
Friday, March 7: Signing at Magic City Books, Tulsa, Oklahoma. 6 – 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 8: Signing at New Market Square Barnes & Noble in Wichita, Kansas . 2- 4 p.m.
Publishers Marketplace just released their Buzz Books picks for Winter/Spring 2025. These are the books they’re excited to read this year and it’s an honor to have Scout Camp featured in the new edition. They excerpt the first 20 pages and you can download their book here.
You have to wait until Feb 25 to read the rest! But you can preorder today!
