Bill Schutt – författare

A zoologist must derail a catastrophic plot when an abandoned submarine is discovered deep in the Brazilian wilderness in this adventure series debut."Two of the best adventure writers to hit the scene in a long time." —Clive Cussler1944. As war rages in Europe and the Pacific, Army intel makes a shocking discovery: a three-hundred-foot Japanese submarine marooned and empty, deep in the Brazilian interior. A team of Army Rangers sent to investigate has already gone missing, and the military sends Captain R. J. MacCready, a quick-witted, brilliant scientific jack-of-all-trades to learn why the Japanese are there—and what they''re planning.Parachuting into a mist-shrouded valley beneath a two-thousand-foot plateau, Mac is unexpectedly reunited with fellow scientist and friend Bob Thorne, presumed dead for years. Thorne, a botanist, lives with Yanni, an indigenous woman who possesses a mysterious, invaluable knowledge of the rain forest. Their wisdom and expertise will prove lifesaving for Mac as he sets out into the unknown.Soon, Mac learns of a diabolical Axis plot to destroy the United States and its allies. But there''s an even darker force on the prowl, attacking at night and targeting both man and beast. Mac has to uncover the source of this emerging biological crisis and foil the enemy''s plans . . . but will he be in time to save humanity from itself?"Will haunt you long after you put the book down." —James Cameron, director/writer/explorer"Michael Crichton fans will be pleased that the ending leaves room for a sequel." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Fast-moving fun for thriller readers who enjoy a bit of horror and seeing bad guys get what''s coming to them." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"An action-packed adventure thriller . . . If you like Michael Chrichton''s thrillers and Indiana Jones movies, then you will enjoy The Himalayan Codex." —San Francisco Book ReviewIt is 1946, and the world is beginning to rebuild from the ashes of the devastating war. Marked by the perilous discoveries he encountered in the wilds of Brazil, Captain R. J. MacCready has a new assignment on the other side of the globe—a mission that may help him put the jungle''s horrors behind him. He is headed for the Himalayas, to examine some recently discovered mammoth bones.Arriving in Asia, Mac learns the bones are only a cover story. He''s really there to investigate an ancient codex allegedly written by Pliny the Elder. The Roman naturalist claimed to have discovered a new race of humans, a divergent species that inspired the myth of the Yeti and is rumored to have the ability to accelerate the process of evolution.Charged with uncovering more about this miracle species, Mac sets off into the remote mountain valleys of Tibet, using the codex as his guide. But the freezing climate and treacherous terrain are only the beginning of the dangers facing him. He must also contend with the brutal Chinese army and a species of native creature even the Yeti seem to fear. The deeper he plunges into the unknown, the more certain it appears that Mac and the associates who join his odyssey may not make it out alive."Schutt and Finch provide a textbook example of how to make the fantastic easy to buy into with their superior second Crichton-esque thriller." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the authors of The Himalayan Codex: “Fantastical adventure grounded in real history and authentic science . . . [a] page-turner.” —James Morrow, Nebula Award-winning author of The Philosopher’s ApprenticeThough the fighting has stopped and Hitler is vanquished, a dangerous new war between America and the Soviet Union has begun. Invaluable in defeating the Nazis, accidental cryptozoologist R.J. MacCready and Yanni Thorne, an indigenous Brazilian and expert in animal behavior, are working for the Pentagon once again. Sent to a mysterious island in a remote corner of the Mediterranean, they’re investigating rumors of a volcanic spring with “miraculous” healing properties that the locals say is guarded by sea monsters from ancient legends.The islanders believe that, like Fatima, the spring is a gift from God. To the Greek Orthodox Church, it is a sign of a deadly evil foretold in apocalyptic texts. Alongside French and Chinese researchers—men who share their strange, bloodstained past—Mac and Yanni discover that the spring’s undersea plumes release an exotic microbe that can transform life with astonishing speed.To find the source of the volcanic spring, Mac and Yanni must find a way to neutralize “the Dragons of Revelation”—a fearsome aquatic species also known as Kraken—which are preventing the scientists from exploring deep beneath the sea’s surface. Mutating at a stunning pace, the Kraken have evolved into a chillingly high alien intelligence. As the race to possess the microbe heats up, tensions between geopolitics, religion, and ordinary scientists confronted with the unknown escalate into chaos. Mac and Yanni know all too well that one wrong choice can easily set in motion a biological chain reaction that will reach across the decades to enhance—or destroy—everything that lives. . . . “Excellent . . . Schutt and Finch are worthy successors of Michael Crichton.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

For centuries, blood feeders have inhabited our nightmares and horror stories, as well as the shadowy realms of scientific knowledge. In Dark Banquet, zoologist Bill Schutt takes readers on an entertaining voyage into the world of some of nature’s strangest creatures—the sanguivores. Using a sharp eye and mordant wit, Schutt makes a remarkably persuasive case that vampire bats, leeches, ticks, bed bugs, and other vampires are as deserving of our curiosity as warmer and fuzzier species are—and that many of them are even ­worthy of conservation.Schutt takes us from rural Trinidad to the jungles of Brazil to learn about some of the most reviled, misunderstood, and marvelously evolved animals on our planet: vampire bats. Only recently has fact begun to disentangle itself from fiction concerning these remarkable animals, and Schutt delves into the myths and misconceptions surrounding them. Examining the substance that sustains nature’s vampires, Schutt reveals just how little we actually knew about blood until well into the twentieth century. We revisit George Washington on his deathbed to learn how ideas about blood and the supposedly therapeutic value of bloodletting, first devised by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, survived into relatively modern times. Schutt also tracks the history of medicinal leech use. Once employed by the tens of millions to drain perceived excesses of blood, today the market for these ancient creatures is booming once again—but for very different reasons.Among the other blood feeders we meet in these pages are bed bugs, or “ninja insects,” which are making a creepy resurgence in posh hotels and well-kept homes near you. In addition, Dark Banquet details our dangerous and sometimes deadly encounters with ticks, chiggers, and mites (the ­latter implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder—currently devastating honey bees worldwide). Then there are the truly weird—vampire finches. And if you thought piranha were scary, some people believe that the candiru (or willy fish) is the best reason to avoid swimming in the Amazon.Enlightening, alarming, and appealing to our delight in the bizarre, Dark Banquet peers into a part of the natural world to which we are, through our blood, inextricably linked.From the Hardcover edition.