A Wildland Firefighter's Story
Regarded by many firefighters as the wildland equivalent of REPORT FROM ENGINE CO. 82. A novel, but based on how wildland firefighters live and fight fire. Greg Kowalski grows up in Michigan with an emotionally and physically abusive father, who is a Saginaw city firefighter. Cut off from his family, Greg travels to California to become a seasonal firefighter with CalFire. He is tormented by the contradiction of hatred for his father and the need to have his father's approval and love. Greg moves on to the brutal LACoFD Helitack training academy where he graduates and begins work. He suffers traumatic stress after his crew is trapped on a mountainside in an explosive wildfire in which his captain and mentor dies. The night before this incident, Greg's father is killed in a structure fire in Saginaw. Greg struggles to cope. He comes to terms with the loss of his captain but has greater difficulty surmounting his father's influence on his life. This story focuses on the two formative years of his training as a young wildland firefighter when Greg comes of age and finds acceptance and comfort within the family of his fire crew.

  • "Kamm, whose considerable research lends the novel a keen sense of verisimilitude, structures the narrative by unfolding two storylines at once: one tracking Greg's budding career and the other exploring the gloomy events of his childhood. Greg's efforts to shake loose of his past make for a compelling, fast-paced read.

  • A turbulent, thoughtful story of putting out fires, both personal and professional." - Kirkus Discoveries

  • CODE BLOOD

    CODE BLOOD takes the reader into the world of emergency medicine, the science of stem cell research, and the unsettling world of blood fetishism and body parts. The book is an edgy L.A. Noir thriller.

    Colt Lewis, a young Los Angeles County fire paramedic responds to a car accident. The victim dies in his arms. Her foot has been severed but is nowhere to be found. Who is the woman and what happened to her missing foot?
    Colt risks his career to find the victim’s identity and her foot. A week long search leads him to a dark side of Los Angeles—into an underworld of body part dealers, underground Goth clubs and a stalker. He uncovers a tangled maze of drugs, needles, and rituals, which can only lead to death—but who is the victim?

    Code Blood won a Public Safety Writer’s Association Award in 2011



    RED FLAG WARNING – A Serial Arson Mystery

    Los Angeles County is burning! A serial arsonist is setting the parched hills on fire. Plunge into the infernos, and face the heat, smoke and danger with the men on the fire lines. While NiteHeat prowls in the darkness, setting fires and taunting investigators, the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Arson Unit struggles to find the fire setter and stop the devastation. Follow Fire Captain Jim Kendall as he tries to find NiteHeat before the City of Malibu burns down.


    Red Flag Warning won three first place national mystery fiction awards in 2010.


    "Puts the reader inside the mind of the arsonist and the investigator. Well documented...A great read." Thomas Dutton, Battalion Chief, County of Los Angeles Fire Department, former Captain Arson/Fire Investigation Unit.