Jamaal Russell at a table above Puerto Plata at sunset, his novels stacked beside him

Stories · Art · Reflections

TheJah Russ Library

Stories about what a person is fighting when nobody is watching.

Eight novels in English and Spanish, and original work burned into wood. Written from the north coast of the Dominican Republic.

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Currently in the library

Cover of The Boy Within

The Boy Within

Fathers. Sons. The things men inherit before they are old enough to understand them.

A father watches his six-year-old do something ordinary and sees the boy he used to be, before he learned to put that away. Three generations of men handing down a way of being, and none of them ever said it out loud.

Not a thriller. It is the quietest book I have written and the hardest one to read honestly.

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From the library

Three ways in

Eight novels across twenty-two editions, in English and Spanish. Start with one of these.

Cover of The Shepherd's Lie The Sanctum Protocol · Book One The Shepherd's Lie A chaplain filed the report that made a lie true. Years later, a church does the same thing to him. Cover of Shadows Over Paradise The Shadow Home Saga · Book One Shadows Over Paradise Order as a shield, on an island that will not let him keep it. Then a body washes up. Cover of Dead Ground Standalone Dead Ground He buried his weapons and his name on an island. Some wars just wait for you to come home.

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Jamaal Russell writing by lamplight

Obsession. Guilt. Faith that stops fitting. The things we inherit without agreeing to them.

The studio

Burned into wood, one at a time

I draw it first, then burn it into the wood by hand. Portraits, crests, animals, names. Every piece is an original, made for a particular person or a particular reason.

Jamaal Russell at the bench working on a burned portrait
A detailed owl on an oak branch before a full moon, burned into wood
Owl and MoonBasswood
A roaring lion on rock beneath a full moon, burned into wood
Lion and MoonBasswood
A horse in a halter against a deep burned background
Horse in a HalterBasswood

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The Journal

Thoughts, questions, perspectives

Essays on psychology, faith, veterans, manhood and becoming — the ideas underneath the fiction.

The Writer's Desk What the Portrait Cannot Hold On art, psychology, and the humility of seeing another person 13 October 2026 · 10 min read Manhood & Leadership When Strength Becomes the Only Emotion a Man Is Allowed to Have On manhood, emotional honesty, faith, and the difference between carrying weight and pretending it is weightless 6 October 2026 · 9 min read Veterans Beyond the Border What Veterans Lose When They Leave More Than the Military On identity, belonging, and why coming home is not always a matter of geography 28 September 2026 · 8 min read

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About

Jamaal Russell at a desk with his books

Jamaal Russell
/ Jah Russ

Writer · Veteran · Artist · Student of the human condition

I write about the fights people have in private. Obsession. Guilt. Faith that stops fitting. The things we inherit without agreeing to them. What happens when whatever told you who you were is gone.

My protagonists are usually men, because that is the room I know best. The books are not only for men. I live and work in Puerto Plata, and I publish in English and Spanish.

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  • StoriesEight novels, two languages
  • ArtBurned into wood, one at a time
  • IdeasPsychology, manhood, faith
  • PlacePuerto Plata, Dominican Republic