James Kimmel, Jr. JD is the author of books that have been published on five continents
Coming May 27, 2025
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The Science of Revenge
In this definitive book on revenge, Yale psychiatry lecturer James Kimmel, Jr., JD exposes the unseen neurobiological cause of violence—the compulsive desire for retribution—and offers a profound new understanding of human behavior and breakthrough framework for making our lives and communities safer.
There is a hidden addiction plaguing this country right now: revenge. Researchers have identified retaliation in response to real and imagined grievances as the root cause of most forms of human aggression and violence. From vicious tweets to road rage, murder-suicide, and armed insurrection, perpetrators almost always see themselves as victims seeking justice. Chillingly, recent neuroimaging studies of the human brain show that harboring a personal grievance activates the neural pleasure and reward circuitry of addiction.
Although this behavior is ancient and seems inevitable, by understanding retaliation and violence as an addictive brain-biological process, we can control deadly revenge cravings and save lives. In The Science of Revenge, Dr. Kimmel uncovers the truth behind why we want to hurt the people who hurt us, what happens when it gets out of hand, and how to stop it.
Weaving neuroscience, psychology, sociology, law, and human history with captivating storytelling, Dr. Kimmel reveals the neurological mechanisms and prevalence of revenge addiction. He shines an unsparing light on humanity’s pathological obsession with revenge throughout history; America’s growing addiction to revenge as a special brand of justice; his own struggle with revenge addiction that almost led to a mass shooting; and the startlingly similar addictive behaviors and motivations of childhood bullies, abusive partners, aggrieved employees, sparring politicians, street gang members, violent extremists, mass killers, and tyrannical dictators responsible for millions of deaths. He also reveals the amazing, healing changes that take place inside your brain and body when you practice forgiveness. Stressing the necessity of proven public health approaches and personal solutions for every level of revenge addiction, he offers urgent, actionable information and novel methods for preventing and treating violence. ​
The Trial of Fallen Angels
“Kimmel has created a thrilling and fantastic world, a heady combination of the movie What Dreams May Come, John Grisham’s best work, and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Sometimes dreamily lyrical and sometimes harshly realistic, Kimmel’s authorial voice is undeniably compelling.” —Booklist (starred review)
When young attorney and mother Brek Cuttler finds herself covered in blood and standing on a deserted train platform, she has no memory of how she got there. For one very good reason.
She’s dead.
But she doesn’t believe it at first. Trapped between worlds, Brek struggles to get back to her husband and daughter until she receives a shocking revelation that makes her death no longer deniable: She’s been chosen to join the elite group of lawyers who prosecute and defend souls at the Final Judgment.
With each dramatic trial conducted in a harrowing courtroom of eternity, Brek discovers how the choices that she and others made during their lives have led her to this place. She realizes that if she’s to break the chain, she must first face the terrible truth about her death. But before Brek can do that, she suddenly finds that she herself has been called to stand trial…and that her first client in the afterlife holds the secret to her fate.
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Suing for Peace
From the time we are children we are taught that the best way--indeed the only way--to resolve conflicts and get what we need from life is to seek justice against those who wrong us. In fact, seeking justice has become an obsession in the United States with a dark side that is throwing our society--and our lives--dangerously out of balance.
In the name of justice:
We employ 700,000 lawyers-but only 36,000 clergy
We file 36 million lawsuits against each other every year
We confine more than two million people in our prisons
We have a justice system that costs us more than $650 billion annually
We have waged two wars that have killed thousands of people since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
At this rate we should all be happy, right?
In Suing for Peace, James Kimmel, Jr. shows you why seeking justice never leads to peace or happiness and only makes our conflicts worse. Just as physicians have now discovered a connection between spirituality and medical outcomes, so Kimmel has now discovered a connection between spirituality and legal outcomes. That connection is this: The more we seek justice, the more bitter and spiritually impoverished we become. Winning an argument, a lawsuit, or a war at the expense of our emotional and spiritual well-being cannot be considered a victory by any measure. The secret to resolving life's conflicts is to stop seeking justice against your enemies and start suing for peace by practicing what Kimmel calls "nonjustice."
In this uncommon book of legal and spiritual wisdom, Kimmel shows you how to break the justice addiction that only fuels anger and suffering. His proven "Nonjustice System" guides you through nine practical steps you can take right now to resolve your conflicts and restore your happiness immediately.
Whether you have been injured emotionally, physically, or financially, Suing for Peace gives you everything you need to win the most important trials of your life--without lawyers, guns, or money.