Baby's Breath

Survival is only the beginning.

A bouquet of flowers arrives.

Inside: a white card with five chilling words—

I killed them for you.

Illustration of the book

Paperback, hardback and eBook from Amazon

Other purchase options coming soon

She survived the massacre. Now the real trouble begins.

One minute, Erin Callahan is a hero—the teacher's aide who miraculously survived the Cedar Ridge Elementary massacre. The next, she's a pariah. The police are digging into her past. The media is turning her into a villain. The town has turned against her.

But only Erin knows why she's truly afraid.

Someone left a bouquet on her doorstep.

Tucked inside: a plain white card with five words, neatly printed:

I killed them for you.

Caught between a police force that sees her as a suspect and a killer who sees her as his prize, Erin must plunge into the dark past she fought to escape. Because the real monster is still out there...

About the author

Russell Jones

I'm Russell Jones: a 55-year-old Englishman who's never worked in a school or had a bar fight, and whose life contains a frankly disappointing number of car chases. Two, at most.

So naturally, I wrote a psychological thriller about a teacher who finds herself in bar fights, car chases, and far worse.

Before diving into the dark world of Baby's Breath, I wrote non-fiction comedy, including the satirical Decade in Tory (a Sunday Times Bestseller) and Four Chancellors and a Funeral. I've always believed the best way to understand the darkness is to write through it. And then run away.

I wrote this novel obsessively, in a whirlwind 19 days. Edited the manuscript. Designed the cover. Built the website. Eat your heart out, Denis Waterman.

It was exhilarating. It was terrifying. And I hope it leaves you as breathless as it left me.

You could connect with me on Bluesky. Or you could go outside. Touch grass. Make good choices.