Runaway Adventure Based On Reality
Action, adventure, thrills, intrigue: Point Deception, the suspense thriller by the talented author Jim Gilliam, has it all! The story of Tim Kelly's (the hero of the novel's) early life, his parents' divorce, his running away at age 14 and surviving the mean streets of New Orleans in 1956, his learning Tai Chai to defend himself from bullies, and how he became friends at an early age with the notorious Rodulfo Guzman, a kingpin of the powerful Campeche drug cartel, is fascinating.
Kelly could easily have become a lost person, or a thug, himself, but he lied about his age and used falsified documents to join the Coast Guard, where he distinguished himself.
Then, he served in Vietnam, where three of his friends were killed in a friendly fire incident, and his grief and rage got released at an Air Force officer's club.
This led to his less-than-honorable discharge.
Back in the USA, he became an undercover narcotics officer.
This career move brings about the first scenes of the book, where Kelly has infiltrated the Campeche cartel, and has not reported in for several days.
He is presumed to be either seriously injured or dead by Deputy Sheriff David Holt, his contact in Texas.
Ironically, it is his old friend and father figure, Guzman, who learns of his undercover status, and who then has Kelly tortured and gets him addicted to heroin in retaliation.
It is supposed to serve as an example to anyone else who would dare to oppose Guzman or try to bring him to justice.
The novel works backwards from these harrowing opening scenes, going into Tim Kelly's life and the various decisions he made that eventually brought him to the point where he again comes face-to-face with Guzman.
We're given insights into Kelly's character, and how he was influenced by reading about the adventures of a literary model for him, Frank Nelson, a fourteen- year-old "who ran away from home to join the Union Navy and fight in the War Between the States.
" One of his favorite books in the Gunboat Series of Books (1868) featuring Frank is Frank Before Vicksburg.
Though Kelly is smart, he is always getting into trouble of one kind or another in school, sometimes the result of run-ins he has with a group of Hispanic bullies that are older and bigger than himself.
This makes him desire to learn how to fight better, and he gets tips from his friends and a Chinese cook at a restaurant where he has a part-time job teaches him Tai Chi.
The bullies end up hospitalized with broken bones, and Kelly is again in trouble, because they lie about what happened, painting Tim as the instigator of the fight.
Fortunately, Kelly's principal believes Tim's account, but warns him to not take matters into his own hands as he did with the bullies in the future.
Kelly, like many of us, is always trying to discover himself, and find out who he really is and what he's capable of becoming.
Guzman is kind to him, identifying with Kelly, seeing a lot of himself in the boy when Guzman was the same age.
Kelly gets money from the crime kingpin on more then one occasion when he's at his lowest, and desperately needs the cash, like when he's ran away and is living in New Orleans.
Guzman has the boy watched, also, and protected by his hired goons.
One scene I really liked was when Kelly leaves a building in New Orleans with $500.
00 that Guzman has sent him, and he's followed by two shady men who want to rob him.
The man Guzman has watching him shows up and blasts them both with a shotgun.
This is just one of the times when Guzman's influence has an effect on Kelly's life.
Another part (there were many) that I liked in the novel is when Kelly manages to enlist in the Coast Guard, though he is only fourteen.
He is big for his age, but still, he can only get enlisted by stealing a notary stamp from his mother and forging another notary's name on one of the documents he presents to the Coast Guard, and he has to pretend that his birth certificate was lost, and apply for a new one with the birth date four years earlier and city of birth changed to avoid any possible witnesses from coming forward, people who might have known him in the cities he actually lived in who would possibly say he is younger than he age he claims to be.
In this case, also, Guzman knows about his activities, and Kelly asks him not to tell his mom, but to just let her know he's okay.
Point Deception is a suspenseful, tension-filled book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
What's more, much of it is based on the real-life exploits and background of the author, Jim Gilliam.
He, also, ran away from home like Tim Kelly does, and joined the Coast Guard at 14.
To me, the author's experiences helped lend a believability to what happens to Tim Kelly in the novel.
That's because, I suppose, sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.
If you, like myself, enjoy reading action-packed suspenseful thrillers based on real-life experiences, you owe it to yourselves to check out Point Deception by Jim Gilliam today!
Kelly could easily have become a lost person, or a thug, himself, but he lied about his age and used falsified documents to join the Coast Guard, where he distinguished himself.
Then, he served in Vietnam, where three of his friends were killed in a friendly fire incident, and his grief and rage got released at an Air Force officer's club.
This led to his less-than-honorable discharge.
Back in the USA, he became an undercover narcotics officer.
This career move brings about the first scenes of the book, where Kelly has infiltrated the Campeche cartel, and has not reported in for several days.
He is presumed to be either seriously injured or dead by Deputy Sheriff David Holt, his contact in Texas.
Ironically, it is his old friend and father figure, Guzman, who learns of his undercover status, and who then has Kelly tortured and gets him addicted to heroin in retaliation.
It is supposed to serve as an example to anyone else who would dare to oppose Guzman or try to bring him to justice.
The novel works backwards from these harrowing opening scenes, going into Tim Kelly's life and the various decisions he made that eventually brought him to the point where he again comes face-to-face with Guzman.
We're given insights into Kelly's character, and how he was influenced by reading about the adventures of a literary model for him, Frank Nelson, a fourteen- year-old "who ran away from home to join the Union Navy and fight in the War Between the States.
" One of his favorite books in the Gunboat Series of Books (1868) featuring Frank is Frank Before Vicksburg.
Though Kelly is smart, he is always getting into trouble of one kind or another in school, sometimes the result of run-ins he has with a group of Hispanic bullies that are older and bigger than himself.
This makes him desire to learn how to fight better, and he gets tips from his friends and a Chinese cook at a restaurant where he has a part-time job teaches him Tai Chi.
The bullies end up hospitalized with broken bones, and Kelly is again in trouble, because they lie about what happened, painting Tim as the instigator of the fight.
Fortunately, Kelly's principal believes Tim's account, but warns him to not take matters into his own hands as he did with the bullies in the future.
Kelly, like many of us, is always trying to discover himself, and find out who he really is and what he's capable of becoming.
Guzman is kind to him, identifying with Kelly, seeing a lot of himself in the boy when Guzman was the same age.
Kelly gets money from the crime kingpin on more then one occasion when he's at his lowest, and desperately needs the cash, like when he's ran away and is living in New Orleans.
Guzman has the boy watched, also, and protected by his hired goons.
One scene I really liked was when Kelly leaves a building in New Orleans with $500.
00 that Guzman has sent him, and he's followed by two shady men who want to rob him.
The man Guzman has watching him shows up and blasts them both with a shotgun.
This is just one of the times when Guzman's influence has an effect on Kelly's life.
Another part (there were many) that I liked in the novel is when Kelly manages to enlist in the Coast Guard, though he is only fourteen.
He is big for his age, but still, he can only get enlisted by stealing a notary stamp from his mother and forging another notary's name on one of the documents he presents to the Coast Guard, and he has to pretend that his birth certificate was lost, and apply for a new one with the birth date four years earlier and city of birth changed to avoid any possible witnesses from coming forward, people who might have known him in the cities he actually lived in who would possibly say he is younger than he age he claims to be.
In this case, also, Guzman knows about his activities, and Kelly asks him not to tell his mom, but to just let her know he's okay.
Point Deception is a suspenseful, tension-filled book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
What's more, much of it is based on the real-life exploits and background of the author, Jim Gilliam.
He, also, ran away from home like Tim Kelly does, and joined the Coast Guard at 14.
To me, the author's experiences helped lend a believability to what happens to Tim Kelly in the novel.
That's because, I suppose, sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.
If you, like myself, enjoy reading action-packed suspenseful thrillers based on real-life experiences, you owe it to yourselves to check out Point Deception by Jim Gilliam today!
