A hypnotic narrative that twists through both light and dark as journaling therapy unlocks the troubled memories of a lonely veteran.
Haunted by the death of his son in infancy and the love of his life many years later, Jake Montgomery grudgingly agrees to a form of “journal therapy” that allows him to expose and confront the sharp, insistent pain that he regularly buries with rage and scotch and television. As he writes, “four secrets” tightly bound within him gradually unwind–first in racially segregated Ocala, Florida, in the 1950s, where his best childhood friend was a Puerto Rican jockey, then in Ireland, when a summer as a stable apprentice ushers in a new and all-consuming passion.
Jake relives his experiments with free love in the 1960s, and is embroiled once more in choices of life and death on the battlefields of Vietnam, and later, as undercover intelligence officer in the countries of Eastern Europe. What begins as a journey chronicling youthful discovery spirals swiftly into spaces where loss overwhelms and the path chosen is one of ruthlessness and revenge. It is the birth, life, and death of a special horse that gives Jake a sense of purpose in his desperate search for a reason to carry on.
Author Biography: Thomas Kenwood Equels, MS, JD, was knighted by Pope Benedict in 2012. As a lawyer, Equels received numerous federal and state awards for his high-impact pro bono work in civil rights, poverty law, and social justice cases. For three decades he represented foreign states on an international basis, as well as the State of Florida. He also served private companies in the banking, insurance, aviation, pharmaceutical, and construction industries. Since 2016, Equels has served as CEO of Aim Immunotech Inc, an immunology research company focused on the development of therapeutics to treat cancers, immune disorders, and viral diseases. He breeds and trains Thoroughbred racehorses and champion Paso Finos on his farm in Ocala, Florida. A combat-wounded Vietnam veteran, Equels was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for heroism while participating in aerial combat, as well as the Purple Heart. He is a black belt in karate and was named one of the Florida Black Belt Association’s Four Season Tour champions, as well as a National Sport Karate Association (NASKA) National Champion.
