For most of us, one life is enough. Imagine having three.Nicholas Gambit did. One man, three very different reasons for being. Almostgraduated from University and soon to leave a Kansas City ghetto he can’t waitto get away from, Nicholas is drawn into a conflict he wants no part of. Hisworld crashing down around him, surrounded by violence, he learns he has somevery special talents. Even with those talents, he finds he can’t protecteveryone and when the nightmare is finally over, he is consumed. He is devoidof purpose, inconsolable, lost.
Upon observing how Nicholasconducts himself, and what he is capable of, agent John Wilkes devises a newpurpose for him. He soon invites his protégé to enlist in a program few knowexists. Too emotionally drained to see that it is a mistake, Nicholas allowshimself to be secreted away into a life that he thinks will give his existencemeaning and pit him against those who place themselves above the law. Instead,he finds himself at war with his own principles — fearful he will become theenemy he has sworn to fight.
In the course of the transformationfrom artless college student to inconceivably skilled government operative,Nicholas finds love where it is forbidden, is made into a cold bloodedmurderer, and ultimately seeks out redemption by allowing another a chance torediscover her own humanity.
Praise and Reviews
“I'm
midway through the book and quite digging it.!”
-
John Payne, “Los Angeles Weekly”
“It was a bother to have to put the book down and get back to
work. And Washington's totally believable characters are action-in-motion,
nothing static about them or their black ops run by our invisible government
arm that topples regimes, takes out enemies around the world and in general
keeps things safe for multinational corporations.”
-
Steve Giordano - Editor, “High on Adventure”
“MAGNETIC!!!!!! Three Lives, by first time novelist Joe Washington, is a magnetic
read - I couldn't put it down.”
-
John R. Vacca - "Tech Write Independent
Reviewer"
“One can hardly wait for the
sequel to this book.”
-
Stacie Hearne – “Authorsreading.com”
“Readers should avoid
Three Lives if they're distressed by intense
action or by fevered plotting. Otherwise,
however, they should charge
ahead. This is a novel deeply engaged in
some of the international
intrigue that we all want to think "can't happen here." … the
story, deep with unexpected twists, ends up so believable that we're
called on to admit it -- we've been warned.”
-
Ed Nelson – Independent professional reviewer
“Joe Washington has
written a tough gritty novel that forces his readers to crawl through the
bloody underbelly of an urban sewer. A quote from his hero, Nicholas Gambit,
explains: “growing up in a Kansas City ghetto, societal expectations for me
were minimal. I was expected to kill and eventually be killed, a mere product
of my environment.” That, like his
creator, Gambit has survived to age 64 and lived to tell his compelling story
gives readers a powerful rationale for joining him on his crawl through the
sewer. How many even make it out, much less can tell the tale in a cogent,
entertaining, and thoughtful manner?
-
Kay Carstens – Freelance professional reviewer, formerly with Penton Publishing
