Bøker av Kurt Brindley

A former Navy SEAL turned vigilante hitman already in the crosshairs of corrupt Russian agents finds himself in even deeper trouble after rescuing a sex trafficking victim against her will just as she is about to be delivered into the hands of an unscrupulous corporate mogul, an impetuous and dangerous man who will not be denied his purchase. . .★ ★ ★ ★ ★ During the battle to liberate Mosul from the brutal grip of the Islamic State, Killian Lebon, a war-weary Navy SEAL Senior Chief, sustains life-threatening injuries from an explosion during a rescue operation that goes horribly wrong. Forced into early retirement from a vocation that for almost twenty years had been his sole purpose for being - that of a fearless warrior in defense of his country - Killian's life quickly spirals downward to the deepest depths of hopelessness and despair due to the traumatic after-effects of his injuries and the overwhelming guilt he feels from the tragic consequences of his failed final mission. Left without the will to continue on within such a dark and indifferent world, Killian attempts what he expects will be his last and ultimate mission. But RJ, a woman he had loved once long ago, saves him from his void of despair and, in her effort to console him, reveals two long-held, painful secrets, secrets that inspire within him a dark new purpose for living. However, it isn't long before this new lethal life mission of his places him and those he cares for straight within the deadly crosshairs of corrupt Russian agents and unscrupulous corporate moguls and forces him on a desperate and harrowing journey of rescue and revenge, one that takes him from the lush rolling hills of his Southern Pennsylvania farm, down to the mean streets of Baltimore and the steamy bayous of New Orleans, and then back once again to the windswept desert of Iraq where all his troubles first began... and where his most anticipated act of vigilante justice is destined to be executed.

Kurt was diagnosed with leukemia in November of 2009, received a bone marrow transplant in April of 2010, and, as a side-effect to the transplant, was diagnosed with an incurable, non-reversible, and highly fatal form of lung disease in November of that same year. Medical statistics did not give him much of a chance to survive. But he did. He believes he was able to survive this incredible journey he has been on this past five years because he regarded it not as a journey of despair, but as a journey of hope, and as a journey of new opportunities. And, while the journey has been filled with many overwhelming challenges and more than a little bit of pain, it has also been filled with many more rewarding experiences and life learning opportunities. And learn about life, he did: He learned many things, but he especially learned that love and happiness and kindness are all choices that can and must be made. And they must be made for each now for each successive moment one has left to live, however long it may be. For neither the past nor the future matter much when Death is hovering so closely by. This journey Kurt has been on this past five years could have been one that led him toward the ultimate end, but instead, it has taken him toward a new understanding of life and of how to live it, which ultimately means he now understands... How Not To Die.

Just as water naturally follows the course set by the sometimes wayward and often divergent banks of the river, Kurt Brindley's poems in his debut poetry collection POEMS FROM THE RIVER follow the course set by the sometimes wayward and often divergent life he has led. From solitary childhood reflections and isolated moments with nature, to the anxiety associated with the unrelenting passing of time and the fear of cancer's ultimate consequences, to the pleasures and pain of family, friends, work, play, love, hate, life, death, Kurt's poetry flows as does a river-sometimes with ease and quiet calm, just as a river flows through an isolated gulf's serene and lazy shallows; at other times with spontaneity and unforgiving force, just as a river flows through a precipitous canyon's tumultuous and unpredictable rapids; and at all times with undiminished resolve and pure blind faith that the end will justify the means, just as a river forever flows blindly towards some unknown, yet faithfully pursued, grander body of water.

A suspenseful and at times poignantly humorous psychological drama set on a U.S. warship in the port city of Yokosuka, Japan, INSIDE THE SKIN is a story about the harsh realities of navy life during the Don't Ask Don't Tell era. But it's more than that -- it is also a story about each of us and how we perceive and interpret the world around us. Written with a narrative starkness, the story leaves us with only our own prejudices and stereotypes to draw from and forces us to make assumptions about character and identity, and, in the end, determine not just who did it but if it was even done at all...>Boot Camp didn't join the navy to be a hero or to perform courageous acts---that was hardly his character---he joined simply to prove to himself, and to others, that he has what it takes to be a sailor, a real sailor. However, after reporting to his first duty station, a laid-up warship filled with a disgruntled crew who welcomes him aboard with a brutal hazing and violent displays of homophobia and harassment, he quickly learns that to become that sailor of his ideals, a real sailor, he would have to step outside his true nature and put himself into harm's way to achieve those ideals. But after Flavor---Boot Camp's only true shipmate and an eccentric nonconformist who, himself, had to learn to navigate the dangerous and sometimes deadly waters of homophobia and harassment---is discharged from the navy, Boot Camp is left on his own to face the hazards that await him. Alone, he has to find that courage and strength so uncommon to him and stand up for his own self, his own identity, and fight for what is right, regardless the rules, and regardless how dangerous and deadly the costs may be.