The Secret Retiree: Drugs and Death
“There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.” — Buddha
CLAREMONT, CA – The Secret Retiree: Drugs and Death? by Rupert Nelson
Within the borders of one of the most devoutly Buddhist countries in the world—Thailand—the dark side of life rears its ugly head – rampant firearm homicide, prostitution and human trafficking, gambling, and illegal drugs. One lonely American embarks on a personal quest to silence the enemies of tranquility. The Secret Retiree: Drugs and Death maps his ambitious journey step-by-step along a treacherous pathway that leads directly into the belly of the beast—the Thai mafia.
Clifford Johnson is a survivor. As a teenager in a small Midwestern town, he lost both his parents. Choosing to live alone in the family house, he manages to finish both high school and college with the encouragement from members of a local church. Inspired by the church’s outpouring of love and support, he heeds the internal beckoning call to become a missionary. His spiritual destination—Thailand. Mastering the language quickly, he establishes a missionary post within the mountainous regions of northern Thailand, home to some of the many Mountain Tribes. It is here where the main character in The Secret Retiree: Drugs and Death? (published by iUniverse) encounters both the splendor and the sinister of this Southeast Asian paradise.
Johnson’s geographic remoteness is not a barrier to the evils of the modern world. After discovering a number of illicit drug labs where opium is converted into pure heroin, he joins forces with the DEA to fight the drug lords on their own turf. Thirty years later and seemingly safe in a California retirement home, he learns that ones past can come back to haunt you. In this case, the Thai mafia never forgets a face—especially an American!
About the Author
Rupert Nelson’s cultivation of both soil and soul can be traced back to his youth in rural South Dakota and Iowa. A graduate of South Dakota State University and the University of Wisconsin, Nelson worked many years with the Montana Extension Service on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Thoroughly embracing the American Indian’s reverence for Mother Earth, Nelson became a self-appointed ambassador for change working as an Agricultural Missionary with American Baptist International Ministries among the mountain tribes of Thailand. After 33 years of service, he returned to the US and now resides in a retirement community in California with his wife of 53 years, Dee. He has written two other books: Like The Rings Of A Tree, a non-fiction memoir of growing up in rural South Dakota and Iowa, and Jai Yen Means Keep A Cool Heart, a non-fiction memoir of his life and work in Thailand, available from Authorhouse.com or Amazon.com.