Remember the name Markham - it may soon be a household term. Part I, the lengthiest of the three books in this trilogy, introduces the protagonist James Markham as a child born with the Caul of Destiny during the Great Depression in New York City who must suffer the tribulations of abandonment, poverty and expatriation to Canada where he experiences the harshness of gratuitous corporal punishment in the French Canadian schools. This prepares him for his repatriation as a teenager to New York City where he hones his survival instincts amongst the city toughs. The Korean War becomes his theatre of operation and the US Air Force his guardian and only home. The military takes him to England and France setting the stage for the fulfillment of his providential destiny in Parts II and III. Markham's coming of age is virtually a memoir of the experiences author Matte actually navigated.

This is an odyssey from The Karate Kid to James Bond, only it really happened, a life so exciting that I had to reread it after I had first finished the entire three-part trilogy. This is definitely a book for people of all ages and maturity. The saddest part of this trilogy is that it had to end. Hopefully there will be a Part IV.