The Hidden Pull: Adventure Tales of Forbidden Harvests, Uneasy Money, and Learning to Tie My Shoes

by Theo Polo

Suffocating from boredom and bureaucracy in a low-level corporate job, he was starved for adventure. By fate or happenstance, a hidden door led him into a secret underground room the likes of which he had never imagined possible. Surrounded by cascading waterfalls of reflected light and oddly sentient plant beings, he knew he'd found his new obsession. There was just one problem: it was all against the law.

What follows is a decade-long coming of age journey in an obscure and forbidden industry: sometimes breathtaking, at times heartbreaking, occasionally profitable, and always with the mandatory sense of impending legal doom. As he struggles to support his medical patients, haggle prices with shady types and barter with loan sharks—all the while flying under the radar—he is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: this wasn’t actually what he wanted to do with his life, after all.

Ultimately over a hundred grand in debt, he’d need to fight to salvage friendships, take foolish risks just to keep the lights on, and wrestle with doubts and impostor syndrome to finally discover the real reasons behind this bizarre career choice. As with his illicit harvests, he’d once again have to start from scratch, find his voice, and take another kind of risk: cultivating his first words.

Set as a true crime memoir, The Hidden Pull is full of rebellious adventure, humor, and youthful self-sabotage; an entertaining and sincere account of growing up and learning the painfully necessary lessons of finding and following one’s true path.

310 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2023

About the author

A first-generation immigrant to the United States, he holds a B.A. in Business and has worked as a legal interpreter, intercultural consultant, corporate training specialist, and account manager in tech. Apart from his much used vintage 1930s typewriter, he claims absolutely no writing credentials whatsoever. After taking the long and scenic route to authorship, he has now finished two novels and is working on a short fiction anthology along with a children's series. He lives with his wife and kids in the Pacific Northwest and Finland, the latter of which has him struggling with learning yet another language, walking over ice, and driving politely.

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hidden Pull is a literary gem that seamlessly blends humor with underlying gravity. What appears funny on the surface unfolds into a narrative with genuine heart, capturing the essence of real-life experiences. The authenticity of the story is so palpable that it feels like these events could genuinely happen. The uniqueness of the plot, coupled with the narrator's love-hate relationships with both the business and its people, adds a layer of intrigue that keeps readers hooked. A compelling read that entertains, tugs at the heartstrings, and offers a truly distinct storytelling experience.
Harris Kern

[Jonathan Finch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weed-Ridden But Not Dopey / Disillusioned With Many Highs And Lows
Almost a coming-of-age novel, reminiscent of “Portrait of the Artist”, but in which Polo’s narrator moves through incredible “debris” to come to know his talents as a writer, and to become that writer!
About half way through, I got bogged down with a chronicle of absurd problems with irrational friends and found the narrator’s reasons for continuing with such undesirables irritating. However, irony, satire, and comedy help the reader get started, and then he or she should be hooked until something verging on the repetitive grates. Yes, characters we’ve met – fortunately or otherwise - step out of the pages to delight, initially, and nicknames add to the treat before dismay hoofs the reader in the eyeball. The debate on marijuana is there, and the need to make an impassioned living in a highly complex society.
I enjoyed this read only to a limited extent, and believe it deserves three stars. I got tired and bogged down by the writer’s glorification and fascination with exaggeration. His apologia for medical marijuana rang true but his side-nod to the problems this drug (and others) can give people and society was certainly underplayed. Is this writer-guy biased? Of course. Like all writers. Was The Wolf (Of Wall Street) doing the white stuff? Of course…while thousands got hoodwinked. Do drugs exist in a fun and moral vacuum? Doubtful. Is dependence liberation? Are eclectic crazies great intellectuals? And is slapstick really that hilarious? So, for me, three stars. (The text could read better if an editor sifted through thoroughly!)
Here is a writer with rant-like talent and an intuitive ability to lay out with utter clarity the dynamics of relationships and the reasons why we so often quarrel, spending his creative energy on telling everyone why birds of a feather shouldn’t flock together but, of course, do, writing an “eccentric” novel with verve but in need of editorial polish to diminish typos and to enhance eloquence.
“The Hidden Pull” writing a novel.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about taking a chance, falling flat on your face, and finding success along the way. I really enjoyed this thrilling tale of self discovery and the twists and turns one's friendships endures.

With weirdly named characters like Sir Slash, Wild Dog, The Alien, and more, I found a truly relatable journey with adventures that had me not wanting their story to end.

This is a very compelling first novel from this new author, and can't wait to see what is next!

[Ann-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So hilarious that I laughed out loud several times, which I usually don’t do when reading. The narrator, authentic and honest to a fault, lands in some hot soup when entering the weed industry on a whim. He liberally shares the account of his missteps as well as the crazy characters he meets and works with (from varied marijuana patients to a possible “alien”), offering a look into a fascinating world that I had no idea existed. The rich details make it all seem very real — it’s hard to tell how much of this actually happened — and really help the reader feel immersed in the scenes. For all those that could use a story about holding on and trudging through the trouble you’ve got yourself in, as well as many laughs, pick it up. This is far from the kind of book I usually read but it was recommended to me. The protagonist was relatable, the writing enjoyable, and the book was hard to put down. Reading it was neither too daunting nor too easy, as the story flows well and the chapters are the right length to keep the pace moving. Two thumbs up!