Alexander

by Kendrick E. Knight

Alex is enjoying the life of a sixteen-year-old in southern California. It's summer vacation and the girls are hot. Nothing to do but skateboard and cruise the mall. Four little words from his mother, "We got married today." plunge his ideal life to the bottom of the La Brea Tar Pits. His unwanted new stepfather expects him to get a job or get out. Who needs parents. Alex joins the band of kids living on the street and finds out very quickly that life without money or a supportive family is not easy. The offer of a job as an extra in a movie is too good to resist. That is until he's kidnapped and wakes up in a cage. He's now part of a slave labor gang digging a tunnel under the U.S. Mexican border. Coming of age has new meaning when your life and the lives of the other prisoners depend on you growing up and stepping up to the role of savior.

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2015

About the author

All my life I've looked at the stars and wondered what had happened to make us what we are. Self-award, self-centered, the rulers of our universe, or maybe we are deluding ourselves with a myopic view of one little solar system.

I grew up on a dairy farm in rural Cashton Wisconsin; milking cows, baling hay, and playing football. After a long day of farming and maybe a few innings of ball, my brothers and I would sit out at night and dream about the possibilities of life out in space (and maybe the girl next door). We'd study the Milky Way, the stars, the cloud of light that shown down from millions of glowing suns, and believe that someday we would have the chance to go look for ourselves.

After earning my physics degree from the University of Wisconsin, I enlisted in the Air Force and served as a B52 electronic warfare officer during the Vietnam War. I later joined the North Dakota Air National Guard's Happy Hooligans as a weapons systems officer flying in F101 and F4 fighter aircraft.

A short stint as a high school teacher in Fargo ND was followed by a permanent move to Colorado where I managed a variety of R&D projects that ranged from electronic security to nuclear instrumentation and nuclear and hazardous waste treatment and disposal. After retirement, I launched a new endeavor as a writer. I have completed seven novels; three action/thriller and four science fiction. I'm a member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and the 93rd Street Irregulars critique group in Westminster Colorado.

Have a question or want to say hi - contact Ken at KendrickEKnightBooks@gmail.com