Caught at the Edge, by Raymond Storm

This book is fiction, but it is based on real life experiences and needs to be read with empathy and compassion. The author hopes to reach _young people who are tempted by drugs, guns and violence and show them the ugly side of this lifestyle. He wants to show them an option for a better way to live. Through the fictional character, Xaviar, and his homeboys, the author reveals the truth from the point of view of the kids who are caught in the web of intrigue and danger that can lead to prison or death.

If you care about the teens on the street with no place to turn and if you want to reach out to them with concern and nurture, read  this book.

Raymond Storm, Author, Caught at the Edge

Raymond Storm, author of Caught at the Edge, has lived through a firestorm of danger, violence, intrigue, and sorrow, much like the lives of the characters in his novel. Upon becoming a Christian and seeing that there is a better way to live, a way filled with hope, love, and understanding, he wanted to help the kids who are caught in the same trap he was. He decided to write a story to depict exactly what life on the streets is like, the dangers that lurk in every shadow, and sometimes masquerade as a way to adventure, riches, and prestige.

He wants to tell the kids that gang violence doesn't pay. He wants to tell society that there are kids who have no other alternative and know of no other way—and end up both killing and being killed. The pictures painted in this book are not always pretty. The anguish and suffering are real. There are kids who live this life, every day. Kids that need intervention and better choices.

But mostly, Raymond wants to show the readers of this book, both the parents, the children, the average citizen, and the criminals who prey on these kids that there is a way to find help and refuge. Raymond found it through Christianity. He found it through many organizations established to give shelter and nurture to boys headed in the wrong direction.

As he says in a note at the beginning of the book:

"This book comes with a strong warning. I pull no punches and I paint a harsh picture. But I withhold judgment, as I’ve learned over the years that only God, who knows the heart and mind of everyone, can judge us. As for me, I can only follow God’s example of unconditional love for everyone.

"The story you are about to read is filled with pain, death, hate, wars, danger, and a vivid portrayal of the street life of fifteen kids who became hired guns for the Mexican cartel. Xaviar and the others are fictional characters, but the life they illustrate is all too real. But this book also has another story that can change the way you look at the streets. As you read, I challenge you to feel the emotions these kids go through and watch the struggles that will make you say, “this couldn’t happen” only to realize that it happens every day. Find the hope inside a life that seemed hopeless, and, most importantly, see how the hope can change a life, before your very eyes."

Raymond Storm

Raymond's book is now available on Amazon as an ebook. 

 

New release coming soon

Caught at the Edge, by Raymond Storm will be released soon as an ebook. This book shows the horror of the everyday lives of many children caught up in the culture of warring street gangs as they are exploited by drug cartels. Is there a redemption for these forgotten, throw-away kids? Read Xaviar's story.

The author says this about his novel:

This book comes with a strong warning. I pull no punches and I paint a harsh picture. But I withhold judgment, as I’ve learned over the years that only God, who knows the heart and mind of everyone, can judge us. As for me, I can only follow God’s example of unconditional love for everyone.

The story you are about to read is filled with pain, death, hate, wars, danger, and a vivid portrayal of the street life of fifteen kids who became hired guns for the Mexican cartel. Xaviar and the others are fictional characters, but the life they illustrate is all too real. But this book also has another story that can change the way you look at the streets. As you read, I challenge you to feel the emotions these kids go through and watch the struggles that will make you say, “this couldn’t happen” only to realize that it happens every day. Find the hope inside a life that seemed hopeless, and, most importantly, see how the hope can change a life, before your very eyes.

Yes, there are two stories in this book, one of the pain-filled life of children who are mostly left to grow up on their own without the security of love and guidance. It takes place in the mid 1980s. The alternating second story, the story of redemption and change, begins in the mid to late 1990s to 2,000.

Caught at the Edge was chosen for publication with Dark Trails Press because of its vivid portrayal of lives that need our attention, understanding, and intervention. Reading this story will bring understanding and compassion for the young people, allowing the suspension of judgement for a class of kids we tend to condemn and ignore. Let's not do that anymore.

Dark Trails Press, an imprint of Raven Publishing, Inc.

Dark Trails Press, an imprint of Raven Publishing, Inc., which is known for it's "true fiction" for juvenile and young adult, as well as adult readers, has been created to confront life's hard issues through "true fiction" and memoir. 

Most of the books published under this new imprint will address important issues, just as Raven Publishing does, but with books that must, in order to realistically portray the complicated, difficult, and sometimes controversial issues, will contain some adult content such as sex, language, and violence.

More to come about the books as we publish them under this imprint.