Larry A. Whited

Rivers of Darkness, Visions of Light: from Extortion to Salvation Larry A. Whited

Rivers of Darkness, Visions of Light: From Extortion to Salvation is the true story of an extortion attempt and of the life that both precedes and follows the decision to commit the crime. The story involves a maze of psychological and spiritual twists to maintain an element of growing suspense throughout. This true account is told with an unusual transparency, revealing normally hidden personal thoughts, vulnerabilities, and motivations. The first chapter opens with a glimpse into the tormented mind of a young child separated from life and love, and the second chapter has the reader swimming along with the author in the Mississippi River for five miles in a daring nighttime operation to pick up a packaged bundle of cash along a New Orleans riverbank. Action follows with the site being under continual and hidden surveillance by a seven-man team headed by the FBI. The story then reverts to the events that helped shape the life that brought about this crime, and a chronology unfolds throughout the next fourteen chapters that affords a view of human nature that is painfully honest, at times disturbing, and eventually uplifting as reconciliation with God and man is achieved.

This is a story of one man reaching out to God, his finding only walls and silence, and his acting out of an absolute sense of futility and frustration. Then, when least expected as that life finally seemed to come together with a notable measure of success as a commercial deep sea diver in the Gulf of Mexico, the real story of life begins. The reader gets a front row seat with an unobstructed view to see how a life plays out when a person first rejects and then ultimately receives spiritual light.