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The Drug From Mumbai
Loner Timothy Wilshire is rounding out his fourth year of college in Chicago, and he still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. Potential for adventure and excitement pops up at times, but when should he take the plunge? Perhaps a romance with the assertive art student would open up some doors? Or what about the girl who secretly admires him from afar? Once the cigarette smoke clears and the drunken escapades cease, college life amounts to a countless stream of selfish acts in which Timothy hasn't really found what he is looking for. Until he meets the mysterious nightclub owner, Mr. Abdul...
Timothy is a creature of habit, but his world is about to be cast into disarray when Mr. Abdul hires him as a courier and gives him a curious package to deliver to a contact in Paris. Now Timothy has all the adventure he could possibly want--glamorous parties, flights to exotic cities, interesting new people. But it all comes crashing down as Timothy hustles to stay alive in a world of espionage and murder from Paris to Mumbai.
A precious, broken tsuba from a Japanese fighting sword, intended as a gift between partners in crime but clumsily dropped to the ground, sets the tone for this thriller of happenstance, in an urban landscape with thoughtful musings on approaching life, love and adventure.
Timothy is a creature of habit, but his world is about to be cast into disarray when Mr. Abdul hires him as a courier and gives him a curious package to deliver to a contact in Paris. Now Timothy has all the adventure he could possibly want--glamorous parties, flights to exotic cities, interesting new people. But it all comes crashing down as Timothy hustles to stay alive in a world of espionage and murder from Paris to Mumbai.
A precious, broken tsuba from a Japanese fighting sword, intended as a gift between partners in crime but clumsily dropped to the ground, sets the tone for this thriller of happenstance, in an urban landscape with thoughtful musings on approaching life, love and adventure.
320 pages, Paperback
Published January 7, 2016
3 people want to read
About the author
Mike Gosalia
1 book1 followerMike Gosalia has an MFA in creative writing from Pacific Lutheran University. He has worked for literary journals and has published a novel and a short story in minor presses. He lives in Kansas City, Kansas where he sells musical instruments. He loves a lengthy yarn and lives each day as it comes.
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January 8, 2016
Oh, poor Timothy Wilshire. It’s really just impossible not to feel bad for this kid. We meet him as he’s getting his ass kicked by some high school bullies, and that incident does a number on the guy’s confidence all through college. There’s something about this story as our introduction to Timothy that puts you in his corner. He’s the underdog. You want to tell him it gets better. You want him to find his way in life. To do well. To be happy.
Flash forward from the aforementioned ass-kicking to his senior year of college. Yay! Timothy went to college—a good one. He’s doing well in his studies. He’s a bit of a loner, but he’s got a core of friends; he’s somewhat social. And we catch him just as he’s starting to come out of his shell. And boy does he ever—the first few chapters are a whirlwind of parties.drinking, drugs, and campus life in Chicago in the year 2000. What a time to be alive!
But Timothy just can’t seem to get out of his own way sometimes, and this is frustrating for the reader who cares about his well-being. He drinks a lot, and he really does have terrible judgment about women. This is also what kept me on his side, though, and I think it will work for a lot of readers. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had to process the slings and arrows of high school wounds years after the fact. We’ve all been in places—if not college, then someplace else—that we didn’t feel like we quite fit in. We’ve all looked down the barrel of a boring future and wished for something more.
Of course, most of us didn’t get more adventure in our lives by becoming a drug courier, which is what Timothy ultimately does. Still, even his criminal activity is framed as a fun lark (until it gets serious and dangerous) skirting the edges of the law in an act of rebellion against all the “shoulda, woulda, coulda” of his previous years. His boss, Mr. Abdul is a dealer, sure, but he’s also got a moral core—kind of like the Godfather in that way—and he’s this friendly, likeable guy. And it turns out that the big job he sends Timothy on is really one that could benefit all of humankind. He’s a dealer with a heart of gold.
Then comes a whirlwind of adventure for Timothy and for us, lots of nail-biting action sequences in a world that is far removed from the relative safety and predictability of campus life. It’s a great suspense and action story, but what it’s really about is coming of age, coming out of your shell, and developing the confidence to pursue the life you want, not the one you’re expected to have.
Flash forward from the aforementioned ass-kicking to his senior year of college. Yay! Timothy went to college—a good one. He’s doing well in his studies. He’s a bit of a loner, but he’s got a core of friends; he’s somewhat social. And we catch him just as he’s starting to come out of his shell. And boy does he ever—the first few chapters are a whirlwind of parties.drinking, drugs, and campus life in Chicago in the year 2000. What a time to be alive!
But Timothy just can’t seem to get out of his own way sometimes, and this is frustrating for the reader who cares about his well-being. He drinks a lot, and he really does have terrible judgment about women. This is also what kept me on his side, though, and I think it will work for a lot of readers. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had to process the slings and arrows of high school wounds years after the fact. We’ve all been in places—if not college, then someplace else—that we didn’t feel like we quite fit in. We’ve all looked down the barrel of a boring future and wished for something more.
Of course, most of us didn’t get more adventure in our lives by becoming a drug courier, which is what Timothy ultimately does. Still, even his criminal activity is framed as a fun lark (until it gets serious and dangerous) skirting the edges of the law in an act of rebellion against all the “shoulda, woulda, coulda” of his previous years. His boss, Mr. Abdul is a dealer, sure, but he’s also got a moral core—kind of like the Godfather in that way—and he’s this friendly, likeable guy. And it turns out that the big job he sends Timothy on is really one that could benefit all of humankind. He’s a dealer with a heart of gold.
Then comes a whirlwind of adventure for Timothy and for us, lots of nail-biting action sequences in a world that is far removed from the relative safety and predictability of campus life. It’s a great suspense and action story, but what it’s really about is coming of age, coming out of your shell, and developing the confidence to pursue the life you want, not the one you’re expected to have.
Displaying 1 of 1 review