Dear Reader: I am your enemy.

The first page of my story testifies that I am also a liar and a fool—but. Key #30: Lies are an attempt to externalize my inner reality.

Reader versus author, 88 Keys calls us to battle. You. Versus. Me.

My main goal is to entertain you outrageously but expect traps. My story is dramatic, and loaded with enough compelling truths to hide the traps until after you’re snared.

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Three weeks after graduating from high school I got into a fight and nearly beat a man to death. I went to prison and quickly learned that survival was iffy. If you’re up to the challenge, join me in that maze of horror and beauty. Watch as I, a stupid kid, become a man. My coming-of-age story is full of unexpected twists and traps, but watch my progress, two steps forward, one step back, as I learn the lessons that have freed me from my lies. Live my life as I navigate two prisons: first, prison as it could be, then the prison that is—but in both kinds of prison help me fight for my life.

Expect dramatic tension. Psychological intensity. Fascinating, scary characters who endure a frantic pace up to an intriguing finish. Expect coarse prison language, but nothing you haven’t heard at Starbucks. There is no sex, and yet at the highest level 88 Keys to Surviving Prison is a love story, a story of hope penetrating even our darkest days.

One more thing. Consider an old lifer’s wisdom: Key #48, Satisfy these three people and you will always make the right choice: You, as you are now; you, as a little kid; and you, on your deathbed.

Make the right choice. Accept my challenge. Maybe part of you will survive, too.