Jim Dutton

JIM DUTTON www.jimduttonbooks.com

A PUBLICATION BY LETTRA PRESS

The Author 2

J I M D U T TO N , Author | DIGITAL EDITION

JIM DUTTON I have always loved to read. I was that grammar school kid who read books under the covers with a flashlight after “lights out”. As a young reader, I feasted on a steady diet of biographies, sportsbooks, science fiction, fantasy, and mysteries. The science fiction and fantasy novels I read over the years “fed” my imagination, which I believe was helpful in writing my Nick Drummond novels.

I was fortunate to travel to Mexico and Europe as a child. That ignited my life-long interest in travel, especially to developing countries. The bigger the contrast between the foreign country’s culture and the United States, the better I liked it. Since college, I have traveled to over sixty countries, most of them located in Central and South America, Asia, Africa, and the Mideast. Almost all of the domestic and international locations in my novels are based on my travels. I documented all my trips by writing a diary and taking thousands of photographs. I am still an avid photographer and often bring three cameras with me on my National Park wildlife, photography adventures.

I also have 35 years of legal experience. I spent five years in general practice, civil firm before starting my government career. I worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a Deputy District Attorney in two counties, and a California Deputy Attorney General. My 25 years as a State Attorney General exposed me to a broad range of assignments. I was Chief of the State’s Money Laundering Program, testified before the United States Congress several times about money laundering and financial investigations, wrote money laundering and financial investigation legislation for the State of California, and wrote numerous articles and manuals on these subjects. Two of my murder trials were the subject of three national television shows. Also, I argued numerous cases in the California Courts of Appeal and three cases in the California Supreme Court. Late in my Attorney General career, I was the San Diego Office representative for a human trafficking task force.

I pride myself in the authenticity of my novels which are derived from my legal and travel experiences. I also did extensive research in order to ensure the accuracy of my writing. I wanted to offer the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the criminal justice system and adventure travel.

Once I started writing my first novel, Path to Justice, I realized how much I enjoyed the creative writing process. Drama, dialogue, and wit flowed easily. I drew on the thousands of conversations I had with law enforcement, witnesses, and victims. Writing about subjects I knew well made it relatively easy to put words on paper.

I believe aspiring authors should write about what they know and have a passion for.

My main impetus for writing my legal thrillers was to leave a legacy for my two sons and the rest of my family. I believe I have revealed a lot about myself in my writing.

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The Book 4

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PATH TO JUSTICE Path to Justice exposes the harsh realities and sacrifices necessary to build a case against a ruthless drug cartel, the Baja Norte Familia. Insights and strategies for conducting a complex international investigation and for trying a drug distribution, money laundering, and murder conspiracy case in federal court is interwoven with perilous confrontations with the cartel.

The reader lives the case with the career prosecutor and veteran agents-how they think and how they banter to get by.

Path to Justice takes the reader from the Montana-Canadian woods, the ice-bound lakes of Glacier National Park, and the plains of Kansas to the beaches of San Diego and the hills above Rosarito Beach, Baja California Norte.

The lead prosecutor and chief of a federal task force, Nick Drummond, struggles with personal demons and his relationship with task force agent Ana Schwartz in his efforts to convict the heads of the Familia cartel. In Drummond’s Path to Justice, he faces the ethical dilemma of his career.

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The Book 6

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PATH TO ATONEMENT Path to Atonement, the third novel in Prosecutor Nick Drummond’s legalthriller trilogy begins with a Nepalese girl escaping from a brothel in Tijuana.

That leads to Drummond’s task force investigating and prosecuting an international sex and forced-labor trafficking ring which is based in San Diego. Innocent teenage girls from India and Nepal are forced into prostitution by ruthless overseers.

Path to Atonement continues the author’s behind-the-scenes portrayal, with wit and insight, of the criminal justice system and how a task force truly operates. Path to Atonement’s action takes the reader from Kathmandu, Kashmir, Delhi, Vietnam, and Tanzania’s Serengeti and Mt. Kilimanjaro to Yellowstone National Park, San Diego, and Tijuana.

Nick Drummond struggles with the consequences of his past acts and seeks relief at a Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, India, before making the most difficult decision of his life.

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The Book 8

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PATH TO REVENGE Path to Revenge, the second novel in Prosecutor Nick Drummond’s legal thriller trilogy, begins with Drummond facing a grand jury probe for murder for the death of a cartel chief. Drummond avoids indictment when the jury finds out that he was gravely wounded fending off cartel hit men.

After the near indictment, Drummond and task force members go to South America to track down the cartel leader who directed the murder of a deputy U.S. Marshal. The leader spearheads the cartel’s venture to set up a distribution network to transport pure cocaine by submarine to North America. Drummond’s team combines with Peruvian and Colombian special forces to combat the cartel’s efforts and bring back the leader to San Diego to stand trial. In South America, the leader meets Elin, a freespirited professor on sabbatical. At her urging, the leader undergoes a 4-day Ayahuasca inner-quest ceremony in the Amazon jungle. This experience opens up his mind to the possibility of a life independent of the cartel.

Path to Revenge continues the author’s authentic portrayal, with wit and insight, of the criminal justice system. It provides the reader with behindthe-scene insights into international investigation, the grand jury process, and trial. San Diego and the exotic locales of the Galapagos Islands, the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, and the Amazon basin of Columbia and Peru, serve as the backdrop for the author’s action-packed novel.

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Photographs Relating To

PATH TO JUSTICE Chapter 11: Stairs to the beach where Ana and Nick had their evening “swim” in the ocean at Solana Beach, California

Chapter 21: Mother Grizzly Bear, National Park

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Chapter 2: Yaak River Tavern

Chapter 21: Many Glacier Hotel overlooking Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier National Park

Chapter 21: Four month-old Grizzly cub, National Park

Chapter Grinnell Salaman Nationa

Chapter 2: Biker Sue, the real estate agent who Zack and Drury took to lunch.

n

r 21: l Lake beneath nder Glacier, Glacier l Park

Chapter 21: Ptarmigan Falls leading to Iceberg Lake beneath a Cirque of peaks, Glacier National Park

Chapter 21: Iceberg Lake where Agents Cantana and Slater were lowered from a helicopter to meet with witnesses Drury and Zack

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Chapter 7: Cafe in Quebec City, which inspired Cafe St. Elena in Ottawa where Nick and Agent Ana enjoyed French onion soup.

Chapters 23, 36: Molokai leper colony where protected witness Lester was secreted before trial

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Photographs Relating To

PATH TO REVENGE

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Chapter 19: Cuzco, Peru, the 11,000 fo site of the ancient Inca cap

Chapter 26: Grotto on Isla Santiago where Elin recovered a snorkel from a fur seal

Chapter 26: Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador

Chapter 26: Ferrocarrile that E the Andes on from Quito to the coas Guayaquil, Ecuad

Chapter 31: A deadly coral snake in the jungle near San Martin

Chapter 31: Mosquito net enshrouded hammock where drug lord Javier slept the night in San Martin

Chapter 31: Piranha fillet dinn San Martin village

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oot-high pital

Chapter 19: Inca-carved, 12-sided stone in wall bordering street, Cuzco

Chapter 19: Inca trail to Machu Picchu from a 13,000 foot pass

Chapter 19: Rainbow seen from Huayna Picchu, the sacred Inca peak which forms one side of the hidden saddle of Machu Picchu

Chapter 19: Machu Picchu, long-lost Inca city, with Urubamba River 1,000 feet below

ner prepared by er

Chapter 31: Village of San Martin, located on the Amacayacu River, a tributary of the Amazon

Chapter 31: Amazon River, Colombia

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Elin descended m outside of tal city of dor

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PATH TO ATONEMENT

Chapter 5: One-foot tall Dik-dik antelope; plains of East Africa

Chapter 6: Mt. Kenya Safari Club hotel where human trafficker Rick and his wife stayed

Chapter 44: Elephant camp at Tiger Tops Resort

Chapter 11: Northern Yellowstone elk herd

Chapter 34: Snow-adorned Grizzly cub yearling, National Park

Chapter 44: Bar at Tiger Tops Resort

Chapter 44: Single Horn India Rhino in elephant grass, Royal Chitwan National Park

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Chapte Lamar

Chapter 44: Riding an elephant acros the Rapti River to Tiger Tops Resort , Royal Chitw National Park, Nepal

Chapter 45: Girl walking on tightrope at square below Hotel Crystal, Kathmandu, Nepal

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Chapter East Afr one tha clothes the Unit

Chapte Market section

r 5: rican market like the t Zuberi purchased at for his work in ted States

Chapter 5: Mt. Kilimanjaro, 19,341 feet high

Chapter 11: Den of first wolf reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995: location wher Nick and his team first met Zuberi from Tanzania

er 33: Valley in the winter

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wan

Chapter 5: Trail up the volcanic scree to the lip of Mt. Kilimanjaro’s crater

Chapter 11: Lamar Valley (North America’s Serengeti), Yellowstone National Park

Chapter 33: Lamar River, Yellowstone, in the winter

Chapter 5: Hiker with High Altitude Pulmonary Edema being transported by makeshift stretcher from Kibo Hut, elevation 15, 520 feet

Chapter 6: Houseboats on Lake Dal, Srinagar, Kashmir, India, where human trafficker Steve stayed with his girlfriend and recruited teenage girls

Chapter 12: A Junction-Butte pack wolf, Lamar Valley

Chapter 12: Spawning creek of Cutthroat trout which flows into Trout Lake, Yellowstone National Park

Chapter 46: Taj Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur, India

Chapter 46: Courtyard of Taj Lake Palace Hotel

Chapter 34: Mama Grizzly showing her teeth; National Park

er 45: t located in the old n of Kathmandu

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Chapter 45: Valley of Silence in the foreground and 29,032-foot Mt. Everest in the background

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REVIEWS PATH TO JUSTICE “Nick Drummond…a droll, middle-aged jazz aficionado…works as a prosecutor for the California Attorney General and is head of a money-laundering task force…A literally explosive first chapter leads into a lengthy flashback that introduces much information and many characters well. Characterizations are intricately detailed and realistic, especially for Drummond, who, when the text begins, has already been tossed out of his home for being a workaholic…Background information on such diverse topics as Glacier National Park, criminal law, authentic Italian cooking, the Holocaust, police procedures, and Father Damien’s Hawaiian leper colony is subtly woven into the text, adding an educational aspect…Brisk, jaunty dialogue adds another dimension to the book’s relationships…In this fast-paced and serious drama, just the right amount of humor is injected in just the right spots…

Path to Justice follows a harrowing case from its beginnings to its conclusion in an absorbing way, providing a behind-the-scenes picture of the personalities who work diligently on the side of justice.”

Clarion Reviews PATH TO JUSTICE

You won’t regret reading this book! Great book, loved the real-life details of the law process and Southern California. Felt like I was watching the trial from the gallery. getting to know the ins and outs of how the gangs operate had me captivated. Really hit home for me overall, highly recommend it.

Mac Gorcey Biblowitz Amazon PATH TO JUSTICE “A San Diego prosecutor puts together a case against top leaders of a new but menacing drug cartel in Dutton’s debut legal thriller…A hero who audaciously takes on bad guys, whether in court or out in the field.”

Kirkus Reviews PATH TO JUSTICE 16

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“No one is above the law in this jargon-heavy legal thriller from former California prosecutor Jim Dutton, who relies on his own experience for realism…There’s a solid action thriller here…”

Blueink Review PATH TO JUSTICE

Buy this book! This is a fascinating story of a real-life prosecutor. The author (a retired prosecutor) gives the most honest and step-by-step view of a major criminal investigation that I have ever read in a book or seen in a movie.

Brett Weiss Amazon PATH TO JUSTICE

“We’ll take good care of you. You can only be safe when we get Luis and the other two heads of the cartel convicted.”

“Nick Drummond, a San Diego prosecutor who heads up a money-laundering task force, finds himself involved in establishing a case against leaders of an international drug cartel. The Baja Norte Familia is brought to Drummond’s attention when a Montana firefighter becomes suspicious of off-road vehicles near the Canadian border, and surveillance of these vehicles reveals a nefarious San Diego accountant to be involved in this dubious activity. Nick and his task force begin building the case against these criminals, even getting an ex-girlfriend of a cartel lieutenant to agree to testify. This proves to be a dangerous proposition, however, as the cartel discovers the witness’s safe house and destroys it, proving that everyone involved in prosecuting the crime family is in danger. “Nick Drummond, a San Diego prosecutor who heads up a money-laundering task force, finds himself involved in establishing a case against leaders of an international drug cartel. The Baja Norte Familia is brought to Drummond’s attention when a Montana firefighter becomes suspicious of off-road vehicles near the Canadian border, and surveillance of these vehicles reveals a nefarious San Diego accountant to be involved in this dubious activity. Nick and his task force begin building the case against these criminals, even getting an ex-girlfriend of a cartel lieutenant to agree to testify. This proves to be a dangerous proposition, however, as the cartel discovers the witness’s safe house and destroys it, proving that everyone involved in prosecuting the crime family is in danger.

-The US Review of Books by Kat Kennedy PATH TO JUSTICE 17

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REVIEWS PATH TO REVENGE “In this sequel, a United States attorney [Nick Drummond] and a task force pursue a murderous cartel leader in South America…As Dutton’s second installment is directly connected to the preceding novel, Path to Justice (2017), the book hits the ground running. All of the subplots and alternating narrative perspectives…generate a brisk, steady pace.

The action takes precedence over the legal battles…Nevertheless, the story delivers surprising effective melodrama, like Nick, separated from his wife, becoming romantically involved with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Ana Schwartz. “A rousing, energetic drug tale sure to spark interest in this legal thriller series.”

Kirkus Reviews PATH TO REVENGE

“In this complex story about revenge and finding one’s calling, the characters are the stars… In Jim Dutton’s character-driven crime thriller Path to Revenge, a case around a Mexican drug cartel seems like its business as usual until the cartel’s leader is killed in cold blood…The opening chapter engages interest by revealing a controversy so huge and messy that it’s hard to choose the more convincing side.”

Clarion Reviews PATH TO REVENGE

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“[Cartel leader] Javier Esquel-Ranchez calls in the hit on Nick [Drummond]… Danger and action follow these two men from California all the way down to Peru as Nick’s crusade against the cartels enters its next thrilling chapter…The action…rattles off from one exotic location to the next, with the possibility of a shootout always within arm’s reach.

Giving each of the men on either side of the law an opportunity to function as a principal character gives their showdown tremendous gravity, and the readers may even find themselves hoping against hope for a peaceful resolution. The balance of blockbuster action and measured character development here makes for an excellent and suspenseful read to those that can handle the adrenaline.”

The US Review of Books PATH TO REVENGE

Path to Revenge had some unexpected turns! Great follow-up story and a fast read. Kept me engaged, but I knew how it would end! Can’t wait for part 3.

Barbara Mandel Amazon PATH TO REVENGE

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REVIEWS PATH TO ATONEMENT “A United States attorney leads a task force targeting an international human trafficking ring in this third installment of a thriller series.

“Nick Drummond’s Money Laundering Task Force now has its first human trafficking case. A 17-year-old Nepali girl has escaped captivity from a trafficking ring centered in Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California.

She provides details on numerous individuals involved, most notably two Americans known as Mister Steve and Mister Rick. These men are linked to a private corporation that owns spas and hotels in the U.S. and other countries. At these businesses are youngsters from places like Nepal and Tanzania forced into sex work or severely underpaid for manual labor. The task force, which includes government agents, gathers intelligence so that Nick can take the fight to court, beginning with a grand jury hearing. Making charges stick will entail someone wearing a wire and facing a culprit with a reputation for violence. Nick hopes to put a lot of people away, even if everyone pleads to a deal. But the attorney himself may be looking to make reparations—he’s still burdened by guilt over a crime he committed years ago. Like preceding series entries, this volume moves at a steady clip.

Taskforce members sometimes find themselves in dangerous circumstances (for example, up against a hidden shooter). Nick utilizes the legal system with skill and promptness: overseeing testimonies, discovery, and motions. With his pithy writing, Dutton distinctly establishes scenes and new characters. In the case of villains Steve and Rick, they seem like typical adventure-seeking men, but the few overt signs of their depravity make them truly horrifying.

The story caters to new readers joining the series, but it’s especially edifying for returning fans, who will recognize several characters and subplots. The enjoyable novel ends on a sharp and unexpected note.

“An engaging legal tale with plenty of action, suspense, and courtroom flair.”

Kirkus Reviews PATH TO ATONEMENT

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“In Jim Dutton’s shocking legal thriller Path to Atonement, an attorney confronts the realities of human trafficking.

Nick Drummond, an assistant US attorney, is contacted by Elin…, the fiancée of a man whose death was partially brought about by Nick’s actions. Through Elin, he meets Binsa, a Nepalese teenager who escaped sexual slavery. He also becomes embroiled in the fight to dismantle the human trafficking ring that took Binsa. “…In the novel’s second half, the characters become dynamic, and their exchanges take on wry wit, helping to leaven the heavy subject matter….Once the legal proceedings begin, the story becomes suspenseful and interesting, portraying human trafficking and its consequences in an authentic manner.

The victims suffer from deep and abiding PTSD, but they do not lose the defining traits that make them human and individuals. Their character arcs are satisfying, albeit heart-wrenching. They’re treated by Nick and his teammates with kindness and compassion,…The story’s ending is shocking and involves some controversy, but is gratifying.

“The legal thriller Path to Atonement goes inside of courtroom practices to treat its painful subject matter with sensitivity and respect.”

Clarion Reviews PATH TO ATONEMENT

“It is a world populated by men and women on both sides of the law, those well familiar with the consequences of faulty decisions, and who are distinctly casual about the violence of the entire process. It is a culture of men like Nick, who struggle to make amends for past wrongs and strip themselves of old wounds that their distinct brand of justice has manifested on their souls.

It is a tale that hints at the darker possibilities of the criminal mind and the handicaps imposed on law enforcement that restrain them from crossing the line. Ultimately, it’s a compelling story about individuals finding the courage to stop compromising their morals, quit bending their badges, and seek a path towards humility and forgiveness.”

The US Review of Books by Robert Buccellato PATH TO ATONEMENT

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JIM DUTTON

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