"My name is Ben Walters. I was an only child. I was born with a deformed foot that curled in at the ankle. My father left my mother shortly after I was born. I suppose he was disgusted with the ugly child with a clubfoot. My mother and I lived in a two-bedroom apartment above a small drug store. Mom worked in the pharmacy as a clerk, and I was left with the old lady that lived in the apartment next door while she worked. As I was growing up, I didn't have any real friends. Besides the clubfoot, I was good at my studies, and that made me a pariah with the other kids. I couldn't play sports, didn't care for them anyway, and I was more happy reading or studying. It was a lonely childhood, I guess, my mother was my only real friend, and she was generally too tired after working all day to spend much time talking with me. That's when the trouble started. I got an imaginary friend." Then things get weird. Theo, the imaginary friend comes back to visit Ben in college. Problem is, he is now a real person. Another problem is, Theo is still an imaginary identity. Ben and his friend, Theo, have to get him a real identity and fabricate a past. Theo, understandably, is a little lost and confused. Ben is confused and lost. As Theo's life gets real, Ben's life gets interesting.
About the Author: Jerry Hooten Jerry Hooten is a native Iowan. He was born and raised in the southeast Iowa town of Fort Madison, on the Mississippi river. He served four years in the Navy with a guided missile group. His specialty was autopilot and guidance systems. He had extensive training in electronics in the Navy and had a Top Secret clearance. After his tour in the Navy, Jerry worked for the U.S. Postal Service. While working at the post office, he also worked part time at the Lee County Sheriff's Office as jailer and dispatcher on the night shift. He was a member of the Fort Madison Police reserves. One night, while working at the police department, he was approached by a Postal Inspector and was asked to take the test to become a Postal Police Officer, the uniformed branch of the Postal Inspection Service. He passed the test and took his training at the postal inspectors academy in Bethesda, Maryland. He moved to Des Moines and after a few years as a Postal Police Officer, took the position as a Security Electronics Specialist with the Postal Inspectors. The following twenty years, he installed security access systems and security video cameras. He also installed covert cameras and did other electronic surveillance to assist in investigations; not only with the Postal Inspectors, but with other government agencies and various police departments. His work involved extensive travel, often being detailed to other areas of the country to assist in investigations. The last three years before retirement, Jerry was the Security Coordinator for the Midwest Area of the postal service. In that position, he determined security needs of facilities in the twelve states in his area, by doing risk assessment and security surveys. As Security Coordinator, Jerry was involved in creating budgets to cover the acquisition and installation of the security equipment needed. While he was working with the postal inspectors, he met mystery writer Michael Connelly and assisted Mr. Connelly with several of his novels and is currently still doing so. He also has assisted writers Jim Swain, author of "Mr.Lucky", the late Barbara Seranella, creator of the "Munch Mancini" series of mysteries and M.J. Rose, creator of the "Reincarnationist" series. Since his retirement, Jerry has started a Mystery Writers Resource website, (www.jerryhooten.com) and attends conferences and workshops focused on mystery writers and their works.