I Was, I Am, I Will Be
John Coventry — A True Life Story
Written with John Coventry
There’s nothing more gripping than a true-life thriller — and John Hugo Coventry has lived one.
Born into wealth, prestige, and a family name dating back to the 1600s, Coventry had every advantage. It wasn’t enough to keep him out of trouble. When the opportunity for easy money presents itself, he takes it — and quickly finds himself caught in a scheme to defraud the British Government out of a substantial sum of money.
When the fraud unravels and the authorities close in, Coventry faces a life-changing choice: work undercover for the British Government’s Customs and Excise Department, or go to prison. He chooses to help — and almost immediately discovers he’s in far deeper water than he bargained for. The drug runners he’s been assigned to investigate are smuggling more than drugs. They’re connected to terrorists in both Ireland and France. Now working with British Intelligence, Coventry finds himself relaying information about IRA arms smuggling operations while trying to keep himself alive long enough to see it through.
“Just seven little words strung together like an ancient Chinese riddle. I had no idea the power or the prophecy hidden deep within the simplicity of the phrase. In the end, those words would haunt, torture and terrorize me — forever a symbol of a passion disenchanted by romantic ideology.”
Frightened and increasingly isolated, he finds comfort in the arms of Michelle — a passionate, fiercely committed member of the Action Directe terrorist group in France. She has no idea he’s a spy. He knows he should walk away. He can’t.
Across Ireland, France, and South Africa, Coventry navigates a world where one wrong word means a bullet, where love and betrayal are two sides of the same coin, and where the people who claim to own you never really let go. When he finally boards a plane for Los Angeles — battered, grieving, and ready to start over — he thinks the worst is behind him.
Then there’s a knock at his hotel room door.
I Was, I Am, I Will Be is a true story — fact-checked by international investigators and attorneys — told with unflinching honesty by the man who lived it. It is the kind of story that reminds you that real life, when it really gets going, is stranger and more extraordinary than anything a novelist could invent.
What Readers Are Saying
“It is gripping. You offer up an indelible and vivid flash of your life. You do not shrink from the graphic details of sex and violence. These are truly the chronicles of a writer who truly knows what it is like not to be able to tell the truth to your family and friends, and who is not beyond having his heart broken.” — James Bowen, New York Times, June 2013
“I found it extremely hard to put my iPhone down. A tense thriller in parts, a wonderful love story in others. My first read in a long time, but one that I remain thinking about. Excellent — buy it.” — Kindle Edition Review, January 2013
“Sex, blood and action — loved every page and could not stop this read. One of the best reads in 2012. An easy, thrilling, and fast read.” — Barnes and Noble Review, December 2012
“I think this book deserves its sales and status in its own right — it’s clearly written from the heart and I enjoyed every page.” — LA Celeb Magazine, November 2012
“When I had finished this book, my view of John Coventry had changed. He is smart, but kind, understanding and loyal. I for one think this book is a very worthy best-seller and the film will be a blockbuster.” — Goodreads Review, November 2012
Sneak Peeks
Sneak Peek #1
“I Was, I Am, I Will Be.” The first time I heard the expression it meant nothing to me. Just seven little words strung together like an ancient Chinese riddle. I had no idea the power or the prophecy hidden deep within the simplicity of the phrase. In the end, those words would haunt, torture and terrorize me — forever a symbol of a passion disenchanted by romantic ideology.
“You’ve certainly gotten yourself into one hell of a mess this time John,” I said, tossing the book on the table.
I’d been at the Central Library in Liverpool since noon doing some reading and research. This would be my first trip to Ireland and from the tone of Peter Barrington’s voice on the telephone, I knew it wasn’t for pleasure. Brian wanted to see me — and when Brian summons you, you don’t say no. Not unless you wanted to end up with a face split open and smashed like an overripe tomato on the pavement. I suppose that was more promising than winding up in a body bag or floating belly up in the Thames with a bullet through your neck.
I tried to make good decisions, I really did. But it didn’t take me long to recognize that one bad decision could wipe out a lifetime of good. Trying to cover up the first bad decision with a second and third only sends you spiraling further into the pit. And yet it seems no matter how hard you try to move forward, people will always judge you by that one mistake.
I’m not going to tell you I’m an angel. I’ve told my share of lies, cheated people out of money, and been a downright arrogant bastard in my younger days. And I’ve kept secrets — so many secrets — from family, from friends, from authorities. I feel horrible for it. But at times, it’s hard to know just who to trust.
I was in deep. With Brian, with Peter Atwood, with Nigel. With Michelle. I just needed to find a way out — to slip away in the middle of the night and disappear. Easier said than done. This was a high-stakes game of drugs, terror, and espionage. On both sides, the players were hard-nosed professionals, and the consequences of failure were death, jail, or the muddied waters in between.
The government has me by one ball, Brian has me by the other, and they’re both pulling as hard as they can.