Driven: Investigating Nine Decades of Stop-at-Nothing Ambition

Attorney John Martel's memoir, Driven, explores nine decades of relentless ambition-from flying in the Air Force to winning high-profile legal cases, from successes in music, writing, and competitive sports to his indefatigable search for true love.

Born during the depression in rural Modesto, California, with no family encouragement, Martel became a college athlete, then an elite US Air Force pilot, a top trial lawyer, a successful singer-songwriter, a national best-selling author, and an international Masters Track and Field high hurdling champion. Now in his nineties, the mystery and suspense writer invites his readers to join him in a candid investigation of his life as he tries to solve the mystery of who or what drove him to a lifetime of frenzied preeminence, in total disregard for his health, happiness, and well-being.

Combining literature, law, and life lessons, Martel's memoir reveals the heartfelt reflections of a man who achieved uncanny success in five different vocations, only to discover that he had become a victim of his obsession with achievement, a prisoner of his need for recognition and fame. But it wasn't too late. Driven is a story of manic ambition that ends with lasting love and emotional redemption.