Thursday, February 3, 2022

Free at Last

About the Book

Book: Free At Last

Author: Marcel Becker, with W.A. Fulkerson

Genre: Memoir/Inspirational

Release date: July 2, 2021

FAL-eCover-FINAL Abused and isolated, Marcel Becker ended up on his own at the age of 15, and his descent into the cycle of addiction, crime, and incarceration followed the typical pattern. He became, in his own words, a “prolific offender” – an outlaw biker, a criminal mastermind, and the sole target of a multi-agency federal task force. When Marcel received custody of his children, however, he knew he had to make a change or the consequences would fall on them. Breaking out of his old life was full of struggle, uncertainty, and setbacks, but it proves that anyone who is willing can find true freedom and escape the dark cloud of the ex-con.

A United States Congressman once called Marcel’s life a story “of redemption and triumph,” and so it is.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Marcel 3 Marcel Becker is a businessman, a designated community leader, and a motivational speaker. Once a five-time offender, Marcel turned his life around over twenty years ago, and since then has served on innumerable boards, political campaigns, and civil causes, finding great success in all of his endeavors. He is currently the Vice President of Propulsion Controls Engineering, a Job Force Motivational Speaker, has received several certificates of congressional recognition, has had two resolutions introduced in the California Legislature honoring his service to the community, and received a “Hero” award from California State Senator Joel Anderson for his efforts with the Second Chance Program.

Marcel shares stories of his life before and after taking the high road to success in order to encourage others to be the best they can be. He lives in San Diego, California.

More from W.A.

If Marcel Becker sat down next to you in a coffee shop today, you would assume him to be a respectable, mild-mannered business man, and you would be right. What you would not think is, “I bet that guy has done time – and a LOT of it.”

And yet, he has. Marcel Becker was one of the most notorious criminals to come up from his neighborhood of Oceanside, CA during the eighties and nineties, when his activities landed him behind bars on federal charges five times. His activities also earned him a lot of scars, plenty of fear and admiration among the criminal class, and admission into one of the most dangerous biker gangs in the country. He’s done eighteen months of solitary confinement in a single stretch, been labeled a flight risk and an extremely dangerous martial arts expert, and the government tried to use his rival gang to illegally execute him. His nickname on the streets and throughout police precincts and prisons?

Flash. Because if you mess with him, he’ll knock you out immediately.

When Marcel talks about his past (and shows the newspaper articles to prove it), the experience is quite a rollercoaster ride.

To make a long and fascinating story short, at the height of his life of crime, Marcel became responsible for his two children, and he had to make a change fast. He started at the bottom as a grunt laborer on the docks, and eventually he rose through the ranks to become a majority owner of a ship repair company and a serial entrepreneur. Today, he is a titan of industry, a civil servant, a friend to mayors and senators, and a living testimony that anyone can turn their life around.

When I’ve expressed regret for a boneheaded decision I’ve made and some wasted time, Marcel reminds me that he spent his youth in and out of prison. If he focused on how terrible his mistakes were, he would never have done anything else. The message is, ‘If I can get past my mistakes, so can you. Move forward, hombre.’ I could give example after example like this – knowing Marcel is a real blessing, and he offers more than just interesting stories. He offers hope and encouragement, a reminder of God’s grace and the masterful plan of redemption awaiting us all if we will only turn to it.

You wouldn’t think that this man sitting next to you at a coffee shop was once tormented by an abusive upbringing, a brilliant master of crime, and public enemy number one.

But that’s sort of the point, isn’t it?

W.A. Fulkerson, Co-Author of Marcel Becker’s memoir Free at Last: Trading a Life of Crime for Family, Faith, and Success in Business

Merry

MY REVIEW

This is a hard hitting in your face account of a man who rose from the depths of uncertainty to a place where God used him to reach others. It is not an easy story to read. In fact at times I wasn’t sure if he would survive. Sometimes you have to reach the bottom of the pit before you ask for help. His life was hard and at times his reaction to a situation was to fight or die. His time spent in prison made him tough and scary to some. He wanted to control his destiny and didn’t want anyone to have any power over him.

As you read the book it goes into detail about his criminal past with honesty and transparency. I appreciate how he never sugar coats the life of a criminal. The turning point for him was the day his ex-wife dumped his two children on the doorstep and walked away. Now he had to get clean and provide an environment where his children were safe and loved. This part of the story is very important as it shows that anyone can change if they want to. A few times in the story the words used may be uncomfortable for some.

His experience in going to church is not surprising to me. There are churches that preach one thing, and do the opposite. It was unfortunate that he experienced a person who was a leader in the church who was blinded by the love of money. For us as Christians we need to be aware of what our church represents. We need to make sure that everyone feels welcomed and loved. Im glad he was able to come back to God and find a church where he felt welcomed.

The ending is an overview of how he came to Christ and learned that God had a purpose for his life. Let his testimony be an example that God can use anyone, even those who have sinned. The author illustrates that his life was a journey down a dark road where hope seemed lost. There in the midst of his darkest moment, God showed him unconditional love and forgiveness. He found freedom where he thought his chains were never going to be removed. He witnessed redemption when he felt worthless. Most importantly of all, he felt God’s breath breathe new life into him.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.