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.