Publisher's Synopsis
JOHN ROBERTS is born in China, a water birth. American Ambassador father and American mother. Competition swimming begins at age 4 followed by martial arts. His mother dies when he is seven and the father is killed when he is 12. He and his younger sister SUSAN and brother WAYNE join their stepfather in New Jersey. Private schooling in China puts them far above grades assigned by age. Bullies that start a fight end up in the hospital. The principal finds a way to send them to high school. Two hoodlums follow John after school. He leads them into the woods and leaves their dead bodies behind. John is accepted to take classes at USC so this is a good time to leave for Hollywood.
John drops Akido, switches to boxing and trains for the Olympics. He sings and plays the piano with a local band, finishes school and the family goes to Korea. John gets talked into giving a charity rock and roll concert right at the Olympic games by his younger brother. He shuns the spotlight even though his multi-event gold medals thrust him there. NBC is hungry since the 1988 Seoul summer games is a ratings disaster. John returns to medical school at USC. The concert special kills during the November sweeps and a rock star is born. A dispute with NBC leads John to ABC where he does a comedy/variety special, four times a year for sweeps. He stays in school and juggles the lucrative show business pursuits. Wayne organizes JPR Enterprises with CHARLES LEE (stepfather), while working on his computer model that picks winning stocks.
The band plays Las Vegas and John befriends Vince, a local Mafia boss.
John has 24 hour protection from an in house, security force. A crack legal team is assembled, called the Sharks. Being rich makes the family a target. Because of gang drive-by shootings the blocks around John's house are declared crime free. Some ignore the warning and end up "in quicksand". Never seen again. There are back stabbing network executives, a violent striking union, and dirty cops to keep the family on their toes. Most things are going to plan.
They never saw it coming.
