Book Review: Chameleon
Remi Adeleke is an actor and author these days, appearing in the Amazon Prime Video series "The Terminal List" and Fox's Special Forces: World's Toughest Tests. The transition makes sense: he spent his youth enamored by movies.
If there was good storytelling, it was a great escape from his everyday life. He was born in Nigeria, but his family came to the United States when he was five years old to escape persecution. Growing up in New York City, he began to work the streets as a drug dealer. Watching movies showed him he could be something more.
"When I was about 15, I saw a movie called 'Bad Boys,'" Adeleke says." That began to change my perspective as far as what I could be because I saw these two guys who looked like me and came from where I came from, but they maintained that same swagger. It showed me that I could maintain who I am and be a hero. I don't have to continue selling drugs."
"A year later, I came across a film called 'The Rock,' and that was my first exposure to Navy SEALs. I told myself if I ever turn my life around, that's what I would do: I'd be a frogman."
It wasn't long before a young Adeleke got on the wrong side of some bad people. Looking for an escape, he turned to the U.S. Navy. The recruiter worked with a local judge to get his criminal record expunged so he could join. Remi Adeleke became a Corpsman, and after a stint with the 1st Marine Division, he joined the Navy SEALs – just like he always said.
He left the Navy in 2016, spending his time in the SEAL Teams as a human intelligence operative. He collected information and vetted it by day. By night, he was suiting up with other frogmen for action missions, putting the information he collected to use. It was an exciting but classified life, filled with true stories he can't tell.
Adeleke wrote about his real life and rise through the ranks of the SEALs in his first book, "Transformed: A Navy SEAL's Unlikely Journey from the Throne of Africa, to the Streets of the Bronx, to Defying All Odds." This time, he's expanding on that story by using a fictional story to tell how he operated in the real world.
"Chameleon" is the story of Kali Browder Kent, a member of the CIA's Black Box program. Known as a chameleon, he can almost transform into another person, become a ghost when it comes to stealth and surveillance, and maintain a deep cover for long periods of time – years if necessary.
Kent is on the hunt for South African ex-commando Lucas Van Groot, who's made it his business to take wealthy hostages and hold them for ransom. Kent discovers the South African's scheme is much more complex. Van Groot's plan includes crippling global stock markets and threatening global economic collapse.
To prevent this global tragedy, Kent will have to use all his skills to track down Van Groot and his teams of international criminals.
"Fans of the espionage world who love a good action thriller and are intrigued by grounded, authentic storytelling will love it," Adeleke says. "Kids and adults who may come from where I came from and never saw themselves in this type of light will be excited about a grounded character who comes from where they come from."
To learn more about Remi Adeleke, his life and work, and his new book "Chameleon," visit the HarperCollins website. "Chameleon" hits bookshelves everywhere on July 25, 2023. It is available for pre-order on Amazon in hardcover, Kindle reader, and Audible audio, starting at $14.99.