A Word to the Wise...

Snakes on Every Level

By: Rick Norton

Narrated by: Bob Davis

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

"So, instead of spending Christmas with family, I lined up with around 300 other inmates to be escorted, single-file, from Building One to the mess hall. We were told to walk past a guard, who handed us what amounted to a paper shot glass of lukewarm, non-alcoholic eggnog. Each of us downed the shot and threw the cup in the trash can next to the guard. Never stopping, we marched on back to our cells."

An unbelievable but true white-collar crime story told by an average family man, Rick Norton. He gives a rare look into his own life as a young businessman in San Diego working as a financial planner, then falling into the life of being a business manager for professional athletes and gaining a front-row seat to their huge money and frequently dirty world. Used as a pawn by a powerful Fortune 500 company and exploited by the very professionals he was paying to help him, he tells of the difficult lessons learned along the way of meeting, head-on, ignorance, greed, revenge, fear, and corruption, which ultimately led him through the gates of federal prison.

His personal experiences are written with dry wit and and his continual positive outlook on his circumstances in life shines through. The chapters of courtroom drama where he represents himself in a four-and-a-half-month jury trial, as well as where he recounts his experiences in prison, are worth their weight in gold. The twists and turns of this story are truly stunning, so much so that the New York Times wrote, "And while title insurance and escrow accounts do not seem like the stuff of white-knuckle drama, the legal adventures that gave rise to the San Diego cases would keep Law & Order rolling for months."

©2021 Rick Norton (P)2021 Rick Norton

Eye Opening!

This audible/book (I bought both) was AMAZING and one that was really hard to put down! I was hooked from the beginning because it's crazy imagining that corporations can get way this type of corruption! Each chapter had me wondering what would happen next! I gave this book 5 stars and would recommend listening to it too! The narrator was GREAT!

So entertaining!

Rick Norton’s wit comes through in this humble and honest account of his true life story. Hard to believe he went through this unbelievably difficult situation and still has the ability to share this story in his true Rick Norton jolly fashion. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat and you just want to cheer him on as the story unfolds. Great read.

So good!! An eye-opening account of a true San Diego legend.

A captivating true crime story. The book is a well-documented and intriguing narrative of an ordinary family man fighting his way through a web of lies, greed, and corporate/government corruption——peppered with humorous tales of the author’s personal experiences as a misfit (but often fitting in) in federal prison. 5 stars!!!!!

Not what I was expecting

I wasn’t expecting the hubris. I didn’t expect the droning details of so many legal documents filed to sue and countersue so many. This feels more like a rant than a memoir or novel. I don’t know what I was expecting but this wasn’t what I thought it might be.

I felt a little sad at the irony in the closing cautionary dialogue.

I do agree that we are all responsible for our choices and hopefully we each learn and grow from mistakes as we accept responsibility for our choices.

I’m glad that life is once again good for the Norton family and wish them all happiness in their lives . May God bless all the families involved and may everyone find peace and healing.

My takeaways: greed is all powerful, all consuming and always destructive; introspection is vital in finding personal peace ; honesty is always the best policy, always; if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is; giving and receiving forgiveness brings peace; life is short and our relationships with God and family are our only true joys in this life.