The American Hobbit

About the Book

A rare insight into the seedy side of homelessness. Beginning in Salt Lake City, Utah, where three men and three women decide they want to get off the road, you begin to see a side of homelessness that nobody wants you to see. Petty criminals, high risk takes, foolhardy, dumb-dumbs, sincere, heartful, all of these terms describe the "Six". Hoboing freight trains for transportation, robbing smalltime drug dealers for money, shoplifting for clothes and food; eating, sleeping, and showering in rescue missions. The "Six" make it to Leesburg, Florida, where they are given jobs in a church-supported mission, which begins a change in the meaning of life for them. For two years they scour St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Orlando, until finally their leader, Hobbit, tells them it is time. They begin by robbing small time drug dealers and getting them to tell who and where their drug suppliers are. Then using this information to get to the middlemen, finally extracting the information on the drug kingpins. Finally, after setting a trap in the Florida Everglades, they rob two kingpins of almost twelve million dollars.

About the Author

Thirty years ago George Ellis Wheeler, Jr. rode the rails throughout the western United States. After going to college, he joined a Rescue Mission as a Foodservice Manager. He is a twenty-year member of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, formerly the International Union of Gospel Rescue Missions.