Views and reviews

It's been a few months now since the book came out. I remember how terrified I was to let go of it and hit the "publish" button. Who would read it? Would people who read it think we were looking for attention or, worse, pity? What if the people who meant the most to this story ending well (God, family, law enforcement, district attorneys) were disappointed in us; in me? What if people who've just gotten to know us suddenly turned away from us as so many did before? Would publishing the story be of value to anyone - maybe keep them safer- or would it be just more white noise?

We had and have no marketing budget. We wanted it that way. Early on, we looked at crowd funding, but decided that if this book had legs, it would make it by word-of-mouth. It's still got a long way to go before I'd call it a success in the sales sense, but it has been a success. Thanks to you. If you're one of the many that have bought it and read it and told others about it, you've made it a success and we thank you.

We were honored to speak at a local Rotary group because someone told someone else about the book. I was blessed and honored to be guest author at a local book club recently for the same reason. Blessed even more to be invited to become a member of that group! It's been a wonderful surprise and makes my day when I see a review on Amazon or Good Reads that the person has gotten something valuable from reading the book. In every case, the best thing of all was to hear statements like these:

"My husband and I realized, from the book, that we have too much routine. We're changing that." "I lock the door between my garage and house now." "We don't post minute-by-minute activities on Facebook now." "I'm more alert to where I am and who's around me." "We have started a check-in system in our family because of your book." "We don't open the door to anyone we're not expecting." "I make sure every door is locked, even my car." "We have a construction business and realize that this could have happened - could happen - to us. We are much more careful now."

We can't completely avoid tragedy in our lives. We can't know God's plans for our lives, but, He told us to keep alert; to be ready always. Our prayer is that this book honors the ones who risked their lives to save ours, honors the advocates who fought for justice on Paul's and Lance's behalf and prevents this kind of crime from happening to any other family.

Not an easy victim...

Okay, so now that you know you're a target and why, let's talk about making it harder for someone to "hit" you. This isn't about being afraid. This isn't paranoia. This is about claiming your right to live your life. Everything worthwhile in life takes focus and attention. Your safety and security is no different. While there's no guarantee that you or I or anyone we know and love won't be victim to some horrible event, I believe following a few steps greatly improve our odds.

1. Be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to the people walking by; make sure they see you see them. Most criminals want to surprise you.
2. Travel in alternate routes. Don't be predictable. If you go the same way, every day, you provide information that could leave you, your family or your home vulnerable.
3. If you tend to work later than your counterparts, don't park in dark or isolated areas.
4. The same for traveling alone. Park in well-lit areas with people. Most criminals don't want witnesses.
5. On traveling and social media - even if its just to a local event. Safer to post after the fact than to post live. Countless news reports have been written about the family who returns home from vacation or a day at the fair to find their home ransacked and their possessions stolen simply because they announced they were going and then that they were gone and every other detail of their itinerary on social media.
6. When hiring anyone to work in or around your home, be very careful not to give your trust to them easily.
7. THE MOST IMPORTANT!! Make sure that you have a good communication plan so that the people you love and that love you always have a reasonable idea of where you are and where they are. There should always be someone who will know when something is wrong within hours, NOT DAYS. We call it "knowing when to worry."

These are just a few ways to avoid becoming a victim. There are lots more. Let's face it, criminals are looking for the easy way out. Don't make it easy for them. You might not get justice, like we did, as shown in this photo:

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland - An American couple's true story of kidnap-for-ransom in the United States as directed by the most vicious drug cartel in Mexico. On sale in paperback and eBook at Amazon.com.

YOU are a target...

Yes, you are. You are either a target or someone looking for a target. I believe its as simple as that. For this post, I'm only going to describe what makes you a target and if one or more of these applies to you...I rest my case:

1. You post on social media where you are, when you're there and who you're with - especially those great vacations.
2. You post personal identifiers on social media about yourself, your family, your job.
3. You take the same route to work or to school or to wherever you regularly go.
4. You don't lock your doors.
5. You don't lock your windows.
6. You leave windows uncovered when you're away or at night.
7. You don't have exterior lighting in key areas or motion sensor lighting outside.
8. You wait until you're at your car to find your keys.
9. You wait until you're at your door to have the door key in hand.
10. You walk in public places reading your phone or texting.
11. You walk in public places looking at the ground.
12. You park your car in areas that are not well-lighted.
13. You go to ATMs (anywhere) at night by yourself.
14. You wear jewelry.
15. You go shopping and, rather than carry items to lock in your car trunk a few at a time (especially during the holidays), you carry too many at once and fumble with keys and bags when you reach your car.
16. You open your door to strangers you aren't expecting and the ones that you are.
17. You employ anyone for anything. (business or personal)
18. You talk to strangers.
19. You travel frequently using public transportation (plane, train, taxi, bus, boat)
20. You work for a person or a corporation.
21. You own a business - small or large.
22. You're related to someone who owns a business.
23. You dress for success.
24. You have children.
25. You have a spouse.
26. You have family.
27. You carry a purse or a wallet.
28. You drive a car.
29. You appear in public at any time, any place.
30. You breathe.

You fit in there somewhere. I know you do. Although YOU are a target, you don't have to be a victim. We know - we wrote a book about learning that.

On sale - Amazon.com

Facebook - Walking-Between-The-Raindrops

Faces of evil

When a mother has a child - most mothers, I believe - she looks into the face of that child, into their eyes, and all she can see is the work of God in her life, in her arms. She sees hope and promise and perfection. As the child grows, she prays for its safety, health and a good life. She prays that it never wants, is never hurt and that only good things will come in that child's life. It doesn't matter if it's her first child or her tenth (or more). Every new life holds that promise and those prayers in her heart.

Still, we all know that no child grows up free from pain or sickness or temptations. As parents and adults, we didn't make it this far without some heartbreak, various illnesses - some life threatening - or mistakes in judgment. Still, we plan and guide and nurture our children as best we can. We pray to our God for mercy and protection and blessings that our children will grow up to be better people than we are; to have love everlasting and make the world a better place. Thankfully, most children do grow up to be happy, healthy and living good lives their parents are proud of. By the Grace of God, Paul and I have been fortunate with our six children. We pray for them every day, just like other parents do around the world for their children. What we don't pray for is that our childrens' lives turn out like the ones in the pictures below. One newspaper called them the "San Antonio Five". I call them the faces of evil.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland on sale now at Amazon.com

Anniversary of Evil

Abduction happened here.


This Thursday, February 26, 2015, marks 7 years since the morning that turned our world upside down and changed, not only the course, but our whole lives forever. It's been said over and over that our lives can change forever in an instant. Most of us, I know I did, smile and nod as if we know what that means. But I truly believe that until it happens to you, we never really understand and, I don't think we really understand "the Grace of God" until we have only survived because of it. At least, I didn't.

I'll be posting several times over the next several days with photos (some never seen here or in the book) some video and excerpts from "Walking Between The Raindrops" to commemorate this infamous anniversary; ending where we are today.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland - An American couple's true story of kidnap-for-ransom in the United States as directed by the most vicious drug cartel in Mexico. (Now available worldwide on Amazon.com)

Some reviews -

"Excellent read! This could have happened to anyone." Mark Flickinger
"Incredible true story! Very hard to put the book down." Lance Self
"Incredible story! So well written that I find myself rechecking the locks on all my doors at night. The cooperation of all law enforcement agencies restores my faith in the system. Very impressed with the dedication and capability of Investigative and District Attorney personnel in such a small community." Darlene Miller

Available Now

It's been a long time coming but the day has finally come and "Walking Between The Raindrops" is on sale in Kindle and print format at Amazon.com. ( Letting go of this book for public consumption is hard to do. I want to keep fixing. I want to make sure it represents truthfully, in every way, the heroes, the victims and the perpetrators. It's hard, too, because this is highly personal and many of these details have never been shared with anyone. We hope that those who read this book will look at the world around them in a little different way. We hope we will all be more aware - be more kind - be more engaged with the ones we love.

The support and encouragement throughout the writing of this book has been phenomenal. Every beta reader has helped to shape the published version. To you, friends, family, co-workers and the incredible heroes who saved the day and fought for justice we are forever grateful. God bless you all.

- Mary and Paul Roland

Who ya gonna call?

Its no news that I've never been a fan of President Obama, but I respect him and the enormous difficulties he's faced and in a recent interview he was asked why is the US always going into these places to fix things? He said, "When these countries get into trouble, they don't call Russia for help. They don't call Beijing. They call us." I don't think I've heard it put better.

People come to this country for many reasons. Even as frightening as having persons with Ebola enter our country, you know they come here because they want the best chance of survival. They aren't going to Canada or Mexico or Europe. When refugees stream across our borders, many times at great personal risks, they are coming for justice and a better life. They don't sneak into Brazil or Venezuela.

And, while there is no perfect place, no perfect people, American people depend on and respect their law enforcement officers more than any other country I know of. Bad situations are still so rare that they make headlines. We are so used them doing the right things that the media ignores the story of the police officer in Michigan who, pulling a woman over for not having her child in a car seat, decided to buy the woman a car seat and install it rather than give her a ticket. The everyday good things are taken for granted.

When Paul was taken from our driveway in Austin, Texas, we didn't turn to a celebrity or a politician. We turned to the Williamson County Sheriff's Department and they brought together a "dream team" of local, state and federal officers within minutes and hours, working non-stop to bring Paul home alive and safe.

This picture, taken later in the day of Paul's rescue, sums up our family's reaction to the events preceding. Our youngest grandson (at the time) literally flew into Paul's arms, hugging him for all he's worth. It was beautiful and it was heart breaking because we all knew how close we'd come to never being able to do that again. I think of this and am so thankful and grateful to God for how this turned out and then I pray for the loved ones and families of all the others being held captive by evil people.

The headlines from around the world would make us believe that evil is, indeed, in charge. Hate, brutality and viciousness dominate the world and local news, even our "entertainment." But I don't buy it. I choose to remember all the good that is done from individual to individual, groups to communities, nations to nations. Let's celebrate the good not the bad. And, should my family need emergency help again, I'm not going to call Russia or Beijing or even President Obama. I'm gonna call the three men above - Detective James Maugham, Captain Pete Hughey and Texas Ranger Captain Matt Lindemann.

CORA - Four-legged PTSD Therapy

There has been so much written about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) - soldiers coming back from battlefields, people who've survived disasters and people who've survived violent crime. These victims and their families endure the aftermath of whatever trauma has upended their lives in many different ways and for various lengths of time. Some never "get over it". Suicide, divorce and family devastation are too often the final chapters to these stories because there are few proven therapies and few trained therapists. Often, the therapy only focuses on the immediate victim - the soldier or the victim - and the people who make up that person's support system are either overlooked or, at best, given little more than a pat on the back.

"Dateline" aired a special three years ago - "The Desperate Hours" - which dealt with five kidnap-for-ransom cases from Mexico, Central and South America. All five men were rescued, either by ransom or by law enforcement, and all five had been married with families at the time of their kidnapping and rescue. Their stories were horrifying and miraculous. What stood out to me, however, was an end note: 'five years after they were rescued, only one couple remained married.' Could that happen to us? I knew the answer was "yes" because our family was splintering around the edges.

In searching for a therapy that would help Paul and I "move past" the trauma of his kidnapping, I found more and more articles written about "therapy" dogs and how these service animals produced faster and deeper healing than most traditional therapies, not only for the victim but for the victim's family as well. PTSD sufferers and their families were reporting less stress, better sleep and less depression. The more I read, the more shows like "60 Minutes" that covered the growing treatment and resulting success, the more convinced I was that no "person" could provide the therapy that Paul and I needed to move forward in our lives together.

Two years ago, we adopted Cora. She protects us. She knows when Paul is feeling anxious or down and soothes him. She "reads" us. It's amazing. She's taken over our home and our hearts, healing the wounds no traditional therapist ever came close to doing. She is love and trust and confidence in a fur coat. I am so glad that, in large part, because of Cora, more than five years later, "there's a smile on my face, knowing that together everything that's in our way, we're better than all right". (lyric from "Between The Raindrops"-Lifehouse and Natasha Bedingfield)

WALKING BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS - coming soon.

In the hands of professionals...

I have this dream that I'm watching a heart surgeon work on a patient. It's about the middle of a surgery, I think, because the chest is open, an ash-gray heart struggles to beat as stainless steel clamps and instruments flash like strobe lights above the patient's chest. There's a lot of blood and surgical assistants mop the brows of the surgeons. For some reason, I'm standing right there - gowned and masked - my gloved hands aloft in the "ready" position. I am not afraid. I am absorbed in the process. That is, until the surgeon turns to me and hands me the heart, the beating heart, and says, "Hold this for a moment. Don't let it fall." Then, I usually wake up.

Well, I feel like I'm the surgeon now and "Walking Between The Raindrops" is the heart. I've worked on it. I've massaged it. I've cut on it. Now, I have to "hand" it to someone else and let them do their part, trusting them to "not let it fall" but to make it thrive. Luckily, I'm confident that the editor that I've handed "Walking Between The Raindrops" to is going to help me do just that.

I'm so excited to announce that the manuscript is in the hands of a professional editor and once they're done, and corrections and changes are made, the book will finally be ready to launch!

Check back for more news coming soon!

Cover art that captures the terror -

Cover art for a book is almost more important than what's inside - don't you think? I know I've often picked up a book for the cover when I wasn't familiar with the author.  If the synopsis sounded okay, I would buy the book.  But, initially, it was the cover that drew me to it. Some of my favorite authors got my attention, the first time, with carefully crafted book covers.

I had some general ideas for the cover of "Walking Between The Raindrops".  But I'm not a graphic artist by any stretch of the imagination. Our son Tim is very visually artistic and I believe his work, below, has conceptualized the story in a very compelling way.

Here, now - the cover...

The book...

Everything is moving forward toward publishing "Walking Between The Raindrops". The first session of editing is underway, which is to say, my own proofing and tightening. Flaws and errors jump off the pages! I am a very harsh self-critic committed to cutting the first draft to manageable size. So far, I'm through the first section and well into the second. Once these cuts and corrections are made, the whole manuscript will go to another person to edit to final release form. After that, the book will be available in e-book and printed formats.

It's hard to believe.  This project has consumed me for the past year and it is almost completely finished.

Sooner than that, though, will be the unveiling of the book's cover art! Target date for that is June 1. I feel so fortunate to have the cover art that's going on this book. It's more than perfect to me - it totally captures what Paul and I saw in our minds.

Thank you for reading my words and God bless you for your support.

It could have been you...

On a crisp Tuesday morning, February 26, 2008, Paul walked through the garage attached to our apartment to get into his truck and go to work. It was no different than any other morning. The apartment complex, located in a growing area of north Austin, full of working families, professional singles and a few retirees was quiet. Kids roamed through the parking lot on their way to waiting school buses. People got into their cars and headed out to work.

At the same time, two young people, a man and a woman dressed in hoodies and jeans, hung out beside the mail kiosk across from Paul's truck waiting for him to open his back truck door and put his briefcase and laptop inside. While his back was turned the man ran up behind him.

"Are you Paul?"

"Yes," Paul said as he turned.

The man jams a gun into his ribs and forces Paul into his own truck, striking him several times. The woman then joins them, helping the man push Paul further inside and onto the floor so the man can climb into the truck on top of Paul. The woman drives the truck out of the complex. Shortly after that, Paul and his truck are turned over to others; others who demand $500,000 ransom within 15 hours or promise torture and death to him if they aren't paid.

Through the years people have asked lots of questions about this but mostly they ask, "Why Paul?" Maybe because he's such a nice person. Maybe because they hope that whatever the reason, it could never have been them.

Paul didn't know these people and didn't owe anyone a debt. He isn't a high profile politician or celebrity. He wasn't and isn't involved in drug trafficking. He isn't a journalist or high ranking officer of a global corporation.  He wasn't the first target of this gang. He isn't the last target of criminals like them. It could have been anyone...even you.

UPDATE TO THIS POST - I think about this picture and this synopsis of what happened especially when, twice a year, we are notified that two of the convicted kidnappers are being reviewed for early parole and then two more times when we are contacted by the parole board to learn of their decision. So far, neither one of them has earned early release and, with quarterly reminders, neither have we.


In "Walking Between The Raindrops," walk in Paul's steps as he's kidnapped, terrorized and moments from certain death. Follow law enforcement as they chase the suspects - sometimes only seconds away - to save two brothers from the hands of the most vicious drug lord in Mexico and agonize with the family who waits. 

Criminal Voices

When I started writing "Walking Between The Raindrops," I thought there would only be two voices telling the story - Paul's and mine. But then I requested everything I could get my hands on through the "Open Records Act" from every agency I could think of. As documents, CD's, transcripts and videos were released to me, I began to see that there were many voices to this story - voices that needed to be heard. Detective James Maugham and Ranger Matt Lindemann, Lance Self, many, many law enforcement personnel, former Williamson County First Assistant DA Jana McCown,  Assistant DA Michael Jarrett, our family, friends and the five people arrested and convicted for this terrible crime.

I've tried to be true to each voice and represent them accurately so that my readers will "hear" their words. The hardest part, for me, was listening to the suspect interviews, especially when so much said only showed their patent disrespect for Paul, Tom and themselves. Even so, there were times when they caught me off guard and made me laugh. One of these was an interview with Abraham "AB" Weber by Detective Maugham and Ranger Lindemann:

JAMES: Who, uh, who decided to make the first phone call that morning?

AB: What morning?

JAMES: The morning of, the Wednesday morning at six forty-five in the morning.

AB: Wednesday morning or Thursday morning?

JAMES: Wednesday morning.

AB: I thought he was kidnapped on Tuesday?

JAMES: He was.

MATT: But, nobody called until Wednesday morning.

AB: (surprised) Wednesday?

JAMES: Yup.

AB: Are you sure it was Wednesday morning?

JAMES: A hundred percent, brother.

AB: The first phone call to his brother was Wednesday morning?

MATT: Yup.

AB: Oh. 

Heroes - Texas Style

The heroes of "Walking Between the Raindrops" are many. I've been keeping a list of names and agency references and it's just mind boggling. Many others, I know, I'll never know about. The list in the next paragraph represents just the ones "discovered" in records and reports provided to me by different agencies.

Here's my (partial)  Hero Hall of Fame:

Williamson County Sheriff's Office -  28+ officers and detectives
Texas Department of Safety - 8+ officers and helicopter pilots
Texas DPS Texas Rangers - 10+ rangers
Hays County Sheriff's Office - 6+ officers
Texas Department of Corrections - K-9 Unit
Austin Police Department - 3+ officers
San Antonio Police Department, SAPD SWAT and ROP Units - 22+ officers and detectives
San Marcos Police Department - Unknown
CERT Team Volunteer Search and Rescue - Unknown
U. S. Marshalls Fugitive Task Force - 4+ rangers
F. B. I. - 2+ agents
Laredo Police Department - 4+ officers
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms - 3+ agents
A very brave little girl and her mom
Tom Roland

See? Mind boggling.

Two special people, however, are central characters in this book. They led the way, ran down every lead, never slept and kept all the wheels from falling off. You can read all about them in "Walking Between The Raindrops" when the book comes out this fall.  Until then, here's a couple of shots from the e-Book added video:

                          Williamson County Sheriff's Office - Dectective James Maugham

                                                 D.P.S. - Texas Ranger Matt Lindemann

Perspectives 2

It's Easter Sunday. The early service at church was packed. I loved sitting beside Paul and family. The grandchildren were especially adorable (of course). The pastor's message was exactly what I needed to hear.  Now, thinking about it all as we wait for the grandkids to come over and hunt Easter eggs and have dinner, I can't stop thinking about the mothers and fathers, wives and children of the people who upended our lives six years ago.

What is their Easter like? What are all their holidays like without their sons and daughters - husbands and fathers? The perpetrators' children will likely have children by the time they get out of prison. Some may never see their parents alive outside of prison again. Actually, some may never leave prison at all.

I know that when those mothers first saw them as babies they couldn't have looked at them and wished or imagined that one day that little boy or that little girl would grow up to be a kidnapper, a thief or criminal of any kind. From the parents that I've seen, it's a good bet that all they wanted for those children was for them to have a good life and grow up to be good people. What do the wives tell their children? What will become of their children?

It's Easter Sunday. I thank God for all His blessings, for our children and our grandchildren. I thank Him for all our family and friends. I thank Him for the gift of His son and the promise of the Resurrection. I thank Him for watching over the families and loved ones of the kidnappers and pray that they feel His love every day. I thank Him for holding the lives of the kidnappers and pray that they feel His love, too.