ABOUT THE BOOK Against All Odds takes you on a worldwide adventure filled with unexpected events, impossible and someBmes life-‐threatening situaBons including romance, tragedy, being shot at, ambushed, voodoo, cholera, Venezuelan riots, oil site evacuaBons, aGempted murder escape from a crazed Kazakh psychopath, the KGB and more!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Originally from Swansea, Wales, UK, he is an innovaBve chartered professional in the oil & gas industries. He has in-‐depth knowledge of LNG plants, upstream and downstream oil & gas faciliBes, storage tanks, cross country, desert and subsea pipelines and explains events in over 24 countries, some of which he should not have survived.
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www.author-‐ralang.com
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AGAINST ALL ODDS
ONE MAN’S STORY OF A LIFE HE SHOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED
By R. A. Lang
“Anyone can read a map, but it’s the choice of which path one follows that makes the difference.” R. A. Lang 2014.
Website: www.author-‐ralang.com
About the Book Against All Odds is an autobiography about a lifeBme filled with unexpected events, impossible, amazing and life threatening situaBons. It includes romance, tragedy, being shot at, ambushed, voodoo, cholera, Venezuelan riots, oil site evacuaBons, aGempted murder escape from a Kazakh psychopath, the KGB and more! Against All Odds takes you on a worldwide adventure filled with unexpected events, impossible and someBmes life threatening situaBons. It's a factual day by day account of events including tragedy, the effects of modern day voodoo, love and disappointments on a global scale.
Against All Odds is a factual account of events, some of which the author should not have survived. Names were changed in the manuscript for the authors own protecBon including the Caribbean island where the voodoo took place. Originally published by Friesen Press Btled "Andy's Story -‐ Too much for a lifeBme", this new publicaBon was redesigned to beGer reflect its contents and published in London by Authoright. Against All Odds includes an addiBonal thirty thousand words, together with more photos and detailed descripBons of the real life events that inspired this amazing and someBmes unbelievable story. Chapters 1 -‐ 19 detail the author's global travels in a most detailed and entertaining manner, but from chapter 20 onwards events really begin to heat up which inspired Lawrence Koster to write a screenplay for a two hour Hollywood movie.
OriginaBng in Wales, R. A. Lang is a dynamic and innovaBve chartered quality professional in the oil and gas industries with over 30 years of experBse, including 25 years overseas successfully managing complex projects on an internaBonal basis. He has in-‐depth knowledge of pre-‐commissioning, LNG Plants, upstream oil and gas faciliBes, storage tanks, cross country, desert and subsea pipelines and explains events he's experienced in countries all over the World. Against All Odds is chocked full of amazing events experienced worldwide.
Due to the unfortunate death of the author's father in 1981, he was determined to make the most of his life and avoid a life of habit in Swansea, Wales, UK like so many others he knew. Ager spending 25 years working all over the world in the oil and gas industries, the author reveals his many adventures commencing in 1989 in South Africa and carrying him on to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Libya, France, Tunisia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Qatar, the Caribbean and Northern Iraq to name but a few.
Ager suffering the powerful effects of voodoo in 1998 in Venezuela, the devastaBng effects of voodoo returned back into his life in 2010 in the Caribbean on a small island just off the Venezuelan coast. The occupaBonal hardships he endured over the years in many countries including the notorious Benin/Nigerian West African border crossings were just preparing him for what lay ahead including his dramaBc escape from Kazakhstan ager a murder aGempt was done on him and the need to evade the present day KGB, Border Control Police and a psychopathic Kazakh Lawyer. LiGle did he know, his problems were sBll not over when he returned back to his house in the Caribbean! With the author's passion for adventure, recording his memoirs and deep sea game fishing, some have referred to him like a modern day Ernest Hemingway. Marine Biz TV interviewed the author in Dubai in October 2013 and broadcasted two 30 minute videos worldwide.
About the Author
InspiraIon
The author's inspiraBon, apart from his 25 years travelling all over the world and experiencing and witnessing the different customs of foreign countries, were events which took place since his move to the Caribbean which were his true inspiraBon to share with the world, his unbelievable story. These amazing events start from Chapters 20 to 26, which were also selected by screen writer Lawrence Koster who has wriGen a screenplay for a two hour Hollywood movie. The most difficult part of wriBng the author's memoirs was the need to remember events which he had so desperately tried to forget. Voodoo has unfortunately played a large part of the problems he'd dealt with in both Venezuela and the Caribbean, and they are explained in great detail in Against All Odds.
InspiraIon
As he managed to survive against all odds, he wanted to share with the world what extraordinary events took place, giving him the inspiraBon to record events to publish. The HaiBan voodoo priestess and crazed psychopathic Kazakh lawyer shown here, each had a hidden agenda. The extraordinary events which took place to arrange the murder of the author are explained in vivid detail in Against All Odds. These images were taken by the author during an illegal voodoo ceremony arranged by the HaiBan voodoo priestess with the help of her cousin who was on the island at the Bme.
The psychopathic Kazakh lawyer had a disturbing fascinaBon in voodoo and demanded voodoo ceremonies on a daily basis whilst on the island. Many different materials were used to conduct the voodoo ceremonies and someBmes birds were used as a sacrifice to the spirit(s) who were called upon and visited during the ceremony. SomeBmes a rooster, someBmes a dove and someBmes both! Under the law on the Caribbean island, in the event of the home owners death, anyone who could prove they’d maintained the property automaBcally became the new owners.
Real life character's, each with a hidden agenda inspired the author to begin recording events as they happened.
InspiraIon
Even though these ceremonies were held in the author’s own home on the Caribbean island, he strongly protested against them, but would be ignored every Bme. He would even be threatened with voodoo and told it would be focused on him if he interrupted the ceremonies. These ceremonies and their affects are explained in vivid detail in Against All Odds.
The four images on the floor in this photo are of the four spirits who were being invited into his home to complete the aGendance. On this occasion, just two of the spirits joined. As unbelievable, as it all sounds, many details were not included in Against All Odds, as it would have been an impossible task to convince readers that such events were actually witnessed in real life.
InspiraIon
These photos were taken directly ager the murder aGempt was made on the author in Atyrau, Kazakhstan on 15th March 2011. Against All Odds got its Btle from the miraculous escape the author managed to make against all the odds of being caught by the crazed Kazakh psychopath and her KGB relaBves and friends in March 2011. With blood sBll seeping from two deep head wounds, the author managed to conceal them while passing through the border control police in Atyrau airport, all of whom knew the lawyer, and his connecBon with her.
Fortunately the outside temperature was -‐48'C so all the other passengers were also well covered up so the author's dress did not raise any unusual suspicion. Upon arrival back on the Caribbean island, he sBll had the HaiBan voodoo priestess to deal with together with her boyfriend, which had disastrous and near fatal results.
Gallery
Sakon Nakon, Thailand Thai Wedding Ceremony Yan Tai Province, China Monument for Slaves, Benin
Voodoo origin, Benin West Africa Original Slave CounIng Offices Author’s Armed Escort, Nigeria Notorious Border, Benin/Nigeria
Game Fishing, Caribbean Game Fishing, Caribbean Southern Japan Tokyo, Japan
Gallery
Southern Thailand Batam Island, Indonesia Doha, Qatar Osaka Airport, Japan
Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Secretary, Seoul, South Korea Soi 24, Bangkok, Thailand New Years Eve, Bangkok
Bangkok Ca]ish Another Ca]ish Wi and Booboo, Bangkok Back to Work