Phil Bradley

Hiding in Third Person Phil Bradley

Hiding in Third Person is the story of friends who help each other during desperate times. Ricky, a flippant orderly befriends a mental patient at an asylum he refers to as the spa and dude ranch. He listens to the man, the other orderlies call Mr. River, tell a dubious tale of two teenage boys on the run from an assassin.

In River's story the boys, Malachi and Doc, take refuge at an abandoned military base, BOMARC, nestled in the heart of the idyllic New Jersey Pinelands. The killer, known to the boys as The Finder, hesitates to follow them into the facility because it was once the site of a plutonium spill.

Unknown to the teens, three law enforcement officers are also on their trail. Cancer worries, and false identities hinder the cops in their search. Evidence from a suspected murder scene, and a mysterious code baffle the officers, keeping them one step behind the killer. The Finder, ultimately corners the boys, and Mr. River's story ends with a bloody showdown.

Asylum doctors believe Mr. River is a hopeless case and plan to move him to a dark and remote institution. Their diagnosis hinges mainly on the fact several characters in River's tale are imaginary. Ricky, though, is certain the story is completely true and knows that he can prove it to be so. These circumstances leave the orderly with a serious dilemma.

Hiding in Third Person shares the gripping tale of two runaway teens as they confront an assassin the New Jersey woods, and life comes full circle to finally reveal the truth years later.