ISBN 0-88739-236-9
338 pp. · Fiction · $14.50
Available from:
Ingram, Baker & Taylor,
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and
Creative Arts Book Company

Guardian Angel is a story about a young secret service agent named Mike Kostanski, who gets caught up in something he never bargained for: dirty politics and corrupt business. What follows affects his marriage, his family, and his reputation. When he decides to fight for his life, he is pitted against powerful forces that go to great lengths to stop him.

"I would die for him, should I lie for him?"

Guardian Angel pulls back the curtain and takes the reader behind the scenes of the intricate relationship between politics and business. Its exciting storyline is made all the more believable by the corporate scandals currently dominating the front pages of our newspapers. The author's business background and living experience inside the Beltway during the Watergate scandals give him a unique insight into the often-sinister connections between business and politics.

The story portrays characters that find themselves caught between their loyalty to a cause and their own personal ethics. Difficult choices have to be made, and they are not always made well. Ordinary people are placed in extraordinary circumstances magnified by huge stakes for the politicians and the corporate criminals. Corruption, greed, cover-ups, kidnapping, murder, treason, and money laundering are some of the results. The plot line starts in familiar territory with a philandering President eager to retain his power, an ambitious First Lady and the Secret Service agent facing an ethical dilemma. It surges into a murky world of crooked businessmen and ruthless politicians who cannot afford to be stopped. Real people suffer the consequences and are forced to fight back or succumb. With Guardian Angel, Jim Chriss offers readers a timely fictional look inside an administration teeming with sex, secrets and corruption.

Mike Kostanski—a young Secret Service agent faced with testifying against the President he is sworn to serve. Mike’s heretofore idyllic life begins to crumble when he is thrust into big-time politics and then into corporate corruption of the highest magnitude. He hits bottom when his family is dragged into his problems.

Lee Whittaker—the President with a penchant for the ladies and a knack for getting elected and giving people what they want. His lust for extramarital sex makes him vulnerable to manipulation by corporate criminals who use him to carry out a number of illegal activities.

Betty Whittaker— the President’s wife. She is well aware of his wayward behavior and condones it in the interest of achieving her goal (participating as a major player in the country’s agenda). She uses the President much as the corporate types do, but does so as his partner and with a more noble intention; i.e. to pursue programs she thinks are in the best interest of the country.

George Gantos—the diminutive puppet master who works behind the scenes to control Whittaker and even the corporate moguls. Gantos covets power and money and he achieves his aims through Whittaker.

Todd Grant—President of Grantland Corporation—an insecure man who is open to manipulation by Gantos. He heads an apparently legitimate weapons company inherited after the untimely death of his father, that engages in wide-ranging illegal activities.

Marty Travers—the evil head of security of Grantland Corporation who carries out the orders of Gantos and Grant in ruthless fashion.

Jill Kostanski—Mike’s wife, who considers him naïve when it comes to his job and politicians. She is proven right, but the pressures of the situation cause their marriage to fall apart.

Thelma Townsend—the President’s secretary, loyal, trustworthy and honest…who amends her records to help her boss, but finds that her actions have had unintended consequences.

Amanda Kottler—Mike’s new love interest—daughter of a Senator, who has grown extremely disenchanted with the vagaries of the political game. She is a target of Whittaker’s advances—and uses his interest to help Mike.

Kippy Kottler—Amanda’s father and the esteemed Senator from Colorado. He is enlisted by Whittaker to head his bid for reelection and is caught up in the realities of the political scene—realities that find him kowtowing to the President in areas he would rather not.

Jake Kilgallen—the savvy, veteran security man who befriends Mike. His skills come in handy when Mike gets into trouble.

Vincent Tissoni—the venerable, idiosyncratic partner at the well-connected Washington law firm who winds up helping Mike fight his problems.

Myron Grieve—the Independent Prosecutor who is investigating the President.

Lisa Kostanski—Mike and Jill’s young daughter, who finds herself directly caught up in the drama.

Frankie Gladys—a conscientious IRS agent who comes across illegal activities that are eventually traced back to the Grantland Corporation.

Rachel Gossett—the lawyer from the Independent Counsel’s office who interrogates Mike in his testimony and then later joins him in his fight against the corruption.

Bill Stenton—the Vice President, who has to wait while the ever-popular Whittaker entertains the possibility of pursuing another term. He later provides some critical leadership.