Underworld Commando: "You Were Meant To Be Killed At The Hilton"

For Jim Taousanis, former Australian Army Intelligence, Field Operative, Special Forces Commando, hardened criminal and now honest, upright citizen of the Queensland suburb of Redcliffe, the great philosopher Pythagoras's theory has real relevance."Metempsychosis", the famous theory on the transmigration of souls which holds each and every one of us is immortal and, upon death, enters into a new body. Our actions in this life having a direct impact on our incarnation in the next.Taousanis' life has been a journey from a childhood home filled with love, to the discipline of military service, to the unhinged violence of the Australian underworld, and onward to small business owner and family man.But Taousanis, who in this book is brutally honest about his role in the "Underbelly" world of Sydney crime in the 1980s and 90s, is determined that his story ends not merely with a respected place in this world, but the next.After years of spiritual searching, he wants redemption and assurance that, whatever comes next, he can face it squarely in the knowledge that he recognised and atoned for his sins.Taousanis is no stranger to death.On a night in November in 1999 outside his home in Tempe Sydney, newly released from prison and reinvigorated by his first taste of the Christianity which in some ways can be credited with changing his life, he was shot in the back from a distance of three metres in a police coordinated "revenge attack".Taousanis was kept alive by an off-duty police officer who performed CPR.He was left hovering between life and death in a hospital bed for several days but escaped with his life, minus one lung.That attack was just one of four attempts on his life by the crew of notorious underworld figure Leonard Arthur McPherson, widely recognised as one of Australia's most powerful and well connected criminals of the late 20th Century.One of those earlier attempts was far more brutal and coordinated, and deeply alarmed Australia at the time.As Taousanis and a Commando accomplice, Fred Massih, attempted to rob a strong room at the Sydney Hilton Hotel in July 1991, they were set upon by three gun wielding police officers in the foyer of the hotel.A 20-shot gun fight ensued in which Taousanis shot Detective Craig Lee McDonald in the arm.Taousanis and his accomplice escaped from the ambush, slept between two high rise buildings overnight, altered their appearance and then caught a cab to safety in the anonymity of the early rush hour crowds, slipping away to a garage under safe-house in Brighton Le Sands.In the days following the shoot out one federal policeman told Taousanis: "You were meant to be killed at the Hilton."Come with Jim as he tells this expose on the criminal underworld of Kings Cross in the 80s and 90s, read about his learned experiences, his suggestions for young people caught on the edge of the law (or even knee deep in the criminal underworld), and his warnings about where international power and criminality are heading.And enjoy the ride from the safety of your lounge chair!

• | Author: Jim Taousanis
• | Publisher: Thorpe-Bowker
• | Publication Date: Jan 31, 2021
• | Number of Pages: 234 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback/Biography & Autobiography
• | ISBN-10: 0645066826
• | ISBN-13: 9780645066821